Structure & Silence
A monograph on the intersection of architecture and minimalist form in Swiss design.
Client
Swiss Design Council
Year
2025
Role
Book design, typography, art direction
Scope
288-page monograph, cover, exhibition guide
Duration
6 months
Long essays, large photographs, and a lot of white space in between, because the buildings in it are mostly about restraint.
The brief
The book pairs an essay by Lukas Bernhardt with 140 photographs of concrete buildings. The photos needed room, and the text needed to be comfortable to read at length.
The work
A two-column grid for the essays and a single full-bleed field for images. Headlines are set tight and heavy against a light text face, so each chapter opens with a clear break. Photographs are printed as black duotones on an uncoated stock that holds shadow detail in the concrete.
Opening spread: title and essay by Lukas Bernhardt
Full-page duotone plate on uncoated stock
The result
Printed in an edition of 2,500 with Swiss binding so the book lies flat on a desk. It received a Red Dot: Best of the Best in 2023.
288
Pages
140
Photographic plates
2,500
Edition