Individual Project

Studio Joost Grootens designed the book 'Brick. An exacting material' on contemporary Dutch brick architecture edited by Jan Peter Wingender.

'Brick. An exacting material' presents the outcome of extensive academic research into many different aspects of this building material. The book on contemporary Dutch brick architecture originated at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. Edited by Jan Peter Wingender it contains photographs, drawings and texts on the interface of education, theory and practice. For SJG it was important to acknowledge that any new book on such a subject is part of a legacy. There are shelves full of books on brick architecture that provided vital references to the authors. As designers we feel a similar obligation to the design history of architectural publishing: we do not work from scratch. The choice for a pre-modern typography exemplifies this awareness. The book’s physical characteristics express its contemporary position. As an object Brick is everything but a brick. Despite its substance it is a lightweight book, the spine is deliberately rounded whereas the corners are straight, and to help avoid any likeness with the real deal the colour red has not been used in the cover.