Atlas of the Copenhagens

Book coverAtlas of the Copenhagens
Book coverAtlas of the Copenhagens
Book coverAtlas of the Copenhagens
Book coverAtlas of the Copenhagens

Atlas of the Copenhagens is an investigation of the spatial dimensions of the city that in international comparisons is consistently among the most sustainable and liveable cities of them all. The growing importance that is attached to indices of this kind raises questions about how matters like liveability and sustainability can best be measured. In a research project lasting several years, Copenhagen and its urban territory was measured, investigated, dissected and analysed in every conceivable way. Over four hundred maps and numerous data sets presented a major problem: how do you present so much data in a meaningful form? Enter Joost Grootens, grand master of atlases, information design and book design, who contributed material to this book and is one of the writers. Here we find all the devices with which we are familiar from Grootens’s work: special inks (here fluorescent orange and yellow, and Reflex Blue), precise drawings, sophisticated draughtsmanship, sturdy typography, clear and systematic make-up. The dayglow inks are employed not only for the diagrams and data visualizations but also in the colour separations of the photographs, which thereby gain an extra graphic quality. Here again the book has an open spine so that it opens effortlessly, but a further element has been added: the narrow spines of the sections carry the chapter titles – once again in fluorescent inks – thus rendering the structure of the book’s contents visible on its spine. It is the elevated standard that he has now reached with this kind of detail – the sophistication with which all the graphic elements are so lucidly and at once so attractively presented – that makes this book stand out. A masterpiece from a grand master – though it must be said that the cover design has a somewhat pragmatic appearance and the cover material breaks easily near the spine.

Edition: 2018
Date of publication: March 2018
Author: Deane Simpson, Birgit Stöber, Simon Guy, Tom Nielsen, Peter Hemmersam, Thomas Sick Nielsen, Joost Grootens, Peter Henning Jørgensen
Language: English
Translator: Cornelius Holch Colding
Final editor: Keonaona Peterson
Illustrator: Studio Joost Grootens (Joost Grootens, Dimitri Jeannottat, Julie da Silva, Hanae Shimizu, Silke Koeck, Raphael Mathias, Carina Schwake)
Publisher: Ruby Press, Berlin (DE)
Available through: Webshop, bookshop
Graphic designer: Studio Joost Grootens (Joost Grootens, Dimitri Jeannottat) (Amsterdam)
Lithographer: Marjeta Morinc, Zürich
Printer: NPN Drukkers, Breda
Binder: Patist, Den Dolder
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 160 x 240 x 30
Number of pages: 480
Print run: 1,700
Price: € 44
ISBN: 978 3 944074 24 5
Font and foundry: Neue Haas Unica (Linotype), Ceremony (Optimo)
Binding style: Transparently glued-off spine with front and back cover of four pages sewn in; two sewing stitches are left out to keep the dayglow red ink on the spine legible.
Paper for interior (grammage): 100gsm Amber Graphic, Antalis
Material cover (grammage): 300gsm Parelgrijs Karton, Koninklijke Moorman Karton
Special features: Interior printed in black and three Pantone colours (dark blue, yellow and pink fluorescerence.