Although there is nothing particularly distinctive about Restructief as regards its design, the panel decided that it still deserved to be selected as one of the year’s best books. It was conceived as having the dual functions of providing information about Lingotto and acting as a gift for the company’s clients and other contacts. It was the construction industry – the world of building contractors, project developers and housing corporations – that was the source of so many entries tending towards loudness, tastelessness and a simple lack of imagination rather than a feeling for subtlety and good book design – and it was for precisely that reason that this book stood out in a positive sense. The judges were accordingly full of praise for Lingotto, a firm of project developers specializing in the redevelopment and conversion of old buildings, for its role in commissioning this book. 

The designers at THEY have translated Lingotto’s mission into a book whose interior is made of waste paper and whose cover is printed on the offcuts from dairy product packaging. In other words, it is made by reusing paper that would otherwise have been discarded. Toughened carton material of this kind
is commonly sold by building supplies merchants to painters and decorators, who use it to protect floors. Each copy of the book has a unique cover. The book’s binders Hexspoor found a special tape to bind the covers. The title was devised by word artist Joris Visser.