Hyperbody. First Decade of Interactive Architecture

Book coverHyperbody. First Decade of Interactive Architecture
Book coverHyperbody. First Decade of Interactive Architecture
Book coverHyperbody. First Decade of Interactive Architecture
Book coverHyperbody. First Decade of Interactive Architecture

What immediately strikes one here is the title, which is in every sense bold, placed vertically on the front cover and repeated on the spine with extensions to front and back in the form of short, bold bars that return on the text pages in the interior. This device is well suited to a solidly constructed book dealing with the first ten years of interactive architecture.

Once inside, however, we are in a different world, a world of ingenious systems or, in the words of one panel member, a world of fiddliness. A book packed unbelievably full of information to which all sorts of extra layers have been added, with oases of rest in the shape of the pages of solid blue marking the end and beginning of sections, some of them returning to the bold typography of the cover, reversed out for section titles.

One neat idea is the conspicuous bright blue words linked by a hairline rule to an extra layer of information, likewise in blue, at the bottom of the page – in effect a kind of hypertext. Then there is another layer consisting of miniature illustrations and a count of words used, again at the bottom of the page – a whole load of extra information.

A modern book with design decisions that make the most of recent digital developments, even if it all verges on the limit of the amount of information and number of cross-references that a reader will be able or willing to process.

Edition: 2012
Language: English
Final editor: Kas Oosterhuis (et al.)
Publisher: Jap Sam Books, Heijningen in collaboration with TU, Delft
Graphic designer: Mind Design (Niels Schrader, Michał Ejdys, with assistance by Erik Boldt, Gilles de Brock and Fernando van der Vlist)
Lithographer: Niels Schrader, Oro Grafisch Projectmanagement, Koekange
Printer: Oro Grafisch Projectmanagement, Koekange
Binder: Oro Grafisch Projectmanagement, Koekange
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 170 x 220 x 38
Number of pages: 624 p.
Print run: 1,250
Price: € 40
ISBN: 978 94 903220 9 0
Font and foundry: Fresco Pro, FF Bau
Binding style: sewn soft cover
Material: 100gsm Amber Graphic (interior), 300gsm Splendorgel E.W. (cover)