Even at the preselection stage the panel were unanimously in favour of this catalogue designed by Irma Boom for the exhibition of work by the Danish artist Olafur Eliasson in the palace and gardens of Versailles. The book’s make-up probes the limits of legibility, the use of paper is unsurpassed, and the superb rhythm – the product of switching between full colour, black and white, and blue on black – imbues the book with a unique atmosphere. One shortcoming, the judges felt, is that the blurb is provided as a loose sheet inside the back flap: clearly a problem that publisher and designer were unable to resolve.
Olafur Eliasson. Versailles
Edition: 2016
Language: English, French
Final editor: Olafur Eliasson, Irma Boom (concept), Kristina Köper (editing), Kathryn Politis (picture editing)
Publisher: Studio Olafur Eliasson, Berlin (DE)
Designer: Irma Boom, Amsterdam
Lithographer: Lenoirschuring, Amsterdam
Printer: Lenoirschuring, Amsterdam (opaque blue in offset on black paper and card, black on recycled paper, printed on a five-colour press)
Binder: Patist, Den Dolder (all sections inserted into each other 4 pages at a time)
Dimensions: 215 x 280 x 15
Amount of pages: 206 p.
Number of copies: 4,000
Price: € 49.80
ISBN: 978 3 00 053631 1
Font and foundry: Neuzeit S (Linotype)
Binding style: sewn soft cover without creases, with flap at the back
Material: 115gsm Sirio Color Ultra Black, 100gsm Cairn Eco White, 60gsm IBO One (interior), 280gsm Sirio Color Ultra Black (cover)