wiedler.ch

book (design) story #52

sigfried giedion:
a decade of new architecture

editions girsberger, zurich, 1951
printer: geschwister ziegler & co., winterthur
size: 25 x 19 cm
designer: richard paul lohse

the ciam (congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne) was one of the leading organisations of modern architects. it was founded in 1928, with bauhaus founder walter gropius as president. swiss architecture historian sigfried giedion (1988-1968) acted as general secretary until the last ciam meeting in 1956. in 1951 giedion published this book with meeting protocols and examples of important modern buildings.

richard paul lohse (1902-1988) designed the book. the dustjacket is typical for his "constructive" graphic design style which is closely related to his painting: rectangular colour elements in standardised sizes that form modular or serial structures. in his graphic design the colour elements consist of tinted photographs which often overlap.

this is classic "swiss typography": grid-based placement of texts and photos, asymmetric titles and multi-column, multi-language text in sans-serif: akzidenz-grotesk for titles, monotype grotesque for machine-set type.

among the many interesting buildings is a single-family house designed by max bill in 1942 (top left).