Category:  
Book Design
Publishers:
MIT Press & PennDesign
Years Published:  2012
ISBN: 9780262516921
330 pp. | 8 x 10.5 in
315 color illus., 60 b&w illus.

Staff:
Megan Born, Helene Furján, & Lily Jencks
    Editors

K.T. Anthony Chan
    Book Designer

Phillip M. Crosby, Cathryn Dwyre
    Associated Editor

Dirt

About

"Dirt presents a selection of works that share dirty attitudes: essays, interviews, excavations, and projects that view dirt not as filth but as a medium, a metaphor, a material, a process, a design tool, a narrative, a system. Rooted in the landscape architect’s perspective, Dirt views dirt not as repulsive but endlessly giving, fertile, adaptive, and able to accommodate difference while maintaining cohesion. This dirty perspective sheds light on social connections, working processes, imaginative ideas, physical substrates, and urban networks. Dirt is a matrix; as a book, it organizes contributions from architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and design, historic preservation, fine arts, and art history."

Rather than simply finding a neutral, non-interpretive design language that served as a master framework for all chapters, the writers, editors, and I celebrated the polarities. We sought to find subtle ways to subvert traditional book designs.  It should look familiar, but also askew, leading us to look for the in-betweens. The juxtaposed fonts, hanging punctuations, tessellated cover, and logo were all conscious design choices that we felt allowed individual readers more room for interpretation and playful perception.

Sample Spreads