The Theatre Under Construction.
The Travelogue

The book documents the architecture of the legendary Lublin “Theatre under Construction” — a building whose construction spanned over forty years, from the 1970s until 2016. For decades, a decaying, unfinished structure stood in the city centre — before becoming home to one of the region’s leading cultural institutions. Its history reflects both the ambitions and limitations of the former political system, and the modernising drive of Poland’s post-communist transformation. The publication documents this process and offers a broader reflection on the act of building itself.

Art Direction
& Photo Editing
Idalia Smyczyńska
Robert Zając

Layout & Typesetting
Idalia Smyczyńska

Display Typography
& Cover
Robert Zając

Client
Centre for the Meeting
of Cultures

Publication date
2016

Languages
Bilingual (English/Polish)

Awards & recognition
201750 Books | 50 Covers
2016Edycja, Perfect Book Design

What makes the book design distinctive is the use of striking solutions — a printed spineless binding, an abstract embossed cover — in complete alignment with the subject matter. Approaches more commonly associated with artists’ books were successfully applied here to a publication that is, in large part, academic. The book was treated above all as a three-dimensional object, inviting notice of its physical attributes: the stitching and the adhesives made visible. In this way, the book itself became an apt illustration of the building described in its text and photographs.

An example of seamless editing — photos are gracefully placed, sensitively sequenced, and the binding and boards frame the book with simplicity and power.

Jessica Helfand
AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers Jury Statement