Reading Room

Reading room is an exhibit design built for the sixth edition of the Festival New Generations that gathers a selection of editorial projects, curated by IO – Itinerant Office, showcasing the diversity of editorial projects developed by the network of New Generations Platform. Reading room is completely made out of simple shelf kits hacked, black-painted and reassembled into three free-standing walls: one for workshops and brainstorming sessions, one for publications exhibit and the last one for projections and talks.

The first wall near the entrance is a multitasking element combining a section with the program of the festival, a magnetic board for brainstorming sessions in the middle and finally a little shelf for tools and gadgets. The publications are displayed on the larger central wall and are organized by typology into four sections: magazine, monograph, catalogue and research. With its perforated panels, the wall reminds a pegboard that provides flexibility of configuration by the use of hooks, shelves and wires. Thus, lighter leaflets, packed postcards, posters and pamphlets are unfolded and shown together with large notebooks and heavy books, to create a dynamic atlas of ideas and stories.

Furthermore, thanks to the modular construction system made of bars and panels, two niches are obtained to place and showcase some particular formats. A presentation sheet accompanies each selected contributor, grouping its editorial work/s and showing main informations about contents and authors.

Finally, the third free-standing wall is a single frame that holds a banner and a white projection screen for talks and presentations, adding a multimedia layer to the exhibition. Some construction site orange PVC sacks, filled with sand, which has been used to give balance to the frame, complete the design.

Reading room is the result of a critical reflection upon the practice of archiving, understood as a device able to showcase a wide range of contents and publications and to activate a fruitful dialogue between different practices and biographies of designers.

 

project info