#urbanmediator

[imogenlesserarchitecture]

Hand bound thesis document

[imogenlesserarchitecture]

Thesis Research Document - Reading and the Body

After The Urban Mediator the next stage was to write a Thesis Research Document 

A link to the PDF version can be found here the original is hand bound with a black cotton cover.

[imogenlesserarchitecture]

Three Guide Books, One each for Nottingham, Venice and Heidelberg. These books allow The Book to be read in location.

[imogenlesserarchitecture]

Sixth Year : The Book, the Body and the City

This project is split into two parts, The Urban Mediator and Ex Libris ‡ The Sleeping Cemetery. Both focus on our relationships with written texts and how we in turn experience the city. The Urban Mediator does this on a personal level whilst Ex Libris ‡ The Sleeping Cemetery moves beyond this. 

[imogenlesserarchitecture]

The Urban Mediator

 The experience of the city has changed, architecture no longer tells us stories. The written word and physical printing is being lost to the digital world. We do not experience the city any more, we observe it. Digital technology allows absence from the city. Individuals  are always “plugged in”, always flitting from one thing to the next, community is lost. Concentration and the experience of oneself is being lost. The book changes that.

The city and the book are fundamentally linked.  The book is a city contained within the pages, it alterers the way the physical city is experienced. The act of carrying a burden makes movement more deliberate and the physical experience of the book itself, its textures and the memories it invokes alters the city that it is carried around.

The city of the book is not Nottingham, nor is it Venice. It is an imaginary city that changes through each user of the book, things are added, the rain washes or blurs aspects, pages are torn, and notes change the meaning of things. The grime of the city becomes impregnated into the book and begins to create new stories.  The book will never be complete. Pages that are blank will be filled, contents will be lost., it may be rebound several times. It is an ever evolving city.

The origins of the book lie with the Guide. This individual is the guardian of the book, and holds the key to its understanding. The book itself contains the method of its making, but not the understanding of its use. The Guide holds that, although you may never meet them.

The initial creation of the book uses traditional bookmaking techniques, which are again being lost. It is the beauty of construction that makes it a beautiful, imperfect object. The tools used to make the book leave marks upon it. The materials that create the book are themselves stories.

The contents of the book are set up as a miscellany.  It is not only stories of the city but information within its pages. Different sections contain different categories and within these categories are the texts and other information.  Information is linked to a sign. The Guide holds the key to these signs. Each sign is a location in Nottingham and each location is linked to many different pieces of information.

The book can be read one of two ways initially, although this may change as the book is altered by others. The first way is to read it through its categories. A category is chosen and the reader is guided around the city through the signs relating to the information. 

The Second method is to chose a location and then to search the book, with the help of the Guide, and read information relating to that place in Nottingham.

The book needs to be in the city to be understood. It changes the space around the reader as well as their attitude toward the space. Without the city the book is lifeless. Without the book the city becomes background.