About the year 2004

There was a gratifyingly high number of books consisting of text among the 33 entries selected as The most beautiful Swiss books published in 2004. This year, 400 publications were received by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, more than ever before. Thus the book design competition, which has been held every year since 1999 by the Art and Design Section of the BAK under the auspices of the Swiss Federal Department of the Interior (EDI), has once again established a new record. Under the presidency of François Rappo, of Lausanne, this year the seven-member jury again consisted of competent professionals from different branches of book design. The jury judged the entries on the basis of their concept, graphic design and typography, the technical level of the printing and binding, and the quality of the bookbinding and materials used. Consideration was also given to originality and innovation.

Independently of the books entered in the competition, the jury also awarded the Jan Tschichold Prize. With this prize the EDI has the opportunity every year to honour a person, group or institution for outstanding achievement in the field of book design. This year the Jan Tschichold Prize in the amount of CHF 15,000 was awarded to Elektrosmog (Valentin Hindermann and Marco Walser) in Zurich. They have been comitted for a number of years in the field of book design, and with their exceptional book projects they constantly give proof of the independent and brilliant language of their graphic art. The jury members also selected a ‘Book of the Jury’, which this year was a book of photography entitled Louis Kahn Dhaka, Construction – Raymond Meier (20), published by Edition Dino Simonett, a volume which presents and portrays the government building of Dhaka in Bangladesh in an impressive manner.

It is especially gratifying that this year three Swiss contributions were awarded a prize at the international design competition ‘The Most Beautiful Books in the World’ in Leipzig. An international jury judged 638 books from 31 countries and awarded the ‘Golden Letter’, a gold medal, two silver medals, five bronze medals and five diplomas of honour. One of the bronze medals went to the book entitled Vom Letten bis Rimini (32), a specialised book about the history and present of the lake and river bathing areas of Zurich, and one of the 5 diplomas of honour was awarded to Olafur Eliasson – Minding the World (25), an exhibition and artist’s catalogue produced with remarkable fresh-ness of design and outstanding printing. And to crown all, the gold medal was won by Christian Waldvogel – Globus Cassus (16), an unconventional exhibition catalogue about a visionary architecture for expanding the earth. The book convinced the jury by the choice of binding material, the typography, the colours and the illustrations, both as to its contents and design.

With the present catalogue, The most beautiful Swiss books 2004, you are now receiving an exceptional product, which could not have been produced without the generous support of the producers of all the prize-winning books: the bookbinder firm of Burkhardt, the paper firms Arctic Paper Schweiz AG, Antalis AG, Inapa Switzerland AG, Sihl+Eika AG and Fischer Papier AG, as well as the printing firm of Odermatt.

This catalogue, which is appearing at the opening of the exhibition, was formulated and designed this year for the first time by Laurent Benner (Reala). The design concept is intended to thematise the books, particularly in respect of their printing and materiality, thus accentuating and visualising certain very specific aspects of book production. For this purpose we have worked closely together with the printers and paper suppliers, and have been able to assemble and include eight (original) pages from all the prize-winning books from their corresponding printers in Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Lebanon in this unique publication.

We have had great pleasure in the wide interest and generous support which has been given to us from all sides with the presentation of ‘The most beautiful Swiss books 2004’, and we wish you the same great pleasure in reading them.
Mirjam Fischer

Jury

Julia Born, 1975, Amsterdam (NL) and Zurich
Trained in graphic design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, active as a freelance graphic designer between Amsterdam and Zurich, mainly in the cultural domain. Teaching activities at the ECAL in Lausanne and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie.

Patrick Frey, 1951, Zurich
Studies in Economics and art history. Art historian, exhibition organizer and publisher of art books. Writes and publishes concerning contemporary art and artists, photography and the phenomena of everyday culture. Since 1983/84 active in cabaret and the theatre as well as projects for radio and television.

Jean Genoud, 1926, Lausanne
Typesetter and typographer. Managing Director of Imprimerie Jean Genoud SA in Lausanne, which enjoys a considerable national and international reputation. The company prints high-quality art books, catalogues and annual reports.

Hans-Jürg Hunziker, 1938, Paris (F)
Trained as a typesetter, worked at Mergenthaler Linotype in New York, then with Adrian Frutiger in Paris. Since 1976 active as a freelance typographer. Type instruction at the HGKZ and director of studies at the Atelier National de Création Typographique in Nancy.

Karel Martens, 1939, Arnhem (NL)
Since 1961 active as visual designer in the fields of book art and typography for a wide variety of clients. Teaching activity at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. In 1996 awarded the Dr. A. H. Heineken Prize for Art. Founder of Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem.

François Rappo, 1955, Lausanne
Graphic designer and typographer. Active in the fields of book design and type design, corporate and exhibition design as well as orientation and information systems. Since 1996 Head of the Department of Visual Communication at the ECAL in Lausanne. Member of the Swiss Federal Design Commission.

Käti Robert-Durrer, 1948, Zurich
After graphic art studies at the Schule für Gestaltung Luzern, Käti Robert-Durrer worked for Pentagram Design in Zurich and London. Since 1977 she has had her own studio in Zurich with partner Jean Robert and has concentrated on images, posters, books and catalogues for various cultural institutions.