I never thought that when someone told me to "crack open a book," they might literally mean it.
Possible Anatomies is inspiring readers to crack open their book to discover the possibilities. The concept of this fascinating project is by Corpo Atelier with graphic design by Ana Resende. By physically removing the outer shell from the book, the experience of the book itself becomes part of the story. The clever thinking, elegant structure, and beautiful pages within make Possible Anatomies a true force to be reckoned with.
«Possible Anatomies» encompasses rhetorical and representational inquiries into the possibilities of understanding and creating architecture, expressed through a series of texts about processes, general notes, anatomical drawings and conceptual models. Exploratory moments, developed by Corpo Atelier, over the course of five years, under the form of a book sealed inside a plaster model.
ABOUT THE BOOK
To catalogue a series of drawings and models into the form of a book represents, inevitably, a loss of the physical experience they provide when contemplated in person. Such experience of confronting one self with the physical attributions (scale, materiality, weight, etc.) of these real objects cannot be properly translated into a printed medium of flat scaled down images. In such paradigm, the very experience of the book becomes fundamental. How one discovers, engages and relates to it as an objec, as well as the meaning it encompasses, becomes a potential theme in itself. Given the nature of its content, the book Possible Anatomies, which recollects a series of rhetorical and representational inquiries into the process of understanding and creating architecture, comes embedded inside a plaster sculpture. By making it (un)available in such manner, the book is presented as an abstract idea, with no correspondence to the physical reality of the future reader. To actually confirm its existence, the sculpture – here representing both container as well as content – must destroyed. Its irreparable loss is required for the book to be discovered. An unavoidable consequence, as both of these objects cannot coexist as integral realities.
The book is not a book, as much as it is a physical and mental process of discovery. Much like the drawings and models it tries to convey.
Project Credits
Concept: Corpo Atelier | @corpo_atelier
Graphic Design: Ana Resende | @anaresende_editorial
Preface: Andreia Garcia
Proofreading: Isabel Rodrigues
Printing: Gráfica Maiadouro