SOLERI’S VISION

Book design and installation

Urban sprawl has always been a pressing issue. Aggravated by global warming and extreme weather changes, the danger of it has become especially apparent in recent years. As a graphic designer with a background and fascination in architecture, I set out to research, synthesize, and design Soleri’s Vision, a book that examines the cause and effect of urban sprawl and the likely positive outlook in the future.

Inspired by the colors and textures of the American Southwest, where Soleri’s Arcosanti project is based, the book mainly uses warm, rich earth tones. Images are treated with a grainy texture to mimic the impression of sand. Inspired by the circular forms of Arcosanti, there is a consistent use of circular motifs throughout the book.

A sequence that demonstrates the sprawl of Los Angeles over the years

The designs of image call-outs and folios are inspired by architectural drawing notations: as you flip through the pages, the scale bar on the bottom-left corner continues to extend.

The second part of the projection is an installation, designed to be a centerpiece at the book launch event. The projection-based installation gives a preview of the book’s first two chapters: curated footage that portrays the cause and effect of urban sprawl and Soleri’s vision is projection-mapped onto the structure with MadMapper, with typographic call-outs supplying additional information. The half-dome structure is also inspired by the form of Arcosanti. The content projected onto the half-dome on the left is the literal representation of urban sprawl and Arcosanti, whereas the footage projected onto the right is an abstracted, atmospheric interpretation of the narrative.

VERONICA TSAI

VERONICA TSAI

SOLERI’S VISION