Codex : code X : a palimpsest reading of the book as a material object in a new media age

Abstract

This research investigates the effects of new media technologies on the architecture of the book in the context of a New Media Age. The aim of the project was to develop a Conceptual Framework for the design and production of the contemporary book as a material object. The materiality of the contemporary book is examined by revisiting its historical origins in the Middle Ages, to discover the extent in which the ‘new’ media technology of mechanical printing determined the design and production of the fifteenth century book. Parallels were then drawn between these effects and those of digital technology on the book in this current New Media Age. The results revealed the book as a palimpsest, where remnants of ‘older’ media remain embedded in the design and form of the ‘new.’ While fundamentally situated in the field of graphic design, the study also ventures into the disciplines of architecture and the semiotic theories of Umberto Eco and Gunther Kress. The design of the research includes historical and theoretical analysis, case studies of selected contemporary book objects and a series of studio investigations into the space, form, techniques, processes and materials of traditional and contemporary book construction. The theories and design practices of William Morris, implemented in the studio investigations, included researching the origins of book production in the fifteenth century and the traditional hand technologies of papermaking, printmaking and bookbinding. New media investigations included experimental work with laser etching and the embedding of printed, paper pages in porcelain. A synthesis of the theoretical and practical research findings, was then interpreted as semiotic conceptual matrices, from which a Conceptual Framework was constructed. Conclusions drawn from the study reveal the design of the book as a palimpsest of past technologies that remain embedded in the design of the contemporary book. As a material demonstration of the thesis, a series of three dimensional conceptual models were developed as reading sites informing the design of contemporary books as palimpsest readings of the book as a material object for the New Media Age.