To charge $10,000 for its latest luxe photo book edition - Genesis - German art publisher Taschen decided to pull out all the stops, commissioning renowned Japansese architect Tatdao Ando to design a wood book stand to hold the jumbo tomes.
Taschen also ordered a custom-built wooden shipping crate to hold the books and stand. And a crate was needed: The 18.4x27.6 in, 704-page two-volume edition art edition with the cherry wood Ando book stand weighs in at 130 pounds.
The book stand was conceived by Ando in a minimalist design: “twin” pieces of cherry wood, bound together with a leather hinge form the the wings of the stand, which is inserted into a third piece of slotted wood to form the sturdy, elegant display. Tashcen says the stand was produced in Spain.
Ando is the only living person to have won architecture’s four most prestigious prizes, Taschen points out. Ando recently designed his first piece of furniture, a venered plywood chair shown at the Milan furniture show in April.
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