Johan Voordouw

Printed Aedicules - Library for Religious Manuscripts, Tivoli 2009

The project Printed Aedicules developed a new mode of architectural expression for a library in Tivoli, Italy. The library was proposed for the Museum of Manuscripts located at the Villa d’Este.

Seeking to explore new spatial constructs within the confines of a book, this project develops architectural space on and through the page. The books explore the process and spatial representation of manuscripts and book printing to blur the spaces imagined through reading and the physical spaces developed through construction.

The project was inspired by the representation of architecture (aedicular frames) that separate illustrated narratives in medieval manuscripts. The Printed Aedicules books attempt to three-dimensionalise these spaces and lift them off the page. While it is recognised that manuscripts are not printed, as the project title alludes, the term ‘printed’ was used to describe the process of the making of the books themselves. Printing was used at each stage during the process - to print the original thesis, printing the pages to form the final book and lastly, through computerised processes, printing three-dimensional models of parts of the library.

Johan Voordouw studied at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg before moving to London where he gained a Diploma and Masters degree in architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture UCL. His Diploma work was recently chosen for the Hinterland exhibition at the Arup Gallery in London. He worked for HKR Architects and is currently employed at Foster and Partners. Since 2008 Johan has also been a History and Theory lecturer at London South Bank University.