Architecture of Amorepacific

2018 

offset lithograph, sewn in sections and cased

207 x 261 mm, 400 pp

Published in conjunction with the opening of Amorepacific’s Yongsan headquarters, this book discusses the works done for the cosmetics company by some of the world’s leading architects: Álvaro Siza, Neri & Hu, Kim Jong Kyu, Mass Studies, and David Chipperfield.

Overall, the design of the book strikes a balance between an academic publication and a coffee-table portfolio: in its handling of typographic details, arrangement of pictures, use of uncoated paper, and the modest, black-and-white dust jacket on a thick, hardback volume.

The random stripe patterns and the typographic treatment on the jacket and the chapter openings were inspired by the Chipperfield-designed headquarters’ fin-covered surfaces. The square-like, symmetric structure of the building is also reflected by the page layout, which plays with symmetry not only on the double-spread pages (along the binding axis), but also with the English and Korean text blocks placed in a two-by-two rhythm so that each “leaf” bears either language on both sides.

• Project type:
• publication

• Written by:
• Pai Hyungmin

• Typeset in:
• APHQ
• Arita Dotum
• GT Walsheim
• custom letterform

• Printed on:
• Munken Polar
• T-EOS

• Printed by:
• Top Process

• Commissioned by:
• Amorepacific Corporation
• Pai Hyungmin

• Exhibited as part of:
• Group Theory (DDP, Seoul, 2021–22)
• Graphic West 9: Sulki & Min (Kyoto DDD Gallery, 2021)