Storefront Library Installation in NYC by Abruzzo Bodziak Architects.

Abruzzo Bodziak Architects have designed the installation for ‘Architecture Books – Yet to Be Written’ at Storefront for Art and Architecture. Since its founding in 1982, Storefront has presented the work of over one thousand architects and artists through exhibitions, events, competitions, publications, and projects, in an effort to advance innovative and critical ideas that contribute to the design of cities, territories, and public life.

Their latest exhibition serves as the anchor program for the New York Architecture Book Fair, which invites us to reflect upon the cultural contribution of architecture through books from 1982 to today – on view until 25th August 2018.

By extending the gallery’s iconic rotating facade panels into bookshelves that pierce the public space of the sidewalk, Abruzzo Bodziak sets the stage for an exhibition shaped by public participation and dialogue. The shelves, constructed of painted MDF, contain a selection of iconic architecture books published over the past 35 years, as selected through Storefront’s recent “Global Survey”.

The books stand up with the help of custom aluminium Book Marks which also display brief statements that re­contextualise their relevance. The shelves have been further populated over the course of the exhibit with additional contributions from publishers, non­profit organisations, creative collectives, and visitors. By remaining relatively sparse, however, the shelves suggest a trajectory for the future of architectural books yet to be written.

Abruzzo Bodziak has also designed 5 uniquely shaped mirrored Book Props that serve as non­textual signifiers for chronology within the exhibition. Each Prop is made of acrylic and is displayed together with a book printed with a date on each page. By organising the books on the shelves by the time period, they serve to orient and guide the viewer.

[Images courtesy of Abruzzo Bodziak Architects. Photography by Naho Kubota.]