Hungarian Pavilion, Leipzig Book Fair 2018

Every spring, the Hungarian pavilion at the Leipzig Book Fair presents the most recent Hungarian books translated to German. Each year the designers commissioned by Collegium Hungaricum Berlin try to shape the stand in an experimental way, reflecting on the unique situation presented by a book fair. In 2018, the pavilion was designed by Hetedik Műterem, following a theme defined by the approaching centenary of the Bauhaus.

[…] We applied the characteristically Bauhaus approach of the Gesamtkunstwerk, and defined a reading space with a unique character and strong atmosphere, in the overwhelmingly standardised and commercial context of the fair. We recommended the opposite of what is characteristic of usual trade fair situations. The books were displayed on custom-made furniture in a space surrounded by 7-meter high white, transparent curtains, covered with a light carpet, in a bespoke lighting concept. Apart from obvious connections to contemporary architecture, the inner spatial atmosphere was inspired by examples directly connected to the Bauhaus, displaying the use of uncluttered, fluid spaces defined by textiles: a great example being Café Samt und Seide designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, and built in 1927 in Berlin, serving as an exhibition pavilion for the German silk industry. The uniqueness, lightness, constant movement, transparency and flexibility of the material used in this plan by Mies, who later served as director of the Bauhaus from 1930 to 1933, strengthens his paradigm-shifting theory of fluid spaces, which we tried to invoke in the exhibition space in Leipzig. […]

The typeface used throughout the stand on curtains, walls, furniture and flyers, is the Mohol type family by Ádám Katyi (the official typeface of the László Moholy-Nagy Design Grant), which reflects on Bauhaus experiments with basic geometric forms in a contemporary way. The graphic design was provided by Ákos Polgárdi (Submachine). Read more about the project and see a full list of credits on the website of Hetedik Műterem Kft.

Photography: Balázs Danyi