Contemporary World Architecture, Phaidon Press

The opportunity to design a book as well as the materials to promote it, helped ensure the high visibility of Contemporary World Architecture, a major international survey of architecture today.

The book offers a comprehensive look at world architecture from 1970 to date. Hugh Pearman analyses contemporary buildings by type – buildings for the visual arts, workplace, living etc. – rather than relaying architectural developments in chronological order, or by architectural movement. 

The book is divided into thirteen sections using a brief introduction to the building type plus one famous example. The colour treatment of these divider pages elevates the buildings from bricks and mortar to icons. The icons feature in the promotions for the book, on display materials for book stores, on invitations for the book launch, and promotional posters.