Certainties and doubts traces the life and work of Czech-American architect Jasan Burin (1929). Following the story of his colorful life, the book focus on his architectural work. This is interpreted within the context of 20th century architecture and represented by a selection of 53 projects. The book contains more than 400 illustrations from Jasan Burin´s personal archives: apart from photographs and plans of his architectures also witty drawings which reveal another love of Burin´s life: automobiles, locomotives and all kinds of machines.
To create a bilingual book about such charismatic person with so adventurous life as Jasan it’s a challenge. The Material? The author’s text and a collection of hundreds of unique sketches, drawings, renders, photographs and notes, letters, newspapers. So when UNIT ARCHITEKTI invited me to be the lead designer for this project I couldn’t be more happy.
The book is divided in two main chapters: The interview “I love architecture as a medium of human existence” and a selection of Jasan’s works. Each chapter is color coded, visible in each cover page and through a lateral annotation. This allows the reader to identify the book composition at the first sight without opening it.
One of the biggest challenges I had was how to make a cover that screams Jasan Name without being noisy. Jasan Burin is an important architect but here in czech many people don’t know who he is. Therefore I wanted to share his life imprint with everyone. Something that you could feel without your eyes, something that even Jasan, with is almost blind eyes, could feel and recognize.
I loved every single moment from this interesting path throughout all Jasan’s hand drawings, family portraits, illustrations and even cartoons while I would listen countless stories by himself.
Photography: UNIT ARCHITEKTI
