The Federal Office of Culture FOC has organised the “Most Beautiful Swiss Books” competition on behalf of the Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA every year since 1999. The award recognises excellence in book design and production and focuses attention on especially remarkable and contemporary books. At the end of January 2015 the five-member jury, which was chaired for the fourth time by Manuel Krebs, considered a total of 437 entries and chose 17 titles as the Most Beautiful Swiss Books of 2014. In judging the submissions, the jury takes into account each book’s overall concept, graphic design and typography, and pays particular attention to innovation and originality. Further criteria include the quality of the printing and the cover, the binding and the materials used.

Swiss entries win gold, bronze and honorary appreciation

The Stiftung Buchkunst conducted its annual “Best Book Design from all over the World” competition on 6 and 7 February 2015. Assembled in the German National Library, seven jurors from Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, Russia and Switzerland appraised 585 books from 30 countries which had already received accolades in their respective national competitions. Switzerland received the following awards:

Gold Medal

Fundamentalists and Other Arab Modernisms. Architecture from the Arab World 1914–2014
Author: George Arbid, Kingdom of Bahrain National Participation, Biennale di Venezia 2014
Publisher: Bahrain Ministry of Culture, Bahrain; Arab Centre for Architecture, Beirut
Design: Jonathan Hares, Lausanne
Printer: Musumeci S.p.A., Quart
ISBN: 978-9-95840-34-1

Bronze Medal
Paul Chan. New New Testament
Publisher: Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager, Basel
Design: Kloepfer-Ramsey Studio, Brooklyn
Printer: Schwabe AG Druckerei, Muttenz
Issuers: Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager, Basel; Badlands Unlimited, New York
ISBN: 978-3-95239-715-2

Honorary Appreciation

For the fink twice series published by edition fink, Verlag für zeitgenössische Kunst, Zurich
Printer: Kösel GmbH & Co. KG, Altusried-Krugzell

fink twice 501: Rob van Leijsen. Art Handling in Oblivion
Design: Rob van Leijsen, Georg Rutishauser, Sonja Zagermann; ISBN: 978-3-03746-501-1
fink twice 502: Petra Elena Köhle, Nicolas Vermot-Petit-Outhenin. Albert’s Guesthouse
Design: Petra Elena Köhle, Nicolas Vermot-Petit-Outhenin, Georg Rutishauser, Sonja Zagermann; ISBN: 978-3-03746-502-8
fink twice 503: Thomas Galler. Walking through Baghdad with a Buster Keaton Face
Design: Thomas Galler, Georg Rutishauser, Sonja Zagermann; ISBN: 978-3-03746-503-5

The international competition award ceremony takes place as part of the Leipzig book fair at 4 p.m. on 13 March 2015 at Stiftung Buchkunst, Stand G 600, Hall 3. Stiftung Buchkunst press release dated 2 March 2015: www.stiftung-buchkunst.de

Jan Tschichold Award 2015 goes to the publisher and designer Urs Lehni

Inaugurated by the FOC in 1998, the Jan Tschichold Award recognises outstanding achievements in book design by an individual, group or institution. It is bestowed independently of the competition. This year’s award, which is endowed with CHF 15,000, goes to the designer, publisher and university professor Urs Lehni (b. 1974 in Lucerne). In its commendation, the jury noted that Lehni and his Rollo Press publishing house, which was founded in 2008, produce remarkable and diverse publications whose quality has drawn global acclaim. Working closely with artists and institutions, Urs Lehni repeatedly devises unique solutions for books, while as a publisher and academic, he consistently interrogates the practice of publishing and publishers (see attached profile).

“Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2014” award ceremony and exhibitions
The “Most Beautiful Swiss Books” of 2014 will be on display to the public at the Helmhaus Zurich from 25 to 28 June 2015. The catalogue of this year’s competition will be published at the same time. The winner of the Jan Tschichold Award will be honoured at the vernissage.

In autumn 2015 the books will be shown for the first time in Basel, as well as St.Gallen, the Engadine and western Switzerland. As in previous years, all the books entered in the competition will be displayed alongside the award-winning titles. The dates and venues will be announced in June 2015 at the exhibition in the Helmhaus.

The award-winning publications are also shown abroad each year in exhibitions hosted by various institutions and local organisers. Venues this year include Copenhagen and Skive (Denmark), Oslo (Grafill), Paris (Centre culturel suisse), Venice (bruno bookstore) and Vienna (Typographische Gesellschaft Austria).

The “Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2014” catalogue is published in June 2015

Concept and design: Studio NOI, Simone Koller & Corina Neuenschwander, Zurich
Jury reports: Tan Wälchli, Berlin / Zurich
Texts: German, French, Italian, English
ISBN: 978-3-909928-30-9
Issuer: Federal Office of Culture
Distributor: Edition Hochparterre, www.edition.hochparterre.ch

Three “Most Beautiful Swiss Books” of 2014 earn gold, bronze and an honorary appreciation in the international competition