Disegnare il sacro

Art direction and graphic design of the volume; conception, development and creation of the book promotion campaign. Disegnare il sacro (Designing the Sacred) – published by Rubbettino Editore – is a guided tour that explores the relationship between design and religion, from the Fifties to the early years Noughties, in Italy.

Written by Marco Sammicheli, curator and journalist – formerly design editor of the magazine Abitare – it is the result of research that saw the author attend the XIV Venice Biennial International Architecture Exhibition, an occasion at which he presented the project Disegnare il sacro (Designing the Sacred), of which the book is the natural development.

An illustrated essay in which words and images enhance each other, creating a visual, secular and modern language.
The tale is accompanied by a parallel narration consisting of captions, quotations and short texts. An essay embellished and enriched by Elisa Macellari’s illustrations which intersperse the narrative, like visual notes in a travel journal.

Architecture, People, Design and Contemporary Art are the book’s four chapters, represented by as many colours: a chromatic organisation that refers to traditional liturgical colours, re-worked in pastel shades.
“The starry sky above me, the bookmark within me” suggests the cover. An invitation to commence and to resume reading, to keep open the debate.
To keep alive the mystery.