Wim Westerveld

Students: Anastasia Voloshina, Christelle Currat, Swantje Malz, Olya Bazilevich, Maja Zagorska, Anna Bierler, Silvan Händeler, Houtan Ghazi, Dennis Mertsch

Discussions surrounding the predicted disappearance of the traditional book form due to the progressive digitization of reading have been circulating for several years now. That being said, there is no doubt that texts themselves are here to stay – as e-books, bound and printed books, or any of the other countless forms available for us to read today. Given this wealth of reading options, it is worthwhile for designers to investigate the roles and functions of digital, analog, and hybrid reading rooms. After all, the (printed) word is essential to the history and foundation of our society. The semester project “Das kommende Buch” explores what digitization means for the reading process as a cultural technique. The students taking part took experimental, practical, and approaches to examining new forms of reading and attendant developments in the analog and digital interfaces between people and (sources of) information.