‘Ten elevations: Barbican’ Self-Initiated Book
Design Melissa Price

‘Ten elevations: Barbican’ is a 16 page book exploring the architecture of the Barbican estate by simplifying it to flat ‘elevations’ in black and white. This self-initiated project was completed in April 09 and was screen printed by Melissa’s own hand at East London Printmakers in Hackney in a short run of 20 copies.

“The aim of the project was to focus on the architect’s use of simple materials: concrete, brick and water, which are brought together in a multitude of different ways with a strong geometric language of rectilinear and circular forms to create a very distinctive architectural identity. Wherever you go in the Barbican there are beautiful compositions that work as isolated /images, I’ve always been impressed by the attention to detail that the architects put into every corner of the complex.

I am a resident of the Barbican, so I’ve had plenty of opportunity to wander the concrete walkways. The illustrations in the book are a result of my observations, compiled over the last three years.” – Melissa Price

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Today I had a hard a time time choosing what project should take the lead feature—both are excellent—so to make it as fair as possible I went with the age-old etiquette of: “Ladies First”. Never fails ;)
For those of you that don’t know, Melissa works at Cartlidge Levene.

Acknowledgements: Melissa

Make the most of this post while you can because I’m not going to make a habit of featuring illustration on SI!
Pictured is the result of a fantastic collaboration between photographer Kareem Black and the graphic designers’ favourite illustrator, Von for street luxury brand SVSV.