The shelf is not just a simple presentation base – in the work of Bruther it becomes its own organic entity. It bears witness to the studio’s past, while at the same time carrying a supply of “seedlings”, nurturing the practice of experimenting architects and hinting at future architectural works. Rather than taking a retrospective look at their practice, Bruther prefers to set in motion an ongoing in- terrogation of their work and research, giving rise to a book in the form of a stack. Each page is a composition and offers a visual promenade through temporal and formal games of stratification and sedimentation. It is important for the architects to keep looking at it, because they want to be surprised by their own forms.

Stéphanie Bru and Alexandre Theriot founded the office Bruther in 2007 in Paris. Bruther’s projects pare the design back to its essentials, exploring the fields of architecture, urbanism, landscape, research, and teaching.