Coming Home

20. April 2017

Our ambitious concept for the Lars Müller Publishers Nomadic Bookstore comes to a temporary end.

During the Salone del Mobile the bookstore was sheltered by a prominent pavilion, planned and designed by students of the MuseumLab Diploma 15 at the AA Architectural Association School of Architecture, London. Located at Piazza San Marco, the busiest crossing in the Brera Design District, it captured the attention of thousands of passersby while also drawing in many deliberate visitors. ArchDaily listed the pavilion as one of the six best spatial installations at this year’s Salone. The highlights were the crowded book signings with Jasper Morrison, Konstantin Grcic and SO-IL Architects.

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Image by Iwan Baan
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Image by Iwan Baan
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Image by Iwan Baan
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Image by Iwan Baan
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Image by Lars Müller Publishers
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Image by Lars Müller Publishers
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Book signing with Jasper Morrison, Image by Lars Müller Publishers
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Book signing with Konstantin Grcic, Image by Lars Müller Publishers
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Book signing with SO-IL, Image by Lars Müller Publishers
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Image by Lars Müller Publishers
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Image by Lars Müller Publishers

In March, the Nomadic Bookstore was hosted by our friends Ahmed and Rashid Bin Shabib of Brownbook in Dubai during Dubai Art Week. The architectural intervention in the Khazzan Park offered atmospheric space for a generous presentation of a relevant selection from our program. Our temporary stay in the heart of Dubai attracted a highly informed and sophisticated cultural community. The opening night included a conference and presentation by Ahmed Mater, whose Desert of Pharan was officially launched with an exhibition by his gallery at Art Dubai.

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Khazzan Park
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Our Nomadic Bookstore
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Getting ready at Khazzan Park in Dubai
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Opening night at Khazzan Park in Dubai
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Lars and Ahmed Mater, author of Desert of Pharan
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Presentation of Ahmed Mater's Desert of Pharan
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Presentation of Ahmed Mater's Desert of Pharan
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Presentation of Ahmed Mater's Desert of Pharan
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Khazzan Park
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Book launch of Ahmed Mater's Desert of Pharan
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Book launch of Ahmed Mater's Desert of Pharan
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Rem Kolhaas and Ahmed Mater

Another major venue on our nomadic tour was Lisbon during the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2016. Marina Alexandre and Nuno Grade offered space in their furniture concept store Nord, where the books combined well with their exquisite selection of chairs. Jasper Morrison and the elite of the international architecture community attended the opening on September 5^th, 2016.

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Marina Alexandre and Nuno Grade, owners of concept store Nord
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Opening night at Nord
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Opening night at Nord
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Opening night at Nord
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Opening night at Nord
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Nuno Grade and Jasper Morrison

Nomadic Bookstore events also took place at the Théatre Saint-Gervais in Geneva, the goodtransfergallery in Munich and the Oslo Architecture Triennale 2016, and the premiere was held in Copenhagen at Tommy Kirkegaard's cozy antiquarian bookshop in May 2016.

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Lars and Tommy Kirkegaard, owner of Kirkegaards Antikvariat
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Opening at Kirkegaards Antikvariat
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Although labor-intensive and time-consuming, the Nomadic Bookstore experiment was a great success. We were rewarded with many new impressions and face-to-face conversations with our audience, who enjoyed the hands-on and exclusive encounter with our books. We come home with many hundreds of new friends, with whom we will remain in close contact. Thank you all for your interest and support.

We would also like to thank our hosts and sponsors, who offered us a warm welcome and helped us realize this ambitious project.

The Lars Müller Publishers Nomadic Bookstore enjoyed the support of PRO HELVETIA Swiss Arts Council.