Moleskine publishes the first book – The Hand of the Architect as an homage to hand drawing and architecture

2009.9.2

For the launch of its first book, the legendary notebook brand Moleskine celebrates The Hand of the Architect with pencil, felt-tips and pastel drawings showcasing the creative process of today’s’ most famous architects.

The enthusiasm for drawing has no geographical or personal limits: despite the popular belief, during the creative stage the computer always comes off defeated. The amazing catalogue The Hand of The Architect brilliantly illustrates this statement. This unique book designed by Moleskine consists in 378 signed-drawings by a group of 110 internationally recognized architects, among Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano, Massimiliano Fuksas, Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Foster + Partners, Matteo Thun . . .








The initiative behind this book aims to be an homage to the important Milanese architect Piero Portaluppi, who designed the Villa Necchi Campiglio in 1932 in Milan. It is now owned by FAI (Italian Fund for the Environment) and it is open to the public since the summer of 2008. 400 drawings have been donated for an exhibition in the Villa, at the end of which an auction has been organised to financially help the renovation of the villa. The Hand of the Architect becomes naturally the catalogue for this prestigious event.

Along with theoretical texts, bibliographies of all the architects are also included. In a scenario where recent releases on the topic of architectural sketches are totally absent, the undeniable contribution of this catalogue and its theoretical content make a point on the fundamental connection between creativity, project and design.

The 288 pages catalogue, which gives a great insight of the creative process, is accompanied by a 120 blank page cahier for more personal sketches to be drawn.

This great catalogue with its blank page cahier come naturally to compliment the new Moleskine Folio collection dedicated to creativity, free expression and design. The new A4 and A3 sizes offer a generous space to be filled with drawings, projects, and writings. The Folio Collection is produced to the highest standards and with top quality materials. There are different papers for different uses: writings, sketches and drawings, watercolours and paintings, sheets storage.