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The Reading Chamber

  • Project: The Reading Chamber
  • Online Journal: Asymptote Journal
  • Editor: Lee Yew Leong
  • Translators: Anna Aresi (Italian), Josefina Massot (Spanish)
  • Illustrators: Scintilla Paramanu, Scott Hsu, Michael McDowell, Andrew Broddle, Charlotte Ensign, Rob O’Roboro, Angelina Putri
  • Year: 2022

  • Project: The Reading Chamber
  • Book: Architecture’s Appeal
  • Editor: Mark Neveu, Negin Djavaherian
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • Location: London
  • Year: 2015

“The Reading Chamber” centers on a chimeric room whose paginated construction has stimulated generations of transcriptions and mistranslations. Originally exhibited in the bend of a copper pipe and later acquired by a permanent collection, the text has been freshly transcribed and illustrated in formats that may be held in your hands and perambulated by your fingertips. Following its inclusion in Architecture’s Appeal (Routledge, 2015), “The Reading Chamber” has been re-published with multiple translations by the open-access online journal Asymptote, “the premier site for world literature in translation.”

“The Reading Chamber,” Architecture’s Appeal, eds. M. Neveu, N. Djavaherian (London: Routledge, 2015).

Obtain

Featured In

2022

ASYMPTOTE JOURNAL

  • “The Reading Chamber,” Asymptote Journal, ed. Lee Yew Leong
  • April 21

2015

ARCHITECTURE’S APPEAL

  • In 2015, “The Reading Chamber” was included as the lead essay in Architecture’s Appeal, a volume of works celebrating the teaching and research of Dr. Alberto Pérez-Gómez by examining the role of history and theory in contemporary architectural praxis. Contributors to Architecture’s Appeal include Juhani Pallasmaa, Karsten Harries, Steven Holl, Marco Frascari, Tracey Eve Winton, Kenneth Frampton, Paul Emmons, Lily Chi, Louise Pelletier, David Leatherbarrow, Natalija Subtincic, Stephen Parcell and Ricardo Castro.

  • “The Reading Chamber,” Architecture’s Appeal, ed. M. Neveu and N. Djavaherian (London: Routledge)

Exhibited At

2015

Architecture's Appeal

  • Exhibited: 7 new illustrations of The Reading Chamber at Parsons School of Constructed Environments as part of Architecture’s Appeal, a panel discussion and book-launch with Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Kenneth Frampton, Louise Pelletier, and co-editors Marc Neveu and Negin Djavaherian.

2009

Van Pelt - Dietrich Library

  • Acquired by University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Van Pelt - Dietrich Library with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund. Portfolio N7433.4.K575 R43 1997b Work: The Reading Chamber (#0 of 11). This version of The Reading Chamber is described in the catalog as follows: “Eight laminated leaves attached by wire to a central, pivoting metal hinge, which is, in turn, attached to copper tubes at top and bottom, which are fixed to ceiling and floor, allowing the book, suspended at approximately eye-level for a standing reader, to be circumnavigated by spinning the text-pages.” Also noted: “one laminated leaf [has] detached from [the] central hinge.”

1997

ARCHItextURE: Experiencing Books as Buildings

  • Exhibited at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in the group show, ARCHItextURE: Experiencing Books as Buildings, curated by Karen Schiff.

Projects