JPK NRW. Der Architekt Josef Paul Kleihues in Nordrhein-Westfalen

Josef Paul Kleihues has been one of the most important and most prominent architects in Germany since the 1970s. He saw himself not only as a designer and theorist but also just as much as a teacher and an intermediary. Based on his teaching and theorising the publication provides a comprehensive overview of Kleihus’ projects in North Rhine-Westphalia.

What is unusual is the mix of two geometric typefaces. Both unmistakeably originate from the pen of the TypeType Foundry. TT Rounds Neue creates a strong connection with the template lettering used by Kleihues. This lettering, which he always uses in red, provided an impulse to form the main body of the text in colour. TT Commons is added as a body text font. The low-contrast stroke weight, the lack of decorative details and its straightforwardness reflect the architect’s working method. And yet this publication focuses on the unconventional in his concepts. This is supported not only by the mixing of colours, but also by the handling of pictures, which very slightly protrude over the pattern. The type area, on the other hand, remains classical.

The catalog acompanies the exhibition at Baukunstarchiv NRW and was published by Verlag Kettler.