Close to 3 000 second-hand books were saved from being pulped when they were used to create an unusual floor for a small meeting room in Cape Town.
Based in Union House – a building inhabited by various creative industries including the Spier Arts Academy, the Creative Block project, an architectural practice and a graphic design studio – the room is an instant talking point among visitors.
John Blignaut, who heads the Pulling Rabbits graphic design studio, and his sister Jeanetta, who is in charge of the Spier Arts Academy, together recreated the floor from Jeanetta’s project for her master’s degree in art.
“Books were a big theme in Jeanetta’s work,” John explains. “She had the whole gallery floor laid out in books for her final project. It was so effective that we decided to recreate it in our previous office and now in Union House in Commercial Street.”
John says the old fabric bindings, illustrations and debossing techniques on many of the books on the floor have filtered into the pair’s design language.
Pulling Rabbits 021 465 8778, www.pullingrabbits.co.za
Spier Arts Academy 021 465 9029, www.spierartsacademy.co.za
