Traces of Humanity
Letterpress
2085 Narrative
In 2085, life is governed by ABI, a controlling intelligence shaping sterile mega cities where touch, emotion, and independent thought are suppressed. One individual breaks away, drawn to a forgotten landscape beyond the cities. Uncovering a lost object: the letterpress. Once seen as a mere tool of production, it now appears as something sacred entirely alien to them, yet deeply human. A creaking frame, the weight of its parts, the pressure needed to leave a mark, all reveal a world where memory was made through effort. Each printed fragment becomes a trace of tangible humanity, a quiet defiance against digital erasure. In this discovery, the figure is transformed and with others who follow, forms a new group: the Guardians of Knowledge. Together, they resist through human acts of making.
Spatial Concept
The boiler house becomes a space of transition where past structure supports a new ritual of making. In this moment, a cloaked figure ascends worn stone steps toward suspended paper sheets, each one part of the handmade printing process. The layered timber structure is inserted within the existing brick shell, allowing the old and new to coexist. Light filters through carefully framed openings, revealing textures, shadows, and traces of use. The space reflects the project’s central ideas: compression and release, memory through material, and resistance through physical labour. Making paper, carving type, and printing become acts of preservation each one embedding a human imprint into the space.
