“An Oriental Dream”
Creation of a book in folding screen format
When the challenge is to capture the exoticism and modernity of the young Salvador Dalí for his Birth House, the traditional book format falls short. “An Oriental Dream” is a feat of editorial engineering in which the container is as surreal and fascinating as the content: a work structurally conceived as a Japanese folding screen that unfolds to connect two reading volumes.
The engineering of the folding screen: Two volumes, one soul
The masterful complexity of this piece lies in its structure. The book, with a highly stylized vertical format (105 × 320 mm closed), conceals inside two independent 64-page sections, each sewn with exposed thread.
To achieve the spectacular folding screen effect (zigzag fold), the cover acts as the central hinge. The first page of the first volume is fully glued to the inside of the front cover, while the last page is attached to the first panel of a central diptych. The second volume repeats the process in reverse, beginning from the second panel of the diptych and ending at the back cover. This precise gluing system transforms the reading experience: the book does not simply open—it rises and stands upright like a sculptural and decorative object.
The finishing challenge: Millimetric precision
Such an unusual architecture requires an almost handcrafted level of assembly. Once the volumes have been glued to the cover, the book requires exclusive guillotining of the head and foot to ensure perfectly square edges and enough stability to stand upright. The fore edge (the front edge of the pages) cannot be trimmed afterward, as doing so would cut through the fold of the diptych that connects the entire system. This means that the preliminary folding of the signatures must be absolutely flawless.
Every detail matters
The paper: Organic texture and warmth
To complement this structure, glossy coated papers were deliberately avoided in favor of the Arena Natural Rough range (300 g/m² for the cover and belly band, and 100 g/m² for the inside pages). This uncoated paper, with its slightly warm tone and porous, textured surface, absorbs four-color process inks to produce rich colors with a painterly appearance, directly connecting with the sensibility of Oriental art and the painter’s brushwork.
The die-cut belly band: The finishing touch
To hold and present this “dream” in its vertical format, an elegant solution was devised: a die-cut lower belly band measuring 10.5 × 10.5 cm, positioned upside down at the bottom. In addition to displaying the title and exhibition information, this element acts as a structural corset, keeping the folding screen closed and compact until the reader decides to release it.
The result:
“An Oriental Dream” is a true jewel of graphic production. With this piece, the Salvador Dalí Birth House has created a book-object in which the technique of double exposed-thread binding and folding screen assembly transcends the act of reading, becoming an unforgettable artistic and tactile experience.
