Hybrid spaces between France and Germany

While conventions would have us expect that borders are physical limits, they do however also represent a meeting point between cultures. The book Le Même Air shows the singularity of hybrid spaces: the border areas. It brings together works by others and personal works, in form of photographic, filmed and textual material on the theme of border and migration between countries. Like the border areas, which are less of a limit than a progressive mixing between two countries, the editorial object shows an evolution in its content. The documents presented in the first part of the book offer a definition of the word « border »; the second part shows memories of people who have been subject to a change of country.

The third part of the book contains personal works that present a point of view as a borderer. Fifteen French, German and Franco-German graphic designers, artists, type designers, teachers and architects, were contacted. All have been affected by a change of country or by the border directly. They answered to questions about the impact of border on them and on their environment. They also testified about the typefaces they associate with France or Germany.

Photography has a prominent place in the work created. The selected images are similar to the documentary style, which allows the viewer to make his own interpretation of the subject photographed. Typographically, a shift occurs between two typefaces through the book: Akzidenz Grotesk on one side, and a German Didone typeface on the other hand, Berthold’s Walbaum. Their encounter produced a new typeface, a modulated sans serif named Akzidenz Modern. This hybridization occurs gradually and discreetly changes the tone of the text. As a whole, the lines we draw on maps are merely man-made artefacts created to define spaces; but far from being only a mean of separation, they most importantly enable the meeting of individuals. 

celinekriebs.com