Theo Deutinger

Ultimate Atlas

Logbook of Spaceship Earth

With Ultimate Atlas, Theo Deutinger—architect, designer, and author of the acclaimed Handbook of Tyranny—illustrates the basic data of Earth and its inhabitants to create a total portrait of the planet. How can we keep track of everything that happens on Planet Earth? How can we share this information with its inhabitants, despite their different languages and cultural backgrounds? Expanding on the visions of Buckminster Fuller and Stewart Brand, Ultimate Atlas answers these questions by radically levelling graphic data.

Breaking down planet Earth into 12 sections, the book devotes a double-page spread to information pertaining to subjects like ethnic groups, religions, nuclear warheads, and number of motor vehicles per country. The white pages of the book are divided by vertical black lines, in decreasing percentages from left to right. That way, Ultimate Atlas charts the planet with an impressive simplicity and clarity, creating a true “Planet Earth in a book”.

With Ultimate Atlas, Theo Deutinger—architect, designer, and author of the acclaimed Handbook of Tyranny—illustrates the basic data of Earth and its inhabitants to create a total portrait of the planet. How can we keep track of everything that happens on Planet Earth? How can we share this information with its inhabitants, despite their different languages and cultural backgrounds? Expanding on the visions of Buckminster Fuller and Stewart Brand, Ultimate Atlas answers these questions by radically levelling graphic data.

Breaking down planet Earth into 12 sections, the book devotes a double-page spread to information pertaining to subjects like ethnic groups, religions, nuclear warheads, and number of motor vehicles per country. The white pages of the book are divided by vertical black lines, in decreasing percentages from left to right. That way, Ultimate Atlas charts the planet with an impressive simplicity and clarity, creating a true “Planet Earth in a book”.


“the ultimate simplification of reality
– Eye on Design

«Nicht Weltverbesserer, sondern Welterklärer: Der Architekt Theo Deutinger zeichnet Atlanten globaler Verhältnisse und manche Zusammenhänge völlig neu»
– Die Presse

«Radikal abstrakt, schön, endgültig und binär schwarz-weiss bis zum Cover: Auf 70 Doppelseiten wird die Gegenwart auf dünnen, vertikalen Linien abgebildet, die an Partituren Neuer Musik erinnern»
– Der Standard


Author(s): Theo Deutinger

Design: Theo Deutinger

16 × 24 cm, 6 ¼ × 9 ½ in

192 pages, 70 illustrations

hardback

2019, 978-3-03778-592-8, English
CHF 30.00

Theo Deutinger

Theo Deutinger (*1971) is an architect, writer and curator. He is the founder and head of The Department (TD), a practice that combines architecture with research, visualization and artistic thinking. With TD he works at all scales from global planning, spatial master plans, architecture to graphic and curatorial work. Deutinger is known for his theoretical writings on the transformation of European urban culture, and his socio-cultural studies such as the “Handbook of Tyranny.” His work has been shown at the Design Biennale Kwangju (2011), the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale (2014) and the Storefront for Architecture in New York (2019), among others. Theo Deutinger lives and works in Austria.