Paper Design Workshop

In the last twenty years, thanks to technological progress and research, paper has radically transformed our daily life, in countless fields of application. Its versatility is surprising: from “Tengujo,” the Chinese artisanal paper only 0,003 mm thick, to innovative projects such as “Wikkelhouse,” a Dutch house made almost entirely of cardboard, designed to last between 50 and 100 years and to be 100% recyclable.
These examples show the extraordinary potential and the different forms paper can perform and acquire within design.
Paper design embraces every editorial project, paper goods, illustration and animation, designed for industrial production, where the main material is made of paper or cardboard. Despite being a relatively young field, its applications are many: from publishing to merchandising, from interior design to architecture, from illustration to stage design and animation. Along this path, the ancient and fascinating tradition of pop-up books also finds its place, with paper engineering, rooted in the fourteenth century yet still flourishing today, achieving its most sophisticated expression.

The workshop: “Un libro a tre dimensioni”

During the workshop, whose title translates as “a book in three dimensions,” some of the main three-dimensional structures will be adopted for the creation of interactive pages and pop-up elements. The goal is to create a prototype of a book which combines these structures with harmony.
The projects will use Cordenons cardboard, high-quality products chosen to enhance both the precision of the cuts and the steadiness of the construction. This will be a hands-on and immersive experience to gain skills that are fundamental in paper manipulation and to transform creativity into a surprising three-dimensional reality.

Dario Cestaro is the author of numerous pop-up books, published internationally with renowned publishers including Casterman Flammarion, Centre Pompidou, Feltrinelli, Giunti, Rizzoli, Mondadori, and Marsilio. Cestaro’s experience is rooted in his passion for innovation and artistic paper manipulation, which has led him to the creation of complex and innovative three-dimensional structures. Cestaro also teaches “Tecnologia della carta” (paper technology) at the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice.