The artistic book binding of architect Viera Mecková
Dana Doricová
When in 1985 the authors Viera Mecková and Lida Mlichová presented their work at the 5th Triennial of Artistic Book Binding in Prague, their contribution was a surprise. The individuality of their work was awarded with the Association of Czech Bibliophiles Prize for binding a book by J. Cocteau entitled Poetry, written in 1985. Viera Mecková, author of the artistic designs, is a significant Slovak architect. In 2003 she was the first woman to be awarded the annual Emil Belluš Prize for her lifetime work and contribution to Slovak architecture. As co-author of implementation of designs, Lida Mlichová, is the daughter of bookmaker Ján Vrtílek. Since early adulthood she has lived with book binding when her father worked in his studio. She became fully acquainted with it as her father established art book binding in Slovakia, from the everyday laborious work of the craft up to beautiful moments of the presence with her father while watching him working. When creating the binding for “their” books, the authors were searching for most appropriate forms to express their mission. They were not afraid to work with “non-book” and “lowly” materials. They added to them and modified them in order to achieve their imagination. They perceived traditional materials and processes in a new way, seeking hidden possibilities. When creating almost architectonically and sculpturally bound books they worked with less commonly used methods for the binding and processing the backbone.