Architectural bookmaking has been exposed to disciplinary debates, just as building construction has been exposed to the charms of book culture. Dissecting a wealth of books through fi ve conceptual tools, André Tavares analyzes the material qualities of books in order to assess their crossovers with architectural knowledge. The detailed history of Sigfried Giedion's Befreites Wohnen and the two incarnations of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park and Sydenham provide a background that confronts us with the confi guration of the book as a unique visual device.