Look Into the Future of the Past: Mājas Cēsīs book design

Stories of Cēsis’ restored buildings, the history they hold, and a new chapter in their long lives.

The book was developed as part of an ongoing collaboration with Mājas Cēsīs, alongside website design, café branding, and other extensions of the brand experience. It functions as a physical layer of the identity, designed to extend the atmosphere of the spaces into a tangible object that guests encounter during their stay.

The concept emerged directly from the buildings themselves. The exposed wooden structures inside the apartments informed the decision to use an open, visible spine, allowing the book to feel structurally honest and physically “unbound,” echoing the architecture it documents. The cover design draws from the layered history of the site, using imagery from original wall drawings discovered in one of the buildings during its earlier life as a school. These traces were preserved and reinterpreted as a visual entry point into the story.

The publication builds its narrative through multiple layers of historical material. Alongside contemporary photography, archival imagery from the Cēsis Museum archive was integrated to create a dialogue between past and present. This approach supports a broader narrative developed in collaboration with writer Ieva Elza Zaharova, journalist Jānis Gabrāns, and architect Pēteris Blūms.

Rather than functioning solely as an informational object, the book was designed as an extension of place and identity. It acts as a bridge between guest, building, and city – positioning design as a medium for cultural storytelling and continuity. A print run of 2,000 copies now circulates internationally, encouraging visitors to take the story with them and return in the future, reinforcing Mājas Cēsīs as both a destination and an ongoing relationship with the city.