Marlon Tate

High-rise housing and skyscrapers are a highly visible and widely discussed form of housing in the UK, particularly favoured by younger generations. Amid an ongoing public debate around this housing typology, Marlon Tate was commissioned to design and art direct the publication ”What is the Future of High-Rise Housing?”. Published by the London School of Economics, the book brings together a series of essays by prominent architects, academics and theorists examining the long-term social and financial impacts of residential towers.

The pocket-sized paperback features illustrations and photographs by Londoners and adopts a deliberately critical stance towards high-rise housing. In response, Marlon Tate was tasked with ensuring the publication maintained a sharp, contemporary look and feel. The design and art direction draw inspiration from 1960s political manifesto pocket books. The cover references tall buildings and protest placards, employing visual language that reflects both the polemic intensity of public demonstration and the schism between opposing viewpoints.

To further develop the political manifesto concept, the heavyweight display typeface Marche was selected. The book is printed in two Pantone colours—green and purple—with the same colours applied to the sprayed page edges. All interior content is rendered in black and white or monochrome purple, evoking the DIY xerox aesthetic historically used by protesters and squatters to disseminate ideas and manifestos.