Every November the Dept. of Student Services, Harvard Graduate School of Design call for instructors to teach short seminars during the first three weeks of the year.

Irina Gorstein was first asked to develop a bookbinding workshop 12 years ago. "It was a daunting proposition at the time because I had no experience teaching non-bookbinders how to make books. However, I had some practice consulting the GSD students on various portfolio-making projects. These encounters helped me develop the curriculum for the workshop. I knew that I should avoid the use of adhesives, the need for heavy bookbinding equipment, and at the same time have to accommodate the clean–looking aesthetics which is generally preferred by architects and designers. Thus, the workshop took shape. It is designed for 6 participants and includes a short lecture on the historical evolution of a book structure and bookbinding materials, fundamentals of typographical layout, text-block preparation and creating four non-adhesive books structures based on historic bindings. In order to streamline the practical aspect of the workshop, I prepare all text–blocks ahead of time but students also are given a chance to practice folding, trimming and pressing sections in the course of the seminar. During the two–day workshop we create a simple Pamphlet Binding, a Chinese Butterfly Binding, an Ethiopian Binding and a model of Italian Long-Stitch Binding."