If there is something familiar to Forget Me Not and its subject, the 19th-century textile-drying towers in Eastern Switzerland, that is because Susanne Koeberle wrote about Stéphanie Baechler's book and related installation at Tröckneturm (drying tower) in St.Gallen last summer for the Swiss-Architects magazine. For the installation, the artist suspended 370 meters of fabric from the 25-meter Tröckneturm that was built in 1828. The strands of fabric were punched with holes depicting forget me not flowers, thereby giving the project its name but also referring to the punch card system that was used by the Swiss textile industry starting in the late 1800s. Herself once a textile designer in St. Gallen, Baechler was inspired by a historical photograph of one of the area's drying towers during an artist residency in 2020. Finding the histories of these buildings and the wider Swiss textile production industry lacking, the artist embarked on the project that culminated with the installation in St.Gallen and the publication of Forget Me Not / Vergissmeinnicht by Building Fictions, both last year.

The book appropriately weaves historical documents found in Baechler's research, contemporary photographs by Ladina Bischof of the 27 remaining towers in Switzerland, and the artist's sometimes autobiographical words in a layered design by Rudy Guedj. Red for the historical documents stands out across the black-and-white photographs. The texts by Baechler as well as Andreas Zangger and Michael Gnehm are in English and German. The whole “breathes new life into these structures, allowing their stories to resonate with a modern audience,” per the jury citation.

“The sophisticated layout and immaculate production provide a truly fitting setting for this volume’s content. Forget Me Not explores the nearly forgotten 19th-century textile-drying towers of Eastern Switzerland, presenting them not merely as relics but as vibrant subjects reimagined through artistic intervention. It’s an approach that breathes new life into these structures, allowing their stories to resonate with a modern audience. Images, archive material, notes, anecdotes and correspondence in signal red layers, alongside commissioned texts, are accompanied by black and white photographs of the remaining towers. This blend of objective analysis and personal reflection invites readers to explore the subject from multiple perspectives, enriching their understanding of the cultural and historical significance of these architectural forms. At its essence, Forget Me Not stands out for its contemporary presentation of historical subjects, masterful use of typography and a narrative that seamlessly combines academic research with personal storytelling.”

Even though Stiftung Buchkunst only considers titles that have already been awarded prizes in their home country—Forget Me Not won a Dutch award in 2024, for example—or have been recommended by a body of experts, the jury was faced with 550 publications they had to immerse themselves in over three days of deliberations in Leipzig in February. Other winners in the Best Book Design from all over the World 2025 competition include: 

• Zbierka zážitkovej poézie by Erik Šimšík (Gold Medal)
• Everything is a Projection by Sheung Yiu (Silver Medal)
• Oh, ein Stein! by Felix Bork (Silver Medal)
• Hidden Heartache by Simone Keller / Kulturstiftung des Kantons Thurgau (Bronze Medal)
• Żywy zapis / Live captured by Iwona Pasińska (Bronze Medal)
• Size Matters by Florian Ebner, Steffen Siegel, Vera Tollmann / Linda Conze, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf (Bronze Medal)
• Nigra crux mala crux by Janusz Trupinda (Bronze Medal)
• Everyday Urban Design (series) by Bernd Kniess, Monika Grubbauer, Christian Berkes (Bronze Medal)
• Plus five honorable mentions and 21 shortlisted books.