Tulane University Special Collections invites you to join us for our 2026 exhibition, As Light as Paper, as Firm as Stone: 500 Years of Printing and Building. Curated by Maryluna Santos Giraldo.

The emergence of the movable type printing press in the fifteenth century allowed for the standardization of a visual grammar for printing and building. At the same time, it enabled new forms of innovation and adaptation. Since then, the page and the stone block were never distant, frequently informing one another.

Traveling as light as paper, architectural ideas spread widely through treatises and single-sheet prints. In turn, these printed images incorporated traits from the surrounding built environment.

This exhibition follows the journeys of books and buildings during the hand-press era, showcasing their shared paths. Like them, it becomes a space to wander where the body is both measure and maker.