Bookmatching


The cutting and unfolding of slabs of veined marble to create visual patterns possibly began in the first century. The Hagia Sophia of Istanbul, from the sixth century, is one of the earliest and best examples of this creative workmanship. A block of marble is split and unfolded once, referred to as matchbooking or bookmatching, or
may be split and unfolded multiple times, similar to the bellows
of an accordion.



An elegant way of creating visual symmetry from nature is called matchbooking. Material which exhibits a pattern of vein or grain,
such as marble or wood, can be split and unfolded. The result is a shape with bilateral symmetry, such as can seen on the back of a typical violin. Complex unfolding is discussed here