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A high-precision Typst document template engineered for mathematical monographs, course notes, and technical publications. Inspired by the strict geometric discipline of Bauhaus and Russian Constructivism, Obelisk treats typography as an architectural problem — locking every element, heading, and block to a cohesive structural canvas.

Key Philosophies

  • Bauhaus-Inspired Aesthetic: Rejects decorative fluff in favor of heavy typography, active negative space, and dynamic layout vectors.

  • The Absolute Baseline Grid: Every single line of text, heading, and block element automatically snaps to a rigid vertical rhythm.

  • Print & Publication Ready: Engineered natively for physical printing. Features asymmetrical, alternating margins with a dedicated ledger column for sidenotes and technical markers.

  • Zero-Configuration Onboarding: Despite the complex geometric arithmetic running under the hood, Obelisk requires no elaborate layout scaffolding or boilerplate setup. It compiles instantly out of the box with highly refined, production-ready defaults—allowing you to focus entirely on writing your mathematics without wrestling with document configuration.

Core Features & Layout Architecture

  1. Built-in Theorem Environments: pre-configured environments for mathematical exposition (Theorems, Lemmas, Corollaries, and Proofs). Define your own using the exposed #make-environment.

  2. Grid-Aligned Blocks (#bblock): Standard block elements can easily throw off a baseline grid due to fractional padding or stroke widths. Obelisk exposes the baseline block bblock component, which automatically calculates and pads structural boxes so that the following text snaps perfectly back onto the running baseline. By default, all block equations are wrapped in #bblock.

  3. Intentional Page Breaks (#blank-page): When preparing documents for double-sided publication, forcing a section to start on an odd page can leave an empty facing page. The blank-page function inserts a clean break and prints an authoritative, technical layout marker. By default, all top level headings break to an odd page using #black-page.

  4. Customizable: Customize page sizes and margins, baseline step sizes, fonts, and more. Obelisk comes out of the box with a carefully designed default configuration, allowing you to tweak the underlying structural metrics without breaking the core grid alignment arithmetic. Customization is still in early stage; more options are coming in the future. See below for a guide to customization.

Example

#import "@preview/obelisk:0.1.0": *

#show: init

= Obelisk Template

#definition[
  *Obelisk* is a note template inspired by Bauhaus aesthetics.
]

== Second Level Header

All texts are by default aligned to a baseline grid.

$ integral_0^(+oo) "e"^(-x^2) dif x=sqrt(pi)/2 $

Math blocks are also automatically aligned.

=== Third Level Header

The template includes several theorem environments by default. #sidenote[inline sidenotes can be added] Theorems can have titles and referenced.

#theorem[mean inequality][
  One of the mean inequalities is $n/(sum_(i=1)^n 1/x_i)<=root(n, product_(i=1)^n x_i).$
]<thm:mean-ineq>

Theorems can be referenced by numbering (@thm:mean-ineq) or by title (@thm:mean-ineq[!]).

Customization Guide

Obelisk exposes its architectural engine through a centralized configuration dictionary. To apply your customizations, replace show: init with show: init.with(<your configurations>).

1. Layout Configuration

(
  paper: (width, height),
  margin: (s, e, t, f),
  side: (half-gutter, margin),
  texts: (size, ascender, step),
)

  • paper: Maps the absolute dimensions of the physical canvas.

    • width / height: Explicit length dimensions. Defaults to A4 size.

  • margin: Uses logical binding scopes to handle alternating page layouts dynamically.

    • s / e: Spine (Inside) and Face (Outside) horizontal margins. The layout engine flips these on odd and even pages to maintain binding gutters.
    • t / f: Top and Foot (Bottom) vertical margins, defining the boundaries where the baseline grid activates and terminates.

  • side: Manages the geometry of the margin ledger.

    • half-gutter: Half of the gutter between the body text and the side margin body. Equals the gutter between the body text and the vertical separating line.
    • margin: The outer margin for the sidenotes.

  • texts: The core parameters of the vertical baseline grid.

    • size: The default font size for the document body text (configured to 12pt by default).
    • ascender: The explicit vertical (ascender) height of the font.
    • step: The absolute grid increment (configured to 16pt by default), or the default line height. All block vertical paddings, headings, and margins must be integer multiples of this value.

2. Font Configuration

fonts: (body, math, sans, mono)

By default, Obelisk uses TeX Gyre Pagella (Math) for body and math fonts, Switzer for sans and IBM Plex Mono for mono.

For font replacements, we recommend:

  • For the sans font: use heavy, geometric, or unextended modern grotesques.
  • For the mono font: use high-legibility coding typefaces.