Table Of ContentARCHIGRAPHY
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ARCHIGRAPHY
LETTERING ON BUILDINGS
Agnès Laube
Michael Widrig
Birkhäuser
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FOREWORD
Building signage brings together two disciplines, architecture and
graphic design, in a relationship that is summarized by the term
archigraphy. In archigraphics, the graphic design constitutes a
secondary semiotic layer that should always incorporate its substra
te—the architecture. Effective archigraphic designs support the
statement made by a building, strengthen its identity, or—deliber
ately and for good reasons—form a contrast to it.
Designing signage appropriate to a specific building is a com
plex task. While most people understand the written code involved,
they lack the key to understanding the architecture. How can graphic
designers learn to “read,” understand, and interpret architecture and
react to it with their designs? Graphic designers usually work in two
dimensions and on small scales and are often not aware of the sig
nificance of space. How large should lettering be? What is the nature
of the sight lines inside and outside buildings? What sorts of materials
can be used for lettering, and how can it be constructed and mount
ed? Architects, on the other hand, usually have not studied the history
of lettering or the typographical applications of fonts.
Our methodology is based on the idea of deriving building sig
nage and wayfinding elements from the architecture to which they
relate. We aim to contribute to and explicitly promote the develop
ment of a new signage culture by analyzing current designs as well
as looking back at the history of archigraphy. The chapter “Learning
from History” traces the development of archigraphy from 1900 on
ward and illustrates it with many examples. Wherever possible, con
temporary architecture should be marked with equally contemporary
signage. This was a premise already adopted by modernist design
ers at the beginning of the twentieth century. The new discipline of
archigraphy was founded by the architects and typographers of the
Neues Bauen (New Building) movement, and some of their (playfully)
radical designs still remain groundbreaking today.
The examination of recent projects that makes up the core of this
publication focuses on the exciting forms of contemporary signage
they have produced. Each of these projects illustrates a strategy for de
riving integral signage from an architectural design. “Integral” needs
to be understood here in a comprehensive sense, that is, not only in
terms of the constructive integration of signage into a building but also
in terms of its relationship to a particular detail, material, or ground
plan. Moreover, signage needs to relate to the utilization and history
of the building, the site, and its surroundings. It is precisely when en
gaging with a difficult initial situation that integral thinking is required.
In such cases the introduction of an unorthodox idea may not only
help to solve a signage problem but also enable the designer to find
a new form of expression. It is hoped that the strategies shown here
will therefore provide inspiration for the discovery of other strategies,
for this is a field that still offers enormous scope for experimentation.
The chapter “Signage Techniques” offers an overview of the most
common signage methods. Historical techniques can be interpreted
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in contemporary ways and further developed. In principle, there are
few limits to the ideas that can be explored, and digital technologies
are offering extensive new scope for experimentation.
Finally, when discussing the topic of building signage, consider
ation also needs to be given to the influence on the quality of signage
exercised by the different stakeholders involved: municipal authorities,
building developers, manufacturers, graphic designers, architects,
and construction managers. The questions that need to be consid
ered here involve not only the concrete design and organization of
projects and the provision of adequate budgets for these tasks but
also the approach taken by stakeholders to signage commissions,
their choice of contractors, and how they organize competitions. The
book is rounded off by concrete, practical information on the fun
damental planning processes required to design, manufacture, and
mount building signage.
For a long time, the discussion of signage and lettering was
shaped by a discourse focusing on what architecture “in itself” was
able to communicate and what signage could contribute to its in
terpretation. This skewed relationship is now a thing of the past. It is
only when architects and graphic designers enter into an open dia
logue that the two disciplines are able mutually to enrich one another.
Convincing, multilayered solutions are generated particularly when
the theme of signage is integrated into the planning process at an
early stage.
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Part 1
INTRODUCTION
P. 8
Part 2
28 CASE STUDIES
P. 42
Part 3
APPENDIX
P. 138
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Part 1
INTRODUCTION
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LEARNING FROM HISTORY
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
ARCHIGRAPHY
P. 10
SELF- AND THIRD-PARTY
ADVERTISING
THE CASE FOR A
DIFFERENTIATED APPROACH
P. 30
ORIENTATION THROUGH DESIGN
SIGNALETICS
P. 36
SEEING OR READING?
THE RECEPTION OF
ARCHITECTURE AND SCRIPT
P. 40
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