Place talks

Man cannot live without without an amount of interaction with the world around them. All actions, feelings and thoughts of a person, are conditioned by the surrounding he lives in. Fundamentally human communicate with the universe or nature through his living environment. In these modern times, when more than a half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, build environment becomes significantly more important in the formation of our world view.

Architecture is the most direct way through which a human is connected with the world around him. On a daily basis it affects the sub consciousness of people and plays a role in the creation of their personalities. This is something architecture has in common with graphic design.

Typography is one of the fieldsin graphic design which has a significant presence in the build environment. Words are getting noticed almost immediately. They communicate information to people and directly affect people’s consciousness. Typography mediates information and language in the urban environment, and gives an identity to an impersonal architectural setting. Additionally, it creates a new scene for human interaction. This is what makes typography so influential.

research question
How does typography influence
the spatial experience of people
in the public space?

I researched the field of typography, architecture and environmental psychology in order to answer this question. The text investigates and establishes the link between typography and architecture. It provides historical and contemporary examples of the usage of lettering in architectural space. Which was done to emphasize the deep roots of coexistence of these two fields of art. Additionally, it describes the features and possibilities of typography within the architectural environment. The research demonstrates the relationship between human state, behavior and their physical environment. Therefore it introduces the necessary theoretical background of environmental psychology. This thesis is meant to explain and illustrate an important role of typography in the creation of suitable living conditions for humans.

Enlarged letters in space look like wrested strokes from books. As a remains from somebody’s message. City speaks to you. When you see such an instance in the space the perception of the place changes. The whole atmosphere became more intimate. It is like never ending conversation with somebody, whose replicas you can find everywhere. Or conversation with the place itself. The evolution of society goes hand in hand with the evolution of its habitat. Patrik Schumacher

Graphic
designers
insist on a crucial role of graphic design in the modern realities. We have been taught about the importance of critical thinking within our profession. Nowadays the graphic designer should be socially engaged and responsible for own decisions, not only as professionals but also as citizens. This is a great attitude towards graphic design. It helps to realize the importance of your own actions and choices as a graphic designer. Nevertheless, these are loud statements, but the language with which graphic design speaks is more quite. Using instruments of graphic design you mainly influence the subconscious of people. Not everyone is aware that he or she has made a certain choice or decision based on subconscious aesthetic preferences, which the designer was able to skillfully appeal. This is the strength of graphic design. It can influence and educate unnoticeably by a nonprofessional viewer. That is the reason I am convinced that the power of design is not in the revolutionary slogans, but in the opportunity to affect human consciousness and to form aesthetic values. You cannot change the world with the poster in one day, but with your work you can build certain aesthetic surroundings for human existence, which will influence and educate their worldview.

the built environment
becomes the main surroundings for humanity. It has the most influential power to shape people’s views. There is an important relationship between man and his visual surroundings. In this thesis, I want to consider the impact of built environment on humans and what role graphic design plays in it. It could be argued that the visual, aesthetic and cultural identity of the build environment is made up of, amongst other things, its graphical elements. More specifically, I want to consider the role of typography in the construction of experience of space. Typography in the architectural environment can thus be studied as part of a place’s identity. That is the reason why this research investigates the link between architecture and typography.

The thesis is going to elaborate on the typographical presence of linguistic units in the built environment. The research is mainly illustrated by examples of typographical interventions from Western English-speaking countries. These restrictions applied due to linguistic barrier and inability to look closer at the examples with different linguistic background. However, value of typography described in this thesis can be applied in different cultural settings. In the first chapter the influence of architecture on the psychological state of people and the formation of personal identity is investigated. The second chapter describes the current architectural frame in which typography might operate. The third chapter illustrates the importance of typography in the creation of place identity. In the fourth and the fifth chapter we take a closer look on the specification and categorization of typography. It also introduces a possibility to distinguish a specific kind of typography in the built environment, such as expressive typography. The last chapter emphasizes the difference between expressive typography and other types. It also elaborates on an opportunity to apply accrued knowledge about expressive typography in different contexts of usage in space. The research covers the study of the environment psychology which establishes the relationship between human behavior and conditions and their physical environment. However, the thesis mainly stresses the importance and possibilities of typography within the architectural environment.

Architecture is the most direct way through which humans are connected with the world around them. Mass and space are two main architectural ingredients. An architect operates them and by that makes a statement about the interrelationship of man with his universe. The abstract and indefinable notion of cosmos is always somehow present and represented in architecture and the human landscape. Landscapes and buildings are thus condensed worlds – microcosmic representations – and, consequently, the space built for human habitation is also, always, a metaphorical space. As philosopher Karsten Harries argues, “Chaos must be transformed into cosmos. When we reduce the human need for shelter to a material need, we lose sight of what we can call the ethical function of architecture.” ¹ ¹ McCarter, R., & Pallasmaa, J. (2012). Understanding Architecture. London, UK:
Phaidon Press Limited. Architecture in this sense is never just a provider of shelter, but, more importantly, it forms and expresses man’s ideology. Historical examples of architectural constructions from various cultures illustrate a different attitude towards the world around. Egyptian, Chinese, Islamic, and Christian buildings manifest completely different cultural and philosophical ideas. Architecture in these cases becomes a horn of cultural expression. But the process of expression of cultural constructions never works one way. It is always a bilateral process. To a certain extent the architecture expresses world views, it also affects them. People settle into the space, and the space dwells in people; architecture becomes part of them and they become part of it. A profound work of architecture does not remain outside us as a separate object; people live and experience themselves through the work, and it guides, directs and conditions the way they understand themselves to exist in the world. This tension between architecture being defined by what people can perceive and what people can perceive by being continually redefined by the architecture they imagine, is fundamental to understanding architecture as experience. ² ² McCarter, R., & Pallasmaa, J. (2012). Understanding Architecture. London, UK:
Phaidon Press Limited. Architecture in this sense is never just a provider of shelter, but, more importantly, it forms and expresses man’s ideology. Venetian philosopher Giambattista Vico said “Verum Ipsum Factum”, which means that “we can only know what human beings have made”. The surroundings that people build for themselves shapes them through their experience of it, changing the future even as it stands as the most telling record of the present in which it was made. ³ ³ McCarter, R., & Pallasmaa, J. (2012). Understanding Architecture. London, UK:
Phaidon Press Limited. Architecture in this sense is never just a provider of shelter, but, more importantly, it forms and expresses man’s ideology.

Cognitive mapping
is the concept developed by Fredric Jameson. He took the term from Kevin Lynch´s The Image of the City. In this work, Lynch wrote about the importance of man’s ability ‘to map (in their minds) their own positions or the urban totality in which they find themselves’. In other words, it describes the phenomenon by which people make sense of their urban surroundings. It can be understood as a transitional area between the personal and social. It allows people to function more effectively in the urban spaces through which they move. Jameson elaborated the theory of cognitive perception and made it into a metaphor for the model of how we might begin to articulate the local and the global. This model provides a way of linking the most intimately local – our particular path through the world – and the most global – the crucial features of political planet. ⁴ ⁴ Jameson, F. (1995).
The Geopolitical Aesthetic. Cinema and Space in the World System. London, UK:Indiana University Press. He saw a crucial link between the existential features (the position of the individual subject, the experience of daily life, the monadic “point of view” on the world) and vast and properly unpresentable totality which is the ensemble of society’s structures as a whole. ⁵ ⁵ Jameson, F. (1991). Postmodernism, or,
The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. USA: Duke University Press. According to Jameson this is exactly the goal of cognitive mapping in the framework of daily life in the physical city.

Space and mass are equally important to the architectural task of creating a living environment for people. Consequently, the way architecture approaches the space plays an essential role. It becomes, not merely a medium of guiding behavior, it is also an intentional means of mental and artistic communication, and an object of aesthetic articulation. People grasp the space through their senses and measure it with their bodies and movements. Space becomes an extension of people’s bodies beyond their skin, and the physical space and the mental spaces fuse. Architectural space mediates between the world at large and the human domain, the physical and the mental, the material and the spiritual. ⁶ ⁶ McCarter, R., & Pallasmaa, J. (2012). Understanding Architecture. London, UK:
Phaidon Press Limited. Environmental psychologist Harold Proshansky declares that place identity has been traditionally defined as a sub-structure of the self-identity of the person. He described the incorporation of place identity into the concept of individual’s self and emphasized significance of places for their inhabitants and users. Erik. H. Erikson, psychoanalyst and educator, developed the concept of the extension of the room of interplay which he related to the life circle. He introduces the idea of “forbidding environment” in contrast to “facilitating environment,” and showed how the balance between these two may affect one’s response to the various turning points in one’s life, strengthening or inhibiting the full realization of one’s potential. ⁷ ⁷ Bacon, E. (1967).
Design of Cities.
London, UK: Thames and Hudson. Erikson Image 1. Relation between life cycle and environment. Erikson saw the important dependence between formation of personality in the different stages of life and the surroundings. The physical settings influence the way people feel themselves within the space. When a person interacts with various places in life, he/she can evaluate and make his or her own assumption about an ideal satisfying perception of the place. All experience connected with places forms the environmental past of person. But individuals very often stay unconscious of the array of feelings, values or memories of a specific place and simply becomes more comfortable or uncomfortable with certain physical settings, or prefer specific spaces to others. However, as architect Gordon Cullen once wrote:
"Environment we consider pleasant did not just happen by chance".

A positive environment
is not only important for a psychological statement of one separate person, but can affect the state of sociological situations in general. The pedagogical and didactic function of art must not be ignored. According to the poet Joseph Brodsky, “Be like me” is the moral command of a work of art in general. Well-thought-out places are able to facilitate positive transformation of the community in general. Viennese philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said
"Ethics and aesthetics are one". Viewed in this light, the role of the designer acquires an important dimension. It is not to create facades or architectural mass but to create settings for a totally harmonious life experience. Architecture is the articulation of space so as to produce a definite space experience in relation to previous and anticipated space experiences. It should create conditions for a satisfying state of human and community.

Architecture
of modernism abandoned a tradition of iconology in which painting, sculpture, and graphics were combined with architecture. It mainly provides an architectural message. The diminutive signs in the most modern buildings contained only the most necessary messages, like street indicators and so on, minor accents decently applied. Robert Venturi, his wife Denise Scott Brown, and their friend Steven Izenour introduced the terms “duck” and “decorated shed” in the 1972 book “Learning from Las Vegas”. The book argues that there are two distinctly different types of buildings and that all buildings can be classified as one or the other.

DUCK
In case, the architectural systems of space, structure, and program are submerged and distorted by an overall symbolic form, this kind of building-becoming-structure authors called the DUCK in honor of duck-shaped drive-in “The Long Island Duckling”. They are buildings that can’t be anything but what they are as their shape foretells the activity taking place inside. They do not require signs, often blurring the line between building and sculpture. Ducks have innate ornamentation and are straightforward and honest in their intentions. What you see is what you get, and what you get is what you would expect. This sort of building became a characteristic feature of the transformation of architecture in the time of high modernism and so-called international style. The buildings of this period were separated from its surrounding context. They became break points in the fabric of the traditional city and its older neighborhood culture. Unlike one of the main characteristic of postmodernism is the erasure of the border between high culture and so-called mass and commercial culture. In this setting the other kind of buildings became more common.

DECORATED SHED
Where systems of space and structure are directly at the service of program, and ornament is applied independently of them. Venturi and co-authors called this the DECORATED SHED. Decorated shed carries a connection between modernist architecture and historical associations. Modernist architects are too convinced that form can exist out of any historical or cultural frame. And that these abstract forms can affect person just by mean of mass and space. However examples of different perception of the same forms, symbols and objects in different cultures can prove that it is difficult to create something universal and out of any context. It is hard to rely just on the physiological features of humans in order to build any elaborative architectural structure. In its turn decorated shed is a generic structure with a purpose identifiable only by its signage. In fact, decorated sheds could not exist without signs and other applied ornamentation. Unlike ducks, they are not symbols themselves, but require applied symbols. Implicit in the pure architectural forms of “duck” is a symbolism different from the applique ornament of “decorated shed” with its explicit associations. ⁸ ⁸ Venturi, R., Scott Brown, D.,
& Izenour, S. (1997). Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgetten Symbolism of Architectural Form.
Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The MIT Press. The viewers read the implicit symbolism of “duck” through the undecorated physiognomy of building. In order to do it, they should use their associations and past experience. However, the abstract expressionistic messages of “decorated shed” can be perceived through the inherent physiognomic characteristics of its forms–size, texture, color, and additional elements as signs or lettering. Such type of building as “decorated shed” often “exists” if there are some distinguished elements on them. They exist only if there are symbols/elements which differ them from other buildings. By definition they are as white and blank as a white sheet of paper lying in front of a writer. They are neutral and silent before a writer will bring it into life.

Modern built environment is mainly constructed out of buildings which we bravely can refer to as “decorative shed”. However, build settings have meaning, and matter to people only when it is experienced, when all human’s senses are simultaneously engaged in its inhabitation, and when it provides conditions in which the acts and rituals of daily life take place. Therefore it is important to realize the significant contribution of additional visual elements to the creation of a comfortable living environment. In order to distinguish lived space (space which is comfortable to be in) from physical and geometrical space, we can use the term existential space.

Existential space
is always a unique situational space interpreted through the person’s memory and intentionality. ⁹ ⁹ McCarter, R., & Pallasmaa, J. (2012). Understanding Architecture. London, UK:
Phaidon Press Limited. This is something which appears only by a perception of people who live in this space and experience it. The whole lived experiential world is a mosaic of places, next to and nested inside each other; it is not a continuous, unstructured and homogeneous space devoid of meanings. The experience of place is fundamental for our mental constitution and environmental perception, as well as for our innate structuring of the world. According to psychologist Gabriel Moser ¹⁰ ¹⁰ Gouveia, A. P. S. (2009).
Letters and cities: reading the urban environment with the help of perception theories. Visual Communication, 8, 339-348. the relation between individual and environment may be approached depending on four different levels of space and time references:
•  The micro environment of housing and personal space.
•  Proximity environments, described as a semi-public shared space, such as neighborhoods, parks, work environments, hospitals, schools, libraries and so on.
•  General public environments such as villages and cities.
•  The global environment, including the world in its entirety.
Architects Alison and Peter Smithsons also proposed a similar division. ¹¹ ¹¹ Smithson, A.and P. (2004). From the House of the Future to a House of Today. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: 010 Publishers. In The Doorn Manifesto they introduced so-called “Geddes Valley Section”. It was suggested to see urbanism areas as a different type of communities. These communities must be separated according to the Scale of Association:
•  Detached house-farm
•  Village
•  Towns of various sorts(industrial/administrative/special);
•  Cities (multi-functional)
Smithsons claimed that only studying this kind of dwelling and groupings can help to fully respond to specific needs of all types of communities. Eventually it can help to create valuable changes for people that live there. For each case Smithsons created different types of ideal architectural forms. Based on the needs of communities and different characteristics of the specific scale, they presented five different proposals of a specific buildings. Alison and Peter Smithsons played an important part in rethinking the old views of the program for the living environment, compared to the pre-war ideals. One of the Smithsons’ most important contribution to the debate on mass housing and urban planning is their focus on the idea of the social space as an important extension of the private living space. They were sure that it can create “an infinitely richer and more satisfactory way of living in cities.” Their proposal of series of “streets in the air” (streets which connected clusters of flats accessible above and below each mid-air street) was their contribution in the search of the ideal form of living, to increase quality of community and bring a kind of humanity into the living environment. Following specified categorization this thesis is going to mainly focus on semi-public shared environments which is the field of study of architects, urbanists and designers. Additionally it is that kind of spaces where graphic designers can actively contribute to the formation and organization. These kind of spaces shouldn’t be treated merely as a living or purely as a transitional structure for humans but as a cultural and aesthetic environment which forms the aesthetic views and values of its habitants. Thus they need to be comfortable and pleasant. And one of the most important criteria for assessing the viability of the living environment is the comfort and joy of its inhabitants. As Shakespeare wrote at a time when urbanization was in its infancy:
“What is a city but its people?”

T here is an aesthetic preference for rationality, reduction and abstraction exists in modern world. There is also a tendency to regard the images of personalization and some sort of domesticity as conservatism, romanticism and kitsch. Lifestyles and values are becoming increasingly universal, the unique character of regions, cities and buildings keeps declining and the sense of place continues to weaken. Extreme repetitiveness and standardization eliminate the sense of place, and make our settings psychically unwelcoming and cold. Any visual elements such as lettering, signs, graphics etc., which can emphasize the essential individual psychological ingredients of places are less used.

Graphic design
by its nature is not meant to provide fundamental living structures. Graphic designers do not build worlds by means of bricks and concrete, but they provide the space with the unique layer of visual information. Using typography, colour, light and other different means of expression graphic design can form a specific atmosphere of the space and contribute to the creation of place identity on a par with architecture.

Typography
in this sense becomes a perfect tool of graphic design to express the purpose of the specific place. Lettering which is used in build environment becomes a specific marks of for places. Words get noticed for the reason that they can affect us consciously. And because they convey information about the world we live in. In addition to the inherent utilitarian purposes of architecture, typography can express a significant existential and mental task. Typographical contribution to the space can sharpen humans’ senses, open their perceptions and make people receptive to the realities of the world. Typography creates a form for the content of the words. Words in the surroundings are able to address to memory or feelings, it can remind the past or put a new ideas into head. The content value of the words can strengthen or weaken a perception of architectural settings by addressing to more personal associations. Signification of words mediates the relationship between person and world around. The symbiosis between architecture and typography is able to provide people with a more comprehended setting for experiencing and understanding the world, and finally themselves. It is able to domesticate man-made structures for human occupation. It gives architecture a voice and stresses the goal of the space or building. By mean of typography specifically, an anonymous and impersonal SPACE becomes a memorable and intimate PLACE. Kevin Lynch uses a notion of “imageability” in reference to shapes, colours, or arrangements that facilitate the making of vividly identified, powerfully structured and useful mental images of the places. Typography can give meaning to a space, to turn the continuum of physical space into experiential places and to make space useful, both practically and mentally. The space becomes mentally supportive through its identifiability and innate familiarity. In this case, typography plays a role in the sign and gives an identity to the place.

Typographical
presence

in the urban areas mediates language and linguistic relations of habitants and the built environment itself. In its turn language is not only a mediating element of urban life, but is also part of the formation of the city. ¹² ¹² Darroch, M. Language, Translation, and the Telematic City. Retrieved from http://www.flusserstudies.net/person/
michael-darroch For instance, the project “A Love Letter for You” by Stephen Powers illustrates the important relationships between dwellers and their living space. With different kinds of typographic murals in the different locations along a rail line he expresses his love and love for the whole community to West Philadelphia. Powers Image 2. Stephen Powers. Part of the project "A Love Letter for You" The goal of this project is to show a mood, atmosphere and importance of the place around for the people. But at the same time it affects existing city district. It forms a totally different attitude towards seeming unwelcoming environment which affect the state and the form of the city in general. Typographic representation of language is a material trace which communicates expressive, conative and phatic signs of collective identity of dwellers in social space. ¹³ ¹³ Shortell, T., & Krase, J.
Place, Space, Identity: A Spatial Semiotics of the Urban Vernacular in Global Cities. Brooklyn College CUNY, USA: Department of Sociology. It helps to create a new frames of social interaction within living environment. Sociolinguistics situates the urban living environment as the area of linguistic coexistence and fusion, integrating or excluding new citizens. However, it is linguistic presence not only plays the role of separator of people by their linguistic or cultural accessory but it is also a unification of people as social actors. Typography on the building proposes a communicational field into which information in the form of words was distributed. It acts upon the spaces in which it is placed, and alter it sometimes physically, but more importantly; semiologically. It is possible to see some sort of adaptation of architectural structures to such informational interventions in modern living environment. Sean Griffiths from FAT architecture studio theorized the notion of figural section in architecture. In simple words, it is a surface-based architectural element. It creates the communicative surface which is a place of interaction between dwellers and architecture. This kind of surface provides an area for expressing information in a form of signs or inscriptions within architectural space. As an example, Griffiths names the most potent project of early Post-Modernism as Robert Venturi’s “Bill-ding board” Image 3. Robert Venturi. Competition entry for the national College Football Hall of Fame. 1967 competition entry for the national College Football Hall of Fame, designed in 1967. Here the building was almost secondary to the project’s main element – an enormous electronic signboard.

A sign on a building carries a denotative meaning in the explicit message of its letters and words. It contrasts with the connotative expression of the other, more architectural elements of the building. Denotation indicates specific meaning; connotation suggests general meaning. ¹⁴ ¹⁴ Venturi, R., Scott Brown, D.,
& Izenour, S. (1997). Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgetten Symbolism of Architectural Form.
Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The MIT Press. Through denotative usage of typography within architecture it is possible to achieve more explicit communication of the purpose of the building. Typography becomes a denotation expression of suggested architectural connotation. The integrated typographic elements do not only contain important informational messages but also creates a specific frame for possible social interaction.This is also architecture but architecture of a different kind. It is an architecture of communication over space; communication dominates space as an element in the architecture. ¹⁵ ¹⁵ Venturi, R., Scott Brown, D.,
& Izenour, S. (1997). Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgetten Symbolism of Architectural Form.
Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The MIT Press. Typographical representation of information dominates over space.

Patrik Schumaher
by its nature is not meant to provide fundamental living structures. Graphic designers do not build worlds by means of bricks and concrete, but they provide the space with the unique layer of visual information. Using typography, colour, light and other different means of expression graphic design can form a specific atmosphere of the space and contribute to the creation of place identity on a par with architecture. Foremost, he claimed that the build environment suggests potential social actors the information about the communicative interactions to be expected within its bounds. ¹⁶ ¹⁶ Schumacher, P. (2012). Parametric Semiology – The Design of Information Rich Environments.London, UK It places participants in the specific settings of communication. These settings/frame can be accepted or rejected of course, but it creates a relationship with the person and makes it an active social actor. Schumaher proposes a definition of architectural order ¹⁷ ¹⁷ Schumacher, P. (2012). Parametric Order – Architectural Order via an Agent Based Parametric Semiology.London, UK which consists of organisation, phenomenological articulation and semiological articulation (signification). He visualized their relations in the following scheme:
       architectural order → organization
                          ↘ articulation → phenomenology
                                        ↘ semiology The organizational part is a sheer architectural task of organizing physical settings for the further actions of the inhabitants. It provides material substrate for the inscription of an external “societal memory.” ¹⁸ ¹⁸ Schumacher, P. (2012). Parametric Semiology – The Design of Information Rich Environments.London, UK As an example of the architectural order with only organizational structure and a total lack of any articulation can be the project “A Grammer of the City” by Office Kersten Geers David van Severen and Dogma. This is a masterplan for a new Administrative Capital in South-Korea were the designers provide “city walls” which create rooms without content, providing the space for further urban development. ¹⁹ ¹⁹ Office KGDVS, & DOGMA, (2016, February 09). A Grammer for the City. Retrieved from http://divisare.com/projects/271090-office-kersten-geers-david-van-severen-dogma-a-grammer-for-the-city In this case architecture creates the concrete initial frame for the possible future communication scenarios without rigid predetermination. However, according to Schumaher, “the restriction to mere organization without articulation, and without facilitating the participants’ active navigation, severely constrains the level of complexity possible in the pattern of social communication.” Phenomenological and semiological frames make the organization of functions apparent. They mean another level of engagement of users. These frames play a part in transformation of passive bodies into active social actors which participate, among other things, in adding the societal memory in the original build settings. Generally, in this theory, a system of signification consists of the domain of the signified (here the domain of patterns of social interaction) and the signifier (here, the domain of spatial positions and morphological features defining and characterizing a given territory). ²⁰ ²⁰ Schumacher, P. (2012). Parametric Order – Architectural Order via an Agent Based Parametric Semiology.London, UK On the side of the signifier Schumaher distinguishes the following dimensions of encoding: the positional dimension (distinction of relative positions), the spatial shape dimension (distinction of spatial shapes) and the dimension of surface treatment (materiality, relief/texture, colour, perforation etc.). He claims, that these three dimensions are functionally equivalent and can substitute each other. In my opinion, the correctness of this statement is especially noticeable when living environment needs a quick qualitative improvements. Nevertheless rigid architectural settings could not be changed immediately. Very often changes are required in the highly populated areas. In situations like these, it is impossible to make changes in the whole structure from scratch. This is the moment when the graphical, or in this case typographical, interventions become an important part of the system of signification in creation of enjoyable communicative and living settings.¬ It is the easiest (and in the most cases the cheapest) way to renew urban architecture. And architecture becomes more flexible towards changes and problems in society.

Typographical murals
in the Center for Arts Education in New Jersey designed by Paula Scher can serve as an example. When we look at the image of the building before renovations, it becomes clear that the typography brings significant changes in the appearance and atmosphere of the whole building. Originally school buildings creates an imposing and institutional feeling. Image 4. Paula Scher. Center for Arts Education. 2001 By applying bold and cheerful typography in the style of traditional theatrical promotion, Paula Scher creates warmer personality for the building. It changes the whole impression of the building and the surrounding, and emphasizes more explicitly the function and character of the place. Image 5. Paula Scher. Center for Arts Education. Close-up. 2001 With adding of typography the place suggests a totally different scene for the future human interaction within and with this physical settings. This is one of the examples, when according to the conception of Patrik Schumacher the typographic message in the space can be attributed to the dimension of surface treatment in the system of signification. Typography incorporates into the architectural structure and continues the story which is told by architecture. Unlike image based signs it not only creates the marks and references in the build environment (which is still one of its functions), but also extends the narration of architectural settings. It creates more direct references in the consciousness of viewers. For instance, for a redesign of the Edwardian Library in Croydon, South London FAT studio used a typographic sign at the top of the pavilion which literally announced the civic function of the building. FAT Image 6. FAT. Edwardian Library in Croydon. If any sign on the building which represents “Library” can be misunderstood, then the literal pronunciation and repetition of the word “LIBRARY” does not give any room for interpretation.

The words is the tool of Spanish art collective BOA MISTURA which actively work on a variety of public art projects into the urban environment. They mostly use them to express their ideas. They state:
“We work with words because they are direct, the clearest way to express something, to communicate a message. With this kind of work there is no room for interpretation – it is what it is”. Words become the clearest way of manifestation of an idea of place. The whole atmosphere, function and goal of the place can be reduced to the single word. Typography in such cases plays the role of an active mediator between significance of word and person. Through its sculptural forms or pictorial silhouettes, its particular positions in space, its shapes, and its meanings, typography identifies a unique texture of the city landscape. They make verbal and symbolic connections through space, communicating a complexity of meaning clearly and fast. Typography become more important than an architecture at some point. Because if you would take the lettering away there will be no recognizable and distinguished place anymore. The form of the buildings are visible but remain secondary to the typographic signs in visual impact. A good illustration of this is the building of Zavrtnica Business Centre in Zagreb. Image 7. Nikolai Zinic. Zavrtnica Business Centre in Zagreb. It is a group of heterogeneous structures within a former factory complex. In order to unify four blocks of buildings the large-scaled typography was applied on architectural structures. Nikolai Zinic, the designer of the project, comments: “this way typography complements the architecture, and the text becomes the dominant feature. It respects the form whilest it also creates added value, both in terms of graphics and signalization.” ²¹ ²¹ Heller, S., & Ilic, M. (2013). Lettering Large. Art and design of monumental typography.NY, USA: The Monacelli Press. Because of the explicit nature of typography the building acquires its identity and becomes highly recognizable among city dwellers.

Language in this case plays a very important part. If spectators do not understand the language of inscription, then the features which distinguish typography from any other image or sign are erased. In this research the examples from Western English-speaking countries are analyzed. However the logic of typographical influence on build environment can be applied in any cultural setting. Recently built areas in Arabian regions can perfectly illustrate the goal of typography in the formation of suitable living environment even in different cultural settings. Such a project as Typographic Matchmaking in the City 2.0 initiated by Knatt Foundation was inspired by developing new urban areas in the Arabic region. Urban development in such places as the Arabian Gulf states raises many concerns regarding identity, a sense of belonging and cultural sustainability. ²² ²² Smitshuijzen AbiFares, H. (2010). Typographic Matchmaking in the City. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Khatt Books. Typographic Matchmaking in the City is a bunch of typographical projects which were developed as a research of new ways of letters implementation into urban areas. They show how integration of typography into environments plays its part in the creation of livable areas. The goal of the project is to reclaim urban public space. Participants from different countries developed a few deferent concepts of bilingual typefaces with the goal to reorganize and improve current build environment of Arabic cities. They worked under the slogan “The streets belong to the people!” and claimed that the public space has to have satisfactory conditions for its inhabitants. The organizers explained why they decided to solve the problem of place identity using lettering but not others means of expression:
“Our choice to work with text in its written form was appropriate because of its ubiquitous and culturally emblematic power”. Such instances illustrates an Importance of typography in the construction of new urban areas.

Functionality
is the most important role of typography, according the popular opinions. The main purpose of letterform is an information value. It is impossible to separate the shape of letterform from meaning. Context has an influence on the meaning and perception of signs, symbols, and icons which can mean different things in different situations. In the case of letters, the physical form conveys semantic meaning regardless the context. The situation may changes but the meaning of the letter remains. “A” is always “A”. Type in space works more effectively as an information carrier than an image alone. Image can always be interpreted differently, but message expressed with typography has clearer and faster impact. Letters and words are something that both visually challenged and visually savvy people can understand. And this is at least one reason for architectural typography’s growing popularity in some surprising venues. You can reach and influence audiences much easier and effectively. It became semantic intervention into the environment. It has direct societal impact. According to Beatrice Warde type is a “crystal goblet”. ²³ ²³ Bacon, E. (1967). Design of Cities. London, UK: Thames and Hudson. Typography does not draw attention to itself, but exists to convey an idea and a message. She considered the functionality of typefaces the most important feature of it. “Type well used is invisible as type, just as the perfect talking voice is the vehicle for the transmission of words” she wrote in her book. This statement sounds quite contradictory in our time when it is possible to see so much outstanding and diverse letterforms around. Changing the possibilities of letterforms became possible because of changing of production method. It was very hard to be expressive with letterforms when primary production method was casting. Evolutional change from metal to film and then eventually to pixel in modern times made it possible to use type as more than merely an information carrier. In combination between integral semantic meaning of letters and new possibilities in production a new kind of typography appeared. Fortunato Depero calls such typography - “typography parlant”. Typography whose physical form speaks to the semantic meaning of the words. Type becomes a conductor of the information and the aesthetic unit at the same time. It is possible to call this kind of typography an EXPRESSIVE TYPOGRAPHY. In case of the typography in surroundings this kind of typography simultaneously functions as an informational layer in the build environment, and as a provider of aesthetic and educational values. It distinguishes from commercial or wayfinding typography which have different goals in their creation. The commercial typography has a direct purpose to advertise, promote or sell. The typography for wayfinding systems is not meant to signify the place but guide unnoticeably. Architectural lettering is for public display. It invites attention by its situation and its size, and it differs from printers’ type more in these respects than in any other. Piet Zwart’s opinion that “the more uninteresting type is the more use it is to the typographer” underlines the difference in thinking which the smaller scale involves. Certainly the nearer displayed matter gets to the text the less its style should obtrude, while the larger it is the more it demands special treatment. ²⁴ ²⁴ Kinneir, J. (1980). Words and Buildings. The art and practice of public lettering. London, UK: The Architectural Press Ltd.

Expressiveness brings meaning to life. Communication furthermore, is not simply matter of legible letterforms. By its interpretation of the mood of the subject, it communicates what it would be impossible to spell out. For example, the lettering of Fanette Mellier for a project Fontenew for the 2007 Graphics in the Street festival in Fontenay-sous-bois. Mellier Image 8. Fanette Mellier. Typographic posters in Fontenay-sous-bois. 2007 The letters in this case become an expressive reflection of the message. By this it makes a “decorative” typographical statement integrated in the city canvas. However, at the same time clear letters can perfectly well be dramatic. As an example Ben Kylle’s Children’s Gallery for National Museum of Science and Industry may serve. Image 9. Ben Kylle. Children’s Gallery for National Museum of Science and Industry. 1995 Nevertheless the interior is highly industrial and even cold, lettering of wayfinding system influence the attitude towards the whole environment. Image 10. Ben Kylle. Children’s Gallery for National Museum of Science and Industry. Close-up. 1995 By its round, smooth and calm shape it gives an allusion on the childish atmosphere. Even though typography in this instance is a part of the wayfinding system, in this case it plays its role as one of the main characters of the interior. A noticeable word is not necessary a legible word; but before it can be read a word has to be noticed, and whether it is or not will depend on how much it contrasts with its surroundings. Another positive feature of typography in environment is that people perceive information not just mentally (process of reading, analyzing, understanding), but at the same time physically. You encounter information closer. You become a part of the message. Information here and now for you, with you, around you without any doubt.

The size of a word and the scale of the place is important for the perception of a place. We are so used to seeing typographic signs in the environment they are easily ignored or taken for granted. So, to be jogged from daydreams by the grand statements of extra-large letters, big words, and massive sentences in the environment is the goal of expressive typography. Extremely large letters give an extra kick or validation to weighty words. The huge numbers and letters complement the architectural scheme, becoming the dominant visual force.

Placement on a par with that, plays an important role in increasing noticeability of lettering in the environment. It is possible to divide city mise-en-scene into several levels:
•  the lower level (city floor, pavement);
•  eye level – shop windows etc.;
•  the upper level. It can provide focus on otherwise bland cityscape, but typography here can only be viewed at a distance.
Nuance differentiates typographic art from pure typography. The ability of letterforms to be both abstract and realistic, symbolic and literal allows the artist to deliver messages that are at once coded and decipherable.

Typography
and buildings combinations between architecture and symbolism, between form and meaning are deeply relevant to architecture today. Integrated lettering ultimately served many devious purposes: political, religious, commercial, aesthetical. Typography, and alphabets in general, consist of several layers that speak about human civilization at all levels of life. They represent both the literal meaning of the text they aim to visualize and the implied messages conveyed by the visual choices and aspects of typographic form. ²⁵ ²⁵ Smitshuijzen AbiFares, H. (2010). Typographic Matchmaking in the City. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Khatt Books. Historically, typography in the city was not an exercise in globally standardized branding but rather a unique way of visually writing the history of a city. Lettering was closely related to architectural styles of specific periods and visually represented their artistic developments. It was designed as an integral part of a building and made to last, unlike today’s signage and branding, which are applied like replaceable skin. ²⁶ ²⁶ Smitshuijzen AbiFares, H. (2010). Typographic Matchmaking in the City. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Khatt Books. There are a lot of historical examples where it is possible to see how typography in the environment responded directly to the social constructs, political upheavals and economic needs of the times. Any instances of Art Nouveeu lettering on buildings shows how heavily built environment involved into showing of visual preferences of its time. As well as such examples as Mosselprom Department Store building façade in Moscow by Alexander Rodchenko Image 11. A. Rodchenko. Mosselprom Department Store. 1924 and Café De Unie in Rotterdam by Jacobus Oud Oud Image 12. Jacobus Oud. Café De Unie in Rotterdam. 1925 became an expressive example of their epoch. The most distinguishing visual features of Constructivism and Bauhaus movement concentrates in them. Massive graphics and typography became an important mean of communication of architecture in the middle of the 20th century. Supergraphics was the name of short-lived architectural mini-eruption in California (and a few other places) in the 1960s and early 1970s. Supergraphics grew out of profound re-examination of architectural principles both ideological and aesthetic. They are consciously designed to have an impact on their architectural environment. In a line with big abstract surfaces of colours they also used a typography as an important mean of expression.

Typographic
landscape
is the landscape formed by a set of graphic elements in the urban environment. ²⁷ ²⁷ Gouveia, A. P. S. (2009).
Letters and cities: reading the urban environment with the help of perception theories. Visual Communication, 8, 339-348. Such evidence of typography in the populated areas can be divided into eight major groups: •  Architectonic typography (permanent inscription, which are usually designed and built at the same time as the building);
•  Honorary typography (inscriptions designed on most public monuments);
•  Memorial typography (gravestones found in churches and cemeteries);
•  Registered typography (trade inscriptions, usually located in grating and manholes);
•  Artistic typography (artistic lettering designed on commission, such as paintings and sculptures using letters and numbers);
•  Normative typography (inscriptions that are part of regulatory and information systems for city traffic, such as road and directional signs);
•  Commercial typography (lettering on temporary signs such as shop facials, attached to building after construction);
•  Accidental typography (unofficial, unauthorized inscriptions, such as graffiti and tags).
This research specifically investigates the examples of artistic typography within the public spaces in the city. This choice was made based on the conviction that this category is the most influential on the daily lives of cities’ inhabitants. From an architects point of view the relationship of lettering to buildings or their immediate surroundings can be divided in three degrees of relationships: •  Letter integrated into the building fabric during construction (considered as significant design elements);
•  Letter applied after completion to the surface of buildings;
•  Letters which are related but separate. ²⁸ ²⁸ Kinneir, J. (1980). Words and Buildings. The art and practice of public lettering. London, UK: The Architectural Press Ltd.

3D
Three-dimensional typography made from stone, concrete, metal, or other indigenous materials, owing to volume and mass, is well suited for architectural display. And there is no better place to post statements for all to see than on permanent structures in well-trafficked outdoor environments. When three-dimensional typography is rendered large, its architectonic impact is even more impressive – and physically much more enduring – than temporary scrims, banners, or posters affixed to similar platforms. The practice of placing lettering in relief on or around buildings has experienced a revival or sorts. Increasingly, dimensional lettering is used not just for advertising, but also for integral components of architectural schemes, including artworks and institutional branding. Artists and designers, not bound by a single medium, style, or purpose, have been imprinting letters, words and statement on the physical and visual landscape in the form that might best be called, twenty-first-century epigraphy, and doing so, have added to the charm of otherwise stolid structures. Nice instance of this kind of projects can serve a famous typographical sculpture “I Amsterdam” designed by Erik Kessels. Kessels Image 13. Erik Kessels. I Amsterdam. 2012 It not only attracts attention but become remarkable identical mark of the city. Additionally, it motivate people actively participate. It gives a possibility to climb, make pictures and do any kind of acts which helps to build more personal relationship between viewer and environment (in this case the whole city in general). A similar approach of making highly interactive sculptures is the Newborn Monument in Kosove designed by Fisnik Ismaili. newborn Image 14. Fisnik Ismaili. Newborn Monument. 2008 The monument celebrates the Declaration of Independence of Kosovo and has become a tool for people to literally express their emotions by inscribing the surface on the sculpture.

2D
Two-dimensional typographic murals can be both art and crafts. Designers and artists who directly paint or electronically project type on the building are more than resurrected sign painters. Of course, the result may have outcomes other than pure art when branding institutions and promoting products, but that is in the nature of public works and environmental graphics

Functions
of typography in the public spaces:

1
CREATION OF SPACE EXPERIENCE
Many outdoor typography experiences revolve around perceptual dislocation derived from planting large letters, words, or statements in unlikely environments. In case of Gordon Young Comedy Carpet in Blackpool Image 15. Why Not Associates. Gordon Young Comedy Carpet there is the large area of the whole built environment of the city involved. Designed in collaboration with Why Not Associates, the Comedy Carpet is a celebration of comedy on an extraordinary scale. Referring to the work of more than 1,000 comedians and comedy writers, the carpet gives visual form to jokes, songs and catchphrases dating from the early days of variety to the present. ²⁹ ²⁹ http://comedycarpet.co.uk/about/ The ability of the visual impact of this work on the environment around goes way beyond the surfaces of the building. It engages the big transitional area of the district and thus involves and influences a lot of people who pass by every day. Equally the content in this case plays a special role. By reading jokes of different comedians people tend to spend more time in this area. It changes the whole mood and function of the space and transforms it from a purely functional transitional unwelcoming zone of the city into an environment of engagement. There are examples of projects which use typography in educational institutions and hospitals. These are places where environment needs a special treatment in order to create a suitable atmosphere. For instance, Paula Scher used typography in her project for Queens Metropolitan Campus in Forest Hill, which includes Queens Metropolitan High School and Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School, a middle school. Image 16. Paula Scher. Queens Metropolitan Campus. 2010 She wrote: “When the viewers enter the atrium, they have entered the painting. They are enveloped by it. Space is altered by it.” Juxtaposition with such work surely will influence the aesthetic views and opinions of pupils. Additionally the content of the mural (in this case, it is based on the geographical map) also plays a part in the educational influence. Morag Myerscough collaborated with the poet Lemn Sissay for Royal London Hospital to create a pleasant environment for children who have to stay in the hospital. Image 17. Morag Myerscough. Royal London Hospital Typographical murals in this case are based on the poem. Children not only have more fun now and a welcoming environment, but they also took part in the creation of the poem itself. This kind of work for sure will help to bring some joy to the young patients’ and their parents’ lives.

2
CREATION OF SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
Any part of built environment can be a tabula rasa for ideological rhetoric. Typography is more integrated into noncommercial art projects than ever before. This category of typography is highly dependent on social interaction between the work and the viewers. There are a lot of examples of projects, which are strongly involved with social issues. Their main purpose is not just to be purely decoration but to illustrate some problem in a society. Make people aware of it and with this make a change. In case of the installation “Help hunger disappear” (art director Anthony Chelvanathan) Hunger Image 18. Anthony Chelvanathan. Help hunger disappear participants literally make the sign disappear by removing cans of soup from display. This project is created to raise awareness about food banks. It can be argued that this installation is not an essential part of build environment. However for a duration of the project it became an important physical component of the surroundings of the people. Literal disappearance plays with the influential aspect of presence and absence of physical matter/structure in people’s surroundings. Within a frame of The Tidy Street Project Image 19. Painted graph as a part of The Tidy Street Project. during March and April 2011, participating households on Tidy Street, in Brighton, UK, recorded their electricity consumption. The residents, in collaboration with the local graffiti artist Snub, produced an engaging street infographic that stimulated the street and passersby to reflect on their electricity use. ³⁰ ³⁰http://collabcubed.com/2011/11/01
the-tidy-street-project/ The role of typographical inscription in this case is not only an informative role. It not only creates an awareness about important social issues, but at the same time it serves as an important connective tool for the whole community to get people involved and interested. Another project is “The walls have ears” by Bread Collective The wall has ears Image 20. Bread Collective. The walls have ears It emphasizes an important social role of typography in a different way. These typographic artifacts drew on the story past of the area of the district. It serves to make the living area more personal and comfortable for habitants and remind the importance of personal value of the space around. The last examples of the project is highly influenced by the participation of the community in their creation. Personal opinions, memories and feelings expressed by them become an essential part of the surroundings.

3
ART WORK
This kind of typographic interventions has a close relation with environment and public places. And that is what makes them transitional from pure art. People still have to treat it as an art object, however the conversation with viewers brought closely to the habitat. This makes them more interactive oriented. There are plenty of examples of artists who use type to create a typographic intervention in the public environment. In these cases art works are not merely monumental sculptures or paintings with the use of type. It is a way to influence the people through their surroundings or give them different perspective on the daily things. For example for the installation commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art for its new building Barbara Kruger chose to make confrontational statements using textual statements referencing the history of the site. Kruger Image 21. Barbara Kruger. The installation for The Whitney Museum of American Art She told in the interview she “tried to mark the site with a gathering of words about history, value, and the pleasure and pains of social life”. ³¹ ³¹ Heller, S., & Ilic, M. (2013). Lettering Large. Art and design of monumental typography.NY, USA: The Monacelli Press. Whether the purpose is rhetorical, functional or decorative, monumental dimensional typography is a way to make a public engage with the text in a fundamental manner – by reading, looking, contemplating or even climbing. Whether permanent or temporary, dimensional typography reaches out to people.

Expressive
typography
has not only aesthetic value within the urban environment. Such noticeable signs usually mark an area for people. The building with a massive lettering on the façade can serve, for example, as a meeting point for citizens. Or as a standing out mark to make the environment more recognizable. But some examples of expressive typography can perfectly exist with the purpose to guide. Andreas Uebele, who, in his book “Signage systems & Information graphics” distinguishes such a term as directional and wayfinding systems. The difference between these two terms lie on a linguistic level of understanding and affects the design of such systems. Anton Stankowski objects to the very concept of directional systems, since they degrade the observer to the level of passive, totally dependent object being led through the building. Active direction imposes itself intrusively on the foreground, and its end in itself. It entails leadership, domination irresistible authority. Such “direction” differs from the passivity of wayfinding aids, as it is up to you whether you take advantage of the latter. A wayfinding system is polite and restrained, and may hide itself away when it is not needed. If you were not looking for it you can easily miss it.

Directional
system
this term, has an unpleasant meaning as it was described by Andreas Uebele. It has quite tyrannical tone in the way it presents the information to the observer. Though, Andreas Uebele does not give any examples of a system like that. It is merely the matter of linguistic definitions of systems which helps people orientate and navigate the environment. And the unattractive shade of explanation of this term can be eliminated depending on the case of usage. Based on the features of expressive typography it can be argued that it has close connection to the so-called directional typography. Leastwise, it can play its part in the creation of directional kind of typography thanks to its expressive nature. Typography which is designed for wayfinding systems can be compared with the book typography. Typefaces in such systems has the same purpose as typefaces for big text blocks in books. It has to be functional to the extent it can communicate the information and stay invisible and during perceiving this information and at the time when the reader-observer does not need this information. Expressive typography in its turn definitely does not have invisibility required to be considered a part of wayfinding system. If continued the comparison between book and environmental typography, a usual wayfinding system can be similar with the captions or footnotes, since expressional typography is a title of the place in the "book" of environment. Even in the case when it has function of marking it not purely meant as a guide but to seduce and attract attention. Yet because sign systems are concerned with routes rather than places, their effect on different localities is to lend them a degree of similarities. They stitch together the parts of diverse complexes such as airports and railways, but they do not help us to sense where we are by contributing to the GENIUS LOCI of a particular spot; labeling a place is not the same thing as giving it character. ³² ³² Kinneir, J. (1980). Words and Buildings. The art and practice of public lettering. London, UK: The Architectural Press Ltd. Expressive typography has an exactly opposite function.It is hard to not notice the difference within aesthetic features between any airport wayfinding system and, for instance, navigation system at the Fachhochschule, Osnabruck. Image 22. Navigation system at the Fachhochschule, Osnabruck. Even though both of them have a function of navigation (purpose of orientation), the second instance also has a huge impact on the characteristics of the place. With such graphics the whole atmosphere, mood, impression of the place have been changed. The structure takes on a new dimension, as a simple austerity of the walls and floor lead up to the beautiful sky – the ceiling. The typography becomes one of the defining features of the place. Such an example gives an opportunity to differentiate purely wayfinding systems such as navigation systems for airports, railway stations etc. and typography which has not merely guiding purpose, but at the same time is used as a form of expression. The typography in such cases has a decorative function, and helps people to adapt to the atmosphere of the place. It can change or in contrary emphasize the atmosphere of the place. Like in the example of Ben Kylle’s Children’s Gallery, which was described in the chapter 4, typography is able to give a place an identity and transform the nature of the areas it occupies. Interestingly, in order to create both systems in most cases the same rules for lettershapes are required. The qualities of type are usually the same. It has to be functional, which enables them to blend in with the architectural features of their surroundings. They are mainly bold, as experience has taught us that bold lettering has more impact and can stand out against colored backgrounds in visually “loud” surroundings. ³³ ³³ Uebele, A. (2007). Signage systems & Information graphics. A professional sourcebook. London, UK: Thames & Hudson. The architectural structure of the space is already prominent enough and striking in themselves. The actual form of the lettering needs to preserve a balance.

The difference
is that in creation of expressive typography in the space you need to use type more freely and creatively. The way you compose and combine typography with the space is crucial here. With remaining legible, clear and bold typeface for expressive typography can be more noticeable and has extremely distinctive forms that can distract the eye. It not only can stress typographic functional nature but also makes an aesthetic statement in itself. One of the main differences why expressive typography has a bigger impact on people, than any kind of usual wayfinding systems, is that it is big. Larger scale gives it more visibility. And since we as spectators are used to the idea that the bigger the object the more important it is. The bigger scale let as compare letters with the monumental size of architecture around. Since it gets some architectural characteristics subconsciously it becomes as important as spatial structures around. The other as important distinctive feature is that the wayfinding system by definition is systematic. It is a complete system of navigation. It is does not required to have a specific grid as a base for design or color code, informational hierarchy etc. Expressive typography in contrast can have a function of navigation sign, but not necessary exist within the boundaries of a system. It can guide and mark in a more broad sense. Understanding of all these distinguishing features between usage of typography in wayfinding and directional purposes can help to apply knowledge of expressive typography more functionally.

Typography has a huge impact on the quality of life settings of people. It acts as an improver and enhancer of architectural masses of build areas. However, often in the field of public lettering research has been restricted to legibility distances, and the emotional aspect ignored. But it is an emotional appeal of an inscription which usually matters most. In order to understand the importance of presence of visual elements in the living environment of humans, it is also crucial to realize the impact of built environment on habitants in general. Fredric Jameson’s concept of cognitive mapping, next to the opinions of environmental psychologist Harold Proshansky and psychoanalyst Erik. H. Erikson illustrate the significant influence of architectural settings on the psychological state of person. In my opinion this is also this influence expands beyond the personal domain on the social condition in general. Development of capitalist consumerist society created background for transitional period in architecture from high modernism towards postmodernism. It gave the possibility for the appearance of new visual ways of communication within architectural domain. Consequently, typography became permanently and influentially present in modern urban environment. The book of Robert Venturi et al “Learning from Las Vegas” illustrates the importance of the significant contribution of additional visual elements to the creation of living environment. Typography in the urban environment not only mediates information and language, but also brings the uniqueness and identity in an anonymous and impersonal architectural settings. It detects the thin border between appropriate and problematic living places. According to Patrik Schumaher’s definition of architectural order, typography in urban space can become an important part of semiological frame of this order. It is possible to suggest new possibilities for interaction within urban settings and create a new scene for human interaction. Judged upon the examples of buildings “before” and “after” applying typography, it is clearly possible to see and, what more importantly, feel the magnification in quality of psychological perception of place. By analyzing the role and functions of typography in urban environment it is possible to see the slightest difference of typographical characteristics in various contexts in space. Based on these features it is possible to distinguish the separate category of typography in space, such as co-called expressive typography. Understanding of these nuanced differences can help to use the typography more efficiently in the different occasions within the practice of graphic designer.

Study of this subject brings out distinctive positions of graphic designer and architect upon the role of typography in the process of creation of architectural instance. The architect, with a growing load of technical problems, tends to think of lettering as something which can be dealt with later because it can be easily added. The graphic designer to whom the communicative interface between the building and its users is paramount, prefers to be involved at the planning stage. Being a part of the total concept can make a contribution to design.

Graphic designer
needs to be aware of high dependence between visual quality of living environment and aesthetic and social values of community. Dealing with typography in urban environment graphic designer should take an architectural stance, asking first not what letter style or material might be used, but what contribution to the architectural surface the lettering might make. And more importantly, what contribution it might make to the development of living environment of people.

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