When wandering around a city such as São Paulo, we are surrounded by letters, numbers and symbols. These elements form part of an environment full of signs in many shapes and sizes that compete for our attention. Our perception of these elements contributes towards our spatial guidance and sense of place. The idea of `reading' the city, or urban environment, was introduced by Kevin Lynch, for whom reading the urban structure follows on from recognizing or identifying its numerous visual elements, not necessarily verbal ones. Beginning with a brief bibliographic review of perception theories, this article combines concepts from environmental psychology with concerns brought up by the fields of information design and epigraphy studies, setting out the basis of a methodological proposal for the study of typography and lettering in the urban environment.
Este artigo apresenta resultados de pesquisa sobre elementos tipogrficos presentes nos edifcios do centro histrico da cidade de So Paulo. Utilizando-se uma metodologia de mapeamento, mostra-se que, com basenas informaes encontradas em determinadas inscries nas fachadas dos edifcios, podem-se inferir padres e direcionamentos de ocupao dessa rea, ainda pouco identificados, principalmente no que se refere autoria de projeto e execuo da obra, assim como das respectivas datas. Embora muitos prdios faam parte do patrimnio histrico, os arquivos de tombamento carecem de algumas dessas informaes. Muitas delas podem ser encontradas nas epgrafes arquitetnicas. Definidas como assinaturas, registros pblicos e perenes de autoria de projeto ou construo, as epgrafes podem ser tambm analisadas como um exemplo sutil de design visual aplicado paisagem urbana. [ Download ]
The study of architectonic epigraphs-engravings containing the names of those responsible for the design and construction of buildings-provides, in one respect, a better comprehension of letterforms and carving techniques, and of its relation to architectonic language. In another respect, it contributes to a better understanding of the history of the city, revealing the participation of architects, engineers, and constructors, some unknown or seldom studied. This study aims to describe the methods and procedures applied to the configuration of the São Paulo City Epigraphic Archive, a collection that comprises representations of architectonic epigraphs found in São Paulo city historical centre. The methods developed by the research team included systematic gathering and organization of many different kinds of data, from photographic records and transcription of contents to maps, rubbings, vector drawings, and three-dimensional reproductions of the engravings. As a result, 134 architectonic epigraphs were catalogued, and information on them was made available both physically and on the Internet.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.