DRAWING, WRITING, LETTERING. GEOMETRIC LETTERS IN ENRIC MIRALLES’ PROJECTS

Abstract

of the last century and a model of lettering for the plans of the architects of Modernism. One of the last links in this evolving chain of geometric letters in architectura lettering are those created by the Catalan architect Enric Miralles (1955-2000), which have seduced other architects as well as letterers and type designers. This article presents the results of a research into the particular use and expression of the lettering in the blueprints drawn by Miralles himself and the typefaces derived from this model, designed by other authors for digital environments, which reopen the debate on whether or not lettering in architecture constitutes an integral part of architectural design. The result is a contemplative space that evokes memory, where Scarpa guides the mechanisms of our memory and invites us on a poetic journey of sensations. The geometric essence of Latin letters has been the subject of study and debate since at least the Renaissance. This relationship with geometry immediately turned them into a paradigm of architectural spirit, leaping not only from the constructions of Antiquity to contemporary buildings, but becoming archetypes for Renaissance modeling and the most prominent typofaces of the early twentieth century. They have even become a reference for the technical lettering standards