ANNA PAULA SILVA GOUVEIA

Centro Universitrio Senac and State Univer-

sity of Campinas, So Paulo, Brazil
PRISCILA LENA FARIAS
Centro Universitrio Senac and
University of So Paulo, Brazil
PATRCIA SOUZA GATTO
Centro Universitrio Senac,
So Paulo, Brazil
ABSTRACT
When wandering around a city such as So
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 per-
ception of these elements contributes towards
our spatial guidance and sense of place. The
idea of reading the city, or urban environ-
ment, 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 con-
cepts from environmental psychology with
concerns brought up by the elds of informa-
tion design and epigraphy studies, setting out
the basis of a methodological proposal for the
study of typography and lettering in the
urban environment.
KEY WORDS
architecture environment environmental
psychology lettering typography urban
perception
PERCEPTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY:
PRELIMINARY APPROACHES
Environmental psychology may be dened as a eld of re-
search concerned with the relationship between human behav-
iour and physical environment, either natural or built. Clearly
interdisciplinary, this eld draws on research from the areas of
psychology, geography, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, de-
sign, architecture and urban studies. Among the latter, the
eld relies, more specically, on researchers committed to
townscape, visual communication, urban and landscape design
studies.
According to psychologists Hartmut Gnther & Reiner
Rozestraten (2004: 56), environmental psychology was deni-
tively established as a eld of research and education in the
1970s, even though it is possible to identify related work prior
to that date, at least since the 19th century. The eld therefore
has a signicant background in the number and quality of pub-
lications.
It is possible to approach environmental psychology princi-
ples through art and perception studies, a framework in which
psychologist Rudolf Arnheim is the foremost authority. In
1954, Arnheim published Art and Visual Perception: A Psychol-
ogy of the Creative Eye based on Gestalt theory. In this essay,
which was revised in 1974, he describes and explains experi-
ments of visual perception that are related to the bi-dimen-
sional eld. In his book, The Dynamics of Architectural Form
ARTICLE
Letters and cities: reading the urban environment
with the help of perception theories
333 GOUVEIA, FARIAS & GATTO: LETTERS AND CITIES
09_VCJ_8_3_09_Farais:Farais et al 4/6/09 17:59 Page 333
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in
the journal Visual Communication, Vol. 8(3), 2009, p. 339-348,
DOI: 10.1177/1470357209106474, by SAGE Publications Ltd., All
rights reserved. The authors, 2009.
This final version can be found at:
<http://vcj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8/3/339>
universalism and the utopian modern man did not correspond
to the needs of diversied social groups. As a consequence, the
adoption of an architectonic typology with no links to the local
context had brought about the loss of meaningful relationships
within the townscape. The universally accepted standards had
impoverished cultural identity.
The rst criticisms, which were voiced in the late 1950s, and
therefore the rst proposals for a revision of this process took
into consideration the experience of reconstructing architec-
ture and the city through technology. Scholars suggested that
specic projects should result from specic case analysis. De-
bate was carried out mainly in specialized magazines, in par-
ticular Architectural Review, a British publication regarded as
the most important magazine to publish criticism of what was
considered to be urban destruction. The 1953s CIAM (Congrs
Internationaux dArchitecture Moderne), that took place in
Aix in Provence, is also worth mentioning in this context, given
Alison & Peter Smithsons collaboration with it. Making use of
Nigel Hendersons pictures recording life on the streets of Lon-
don, the two architects triggered a series of publications on
the subject of the city and the townscape and aimed at city
dwellers quality of life.
Among a number of publications on this subject, we would
like to draw particular attention to books written by urban
studies expert Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City (1960) and
Townscape (1961) by architect Gordon Cullen. These works
raised discussions and examined methods that favoured an ob-
jective analysis of reality, using data obtained from experience
in the conguration of architectonic and urban design propos-
als.
In The Image of the City, Lynch investigates the quality of the
visual environment, introducing new research procedures and
new concepts such as waynding and mental maps. He exam-
ines the legibility of the city structure from the point of view
of userdwellers and their use of mental maps, pointing out
the relevance of urban landmarks, and the dwellers mental
image of the city. In Townscape, which is considered an impor-
tant treatise on urban aesthetics, Cullen suggests that environ-
ments we consider pleasant did not just happen by chance. The
author records and systematizes urban interventions, making
an investigative use of drawing and photography. The conic
perspective, from the userpedestrians point of view, is ap-
plied as a tool for checking the quality of the urban environ-
ment. In his drawings, Cullen uses optical effects, by means of
lines and reticles, to highlight features of a particular place
and its specic meaning, in a psychological approach to the
urban landscape.
According to these authors, the image of the environment is
based on peoples interactions with their surroundings inter-
(1977), Arnheim returns to the same subject, but this time dis-
cussing it in the eld of tri-dimensional space, highlighting the
visual aspects of architecture, positing the building as a visible
and tangible design. In this book, he argues for the establish-
ment of universal fundamentals of human perception in what
he regards as architectonic and urban space.
Staying within the eld of perception studies, in The Percep-
tion of the Visual World (1950), psychologist J.J. Gibson dis-
cusses how perceiving space means capturing it in a haptical
way, that is, through touch, and that perceiving the environ-
ment would therefore depend on physical contact, on proxim-
ity.
According to psychologist Gabriel Moser (2005: 282), envi-
ronmental psychology is above all a psychology of space, whose
paramount goal is to analyse the relation between the individ-
ual and the environment. To him, such a relation may be ap-
proached according to four different levels of space and time
references:
i) the micro-environments of housing and personal spaces;
ii) proximity environments, described as semi-public shared
spaces such as neighbourhoods, parks and work environments;
iii) general public environment such as villages and cities; and
iv) the global environment, including the world in its entirety.
This articles main concern is with general public environ-
ments in specic city urban environments, which is the eld of
study of architects and urbanists.
READING THE CITY
In order to analyse city space, it is necessary to make a brief
detour, since contemporary architecture and urbanism cannot
be understood without bearing in mind early 20th-century
modernism and its consequences for the urban structure,
which have been the source of controversy since the 1970s.
Modernists revolutionaries to some, castrators to others
have established a new architecture and a new city, not only in
terms of its physical materiality, but also in the way of dealing
with the problem of space and how to conceive and build
around it. From identifying the problem to providing an an-
swer in the form of a designed structure, there is a common
bond rationality.
The technological evolution favoured by initial efforts to re-
construct Europe after the Second World War did not follow ar-
chitectonic and urban planning rules. In huge public housing
projects, design (as a formal and gurative conception of
space) seemed, at times, to be devoid of quality, conguring
monotonous blocks that were gigantic and repetitive, produc-
ing structures of low architectonic quality, though perfect from
a technological point of view. The rationality expressed in such
spaces did not t into their residents daily lives. The proposed
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emphasis on cultural issues represents an important contribu-
tion to environmental psychology studies, opening up new per-
spectives for research in the following decades.
Authors and concepts previously mentioned in the context
of sustainability are discussed by designer and architect Victor
Papanek in The Green Imperative (1995). In the chapter enti-
tled Sensing a Dwelling, he identies light, texture, the sense
of smell, sounds and rhythms, or even silence, as vital elements
to understanding space. He gives as examples the silent envi-
ronments of vernacular Japanese gardens, spaces where peo-
ple seek meditation and harmony, or, just the opposite,
resonant spaces that may bring about a greater communion
among people. He demonstrates how impoverished our sensual
capabilities are today. In his discussion, Papanek connects art,
science, architecture, design and technology. With reference to
light, for instance, which is our rst visual experience, Pa-
panek gives special attention to the discovery that quantity of
light has an effect on the production of serotonin, a chemical
that gives people more positive attitudes. According to Pa-
panek, spaces considered beautiful are the result of human
multi-sensorial and multi-dimensional experiences.
ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY IN BRAZIL
In Brazil, in the 1980s and the 1990s, a substantial number of
studies in environmental psychology were carried out at FAU-
USP (University of So Paulo School of Architecture and Ur-
banism). These studies led to theses and dissertations, many
yet to be published, whose aim was to observe, read, identify
and explore the image of a city or a neighbourhood. Among
these works are Cabral (1989), Carneiro (1999), Frana (1991),
Homem de Melo (1986), Mazzilli (1993) and Minami (1983).
It is also worth mentioning geographer Milton Santos
works, particularly Pensando o espao do homem (Thinking
Mans Space, 1982), which, in a very simple and clear way, dis-
cusses the construction and structure of the contemporary city.
In 1996, architect Vicente del Rio and psychologist Lvia de
Oliveira edited Percepo ambiental: a experincia brasileira
(Environmental Perception: The Brazilian Experience), a publica-
tion that brings together relevant Brazilian research carried
out in the eld. The papers chosen by Del Rio and Oliveira ad-
dress environmental perception and related aspects using
three different approaches: environmental and urban design;
interpretations of reality; and environmental education. For
the purposes of this article, we specically mention the arti-
cles published in the second section of the book that deal with
the way in which culture, marketing and literature create the
city image.
Another relevant work worth mentioning was published in
2004 and co-edited by psychologists Raquel Guzzo, Hartmut
actions that help them to make sense, code and evaluate their
environment and then take appropriate action. In this context,
a mental image can be seen as the nal stage of the perceptive
process. Such an image, therefore, is not solely a visual but also
a synesthesic product.
In Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes,
and Values (1974), geographer Yi-FuTuan introduces percep-
tion as purposeful activity, as the senses response to external
stimuli in which the dominance of the eye is essentially cul-
tural. He believes this largely explains human beings emo-
tional relationship with their environment. In this sense, he
denes how we perceive, structure and evaluate the world, ar-
guing that environmental problems are mainly human ones.
READING THE CITY AS A SYMBOL
Despite the criticism of modernist assumptions, many archi-
tects works from the 1960s and 1970s remained essentially
modern, showing no traces of vernacular or nostalgic forms
and conceptions. In the 1970s and 1980s, critical approaches to
the urban landscape, initially introduced by Cullen, were
strengthened by the publication of an irreverent work by archi-
tects Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour,
Learning from Las Vegas (1977). In the context of city identity,
Venturi et al. interpret the building as a symbolic element.
Since the 1980s, some architects, such as Michael Graves,
Charles Moore and Robert Venturi himself, began to advocate
a return to a stylish formality of historicist avour in order to
recover former architectonic ideals.
In Learning from Las Vegas, Venturi et al. present a treatise
on the symbolism of architectonic form, based on research rst
carried out in 1968 with the cooperation of students from the
Yale School of Art &Architecture. The city of Las Vegas is de-
scribed as a communication system in which repetitive urban
identication elements are represented by neon signs, street
signs, lettering and other types of graphic signs. The scale of
these signs is shown to be carefully designed in order to make
the symbols readable by people driving by in fast cars, and the
authors discuss these new ways of representing the city that
take into account the needs of the user. In the symbolism at-
tributed byVenturi et al. to LaVegas, there is a search for a
cultural meaning that is more literal and historic than that put
forward by Tuan (1974).
READING THE CITY AS THE SPACE OF THE MAN
In the book Human Aspects of Urban Form (1977), architect
Amos Rapoport connects the individual and the environment
by means of images that, to him, would be not only visual but
also imaginative conceptions. He suggests a type of anthropo-
logical reading of the urban environment, broadening the pos-
sibilities of investigation into the city and its citizens. His
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landmarks that identify and name city locations and therefore
contribute to dening the citys informational structure. Let-
ters and numbers in the urban environment can thus be stud-
ied as part of the citys identity and communicative efforts,
and understood as a kind of discourse.
What we call typographic landscape is the landscape formed
by a subset of graphic elements in the urban environment:
characters that form words, dates and other messages com-
posed of letters and numbers. Typography is here understood
in a broad sense, including reference to alphabetic and para-al-
phabetic characters obtained from processes that would be
better described as lettering (painting, engraving, casting,
etc.) and not only from automatic or mechanic processes that
characterize typography in a more restricted sense. Such land-
scapes are formed by a number of insertions: historical evi-
dence that lasts over different periods of time and that can be
divided into eight major groups:
1 Architectonic typography
permanent inscriptions, such as a building name or number,
which are usually designed and built at the same time as the
building.
Architectonic epigraph at Baro de Itapetininga Street, So Paulo, Brazil. Photo Patrcia Gatto.
2 Honorary typography
inscriptions designed to honour historical characters or events,
such as those found on most public monuments (Figure 2).
Monument in honour of composer and musician Antonio Carlos Gomes, Ramos de Azevedo Square,
So Paulo, Brazil. Photo Patrcia Gatto.
3 Memorial typography:
funerary inscriptions found in restricted urban spaces, such as
gravestones found in churches and cemeteries (Figure 3).
Funerary inscription at Consolao cemetery, So Paulo, Brazil. Photo Patrcia Gatto.
Gnther and Jos Pinheiro: Psicologia Ambiental: entendendo as
relaes do homem com seu ambiente (Environmental Psychol-
ogy: Understanding Mans Relation with His Environment). The
book is divided into nine chapters, and includes innovative
contributions addressing the issues of youth and childhood in
regard to perception, education and the conguration of
specic spaces for their particular needs.
WAYFINDING AND INFORMATION DESIGN
Many of these theories, particularly Lynchs waynding, were
revived and reevaluated in 1999 in Robert Jacobsons Informa-
tion Design, which can be described as a collection of the main
theories and methods in use in information design in the late
20th and early 21st century. Of particular note are the chapters
by architect Romedi Passini, who discusses the contributions
of architecture and waynding to information design, and by
communication theoretician Brenda Dervin who puts forward
a new methodology for information systems called sense-mak-
ing.
Passini is also the author and co-author of two other books
that are of great relevance in this line of studies: Waynding in
Architecture (1984) and Waynding: People, Signs, and Architec-
ture (Arthur & Passini, 1992). Passini and Arthur describe
waynding as a process that involves the elaboration and im-
plementation of action plans related to moving around in envi-
ronments that are not necessarily familiar. According to the
authors, understanding this kind of process should be the pri-
mary concern of architects and graphic designers engaged in
planning such environments. They argue that waynding may
be affected by space organization and architecture as well as
by information provided by graphic, auditory and tactile ele-
ments. In addition, they discuss strategies that may be applied
in conguring environments that facilitate users spatial orien-
tation.
In Visual Function (1997), designer Paul Mijksenaar dis-
cusses a number of cases in which information design may
help an understanding of the built environment, and points
out some restrictions imposed by the architectonic conception
of some buildings. Mijksenaar criticizes modern and post-mod-
ern buildings where the main entrance, whether accidentally
or not, is concealed in the facade (pp. 810). An efcient archi-
tectonic structure might not even need further information
about destinations and routes (p. 10).
TYPOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPES:
READING LETTERS AND NUMBERS IN THE CITY
Based on Lynchs (1997: 9) discussion, it could be argued that
the visual, aesthetic and cultural identity of the city is made
up of, amongst other things, its graphic elements. These ele-
ments can act as indicators of urban ows (waynding) or as
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and Roman civilizations. Some relevant contemporary refer-
ences to these studies are La scrittura: ideologia e rappresen-
tazione, by Armando Petrucci (1986), Epigraphic Evidence:
Ancient History from Inscriptions (Bodel, 2001) and Epigraa ro-
mana: la comunicazione nellantichit (Donati, 2002). An impor-
tant forerunner of such studies in Brazil is art historian
Clarival do PradoValladares, who wrote Memria do Brasil: um
estudo da epigraa erudita e popular (Memory of Brazil: A Study
of Ancient and Popular Epigraphy, 1976).
If, on the one hand, studies in the eld of graphic design are
likely to favour the analysis and appreciation of typographic
forms, studies in the eld of epigraphy, on the other hand, are
likely to focus on the content of written messages and their
meanings for society and culture. According to Moser (2005:
285), methodologies developed in environmental psychology
must take account of cultural specicities and the identica-
tion of these cultural specicities can only be achieved by com-
paring different cultures. in view of the fact that both
concerns are relevant, we conclude that an ideal methodologi-
cal approach to investigating typographic landscapes must
necessarily include judicious protocols for data gathering and
systematization, as well as sound procedures for analysis and
interpretation. The data gathered must help to identify cul-
tural specicities and facilitate the comparison of examples
that occur at different places and from different times.
4 Registered typography:
trade inscriptions, by public or private companies, such as tele-
phone and sewage services providers, usually located in grat-
ings and manholes.
Fire hydrant in So Paulo, Brazil. Photo Patrcia Gatto.
5 Artistic typography:
artistic lettering designed on commission, such as paintings
and sculptures using letters and numbers.
Mosaic by artist Bramante Buffoni at 24 de Maio Street, So Paulo, Brazil. Photo Patrcia Gatto.
6 Normative typography:
inscriptions that are part of regulatory and information sys-
tems for city trafc, such as road and directional signs
Street sign at So Joo Avenue, So Paulo, Brazil. Photo Patrcia Gatto.
7 Commercial typography:
lettering found on temporary signs, such as those on shop fas-
cias, attached to a building after its construction and, in most
cases, replaced by other signs from time to time.
Japanese restaurant in Liberdade district, So Paulo, Brazil. Photo Patrcia Gatto.
8 Accidental typography:
unofcial, unauthorized inscriptions, such as grafti and tags,
usually not planned, and inscribed without the permission of
architects, construction companies, developers and owners.
Tags in pixao style in So Paulo city historical centre, Brazil. Photo Patrcia Gatto.
We nd precedents for investigations into typographic land-
scapes in the research that has been carried out by typography
and design scholars such as Nicolete Gray (1960, 1986), Alan
Bartram (1975), Jock Kinneir (1980), Phil Baines & Catherine
Dixon (2003).
In archaeology, and more particularly in the eld of epigra-
phy, we nd a longstanding tradition of studies of writings
found in public spaces, mainly those produced by the Greek
341 GOUVEIA, FARIAS & GATTO: LETTERS AND CITIES 340 VISUAL COMMUNICATION 8 (3)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the
support received for this research from their
universities, and also from the National Coun-
cil for Scientic andTechnological Develop-
ment (CNPq, processes number
474099/2008-3-Universal and 30591/2007-0-
PQII) and from the Brazilian Federal Agency
for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Edu-
cation (CAPES, process number 253/2007-
PROCAD).
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
ANNA PAULA SILVA GOUVEIA is a professor
at Centro Universitrio Senac and UNICAMP
(State University of Campinas, So Paulo),
Brazil. She is the author of several papers on
typography and architecture.
Address: Laboratrio de Pesquisa emTi-
pograa e Linguagem Grca, Centro Univer-
sitrio Senac, Campus Santo Amaro, Av. Eng.
Eusbio Stevaux 823
04696-000, So Paulo SP, Brazil. [email: an-
nagouveia@iar.unicamp.br]
PRISCILA LENA FARIAS is head of the post-
graduate programme in design at Centro Uni-
versitrio Senac and a professor at USP
(Univesity of So Paulo), Brazil. She is the au-
thor of many papers on typography, design
and semiotics. Address: as Anna Paula Silva
Gouveia [email: prifarias@usp.br]
PATRCIA SOUZA GATTO is a photographer
and a professor at Centro Universitrio Sena.
Address: as Anna Paula Silva Gouveia [email:
pgatto@sp.senac.br]
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