This news item (via BoingBoing) came at a fortuitous moment because just yesterday as I was walking past the Morgan Library in NYC I realized that fonts and architecture serve the same purpose. This “book building” created by the Turkmen government is a symbolic convergence of the two. What prompted this thought was the design of the Morgan library with its classical Greek motifs that intimate tradition and knowledge. Here architecture is a kind of font that helps us read the building’s intent. Likewise, fonts are often used to connect words with points of view. For example, Futura, invented in the 1930s, denotes modernism, where as Times-Roman means consistency and reliability (think of the name). Good design, though, should represent ease of use/readibility, without drawing attention to itself. I think this principle applies to both font design and architecture. The goal is to facilitate the use of space, whether it is physical in the sense of a building, or imaginary, in the sense of the mental reconstruction of thoughts through written words.
My favorite book on fonts is Stop Stealing Sheep. People studying media are encouraged to learn more about this very important subject. Fonts are the gateway to everything you read, including this.
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