Abstract
Typography has increasingly been recognised as a valuable lens for cultural and urban analysis. This literature review extends such perspectives by examining how design-led approaches can support the documentation, reinterpretation, and revitalization of urban letterforms as cultural heritage. Drawing on typographic studies, geosemiotics, and design research, it focuses on urban typography — typographic landscapes — understood as spatial and multimodal carriers of memory, identity, and cultural value. While existing scholarship has explored the semiotic and aesthetic dimensions of typography in the urban environment, and some have proposed design-led interventions, connections between theory and practice remain open to further development. The review synthesises interdisciplinary literature, clarifies key terminology, and establishes a conceptual foundation for a practice-based inquiry. It argues that typography, beyond its communicative role, contributes to the material and mnemonic fabric of cities, and that design can support the preservation and reactivation of these typographic forms in response to ongoing urban change.
Keywords
Urban typography, Cultural memory, Design-led research, Heritage preservation
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2950
Citation
Short, C., and Schott, G. (2026) Urban typography and cultural memory: A literature review in support of a design-led approach to heritage and preservation, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2950
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Urban typography and cultural memory: A literature review in support of a design-led approach to heritage and preservation
Typography has increasingly been recognised as a valuable lens for cultural and urban analysis. This literature review extends such perspectives by examining how design-led approaches can support the documentation, reinterpretation, and revitalization of urban letterforms as cultural heritage. Drawing on typographic studies, geosemiotics, and design research, it focuses on urban typography — typographic landscapes — understood as spatial and multimodal carriers of memory, identity, and cultural value. While existing scholarship has explored the semiotic and aesthetic dimensions of typography in the urban environment, and some have proposed design-led interventions, connections between theory and practice remain open to further development. The review synthesises interdisciplinary literature, clarifies key terminology, and establishes a conceptual foundation for a practice-based inquiry. It argues that typography, beyond its communicative role, contributes to the material and mnemonic fabric of cities, and that design can support the preservation and reactivation of these typographic forms in response to ongoing urban change.