ABSTRACT
From signage as an example of contemporary inscriptions, to signs as linguistic tools, to scripting as autonomous design, Chapter 2 considers architecture as a process of inscription. It considers the ways in which daily life and roadside attractions inscribe themselves on architecture, often in contradistinction to a designer’s will. Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown’s work plays an important role in this chapter, particularly their distinction between a building that is a “duck” and one that is a “decorated shed.” Their understanding of signage as the shed’s decoration leads to a discussion on semiotics and eventually calligraphy as it applies to architecture
