ABSTRACT
This chapter asserts, when it comes to reading architecture, that the first place to start is by seeking out any words, epigraphs, icons, numbers, or symbols that may be appended to it. In this chapter the linguistic turn operates as both an historical moment suspended in amber and a contemporary approach to the reading of architecture that begins on the surfaces of buildings featuring supplementary textual content. This chapter approaches engraving as a process of carving into a building’s surface that carries gravitas, as in a grave or serious meaning. Architecture operates as a communicator of cultural meaning through its originary status in burial.
