SEGD 2010 No. 27 - 62

Carved in Time Washington, D.C.’s modern-day memorials capture moments in history using a timeless vocabulary: the ancient art of stone-carved letters. BY NICOLE R. ROBERTS n today’s digital era, we often lose sight of the fact that the earliest and most memorable messages within the built environment are carved in stone. From the hieroglyphics (“sacred carvings”) of ancient Egypt to the embodiment of the Latin letterform in Trajan’s Column in Rome, hand-carved letters are the result of a basic human instinct: to carve in stone what we fear may otherwise be forgotten. In the modern world, Washington, D.C.’s monuments and memorials offer some of the world’s ﬁnest examples of stone-carved lettering. They have been a part of D.C.’s visual vocabulary since the completion of the Washington Monument in 1885, when all states and territories were encouraged to donate memorial stone carvings from their best craftsmen. After a half-century hiatus, modern-day memorial design has once again begun to renew the D.C. landscape. While some of the newer monuments move away from the neoclassical tradition, all rely on stone-carved letters to help convey their messages of dignity and remembrance. Traditional hand-carved lettering in stone has become a rare art form. But for Nick Benson, the third-generation stone carver and letterer whose shop has been involved in most of the national memorials created in recent years, the process still begins just as it did in Rome 2,000 years ago—with ﬁnely tuned letterforms drawn by hand with a broad-edge brush, custom designed for each project. Architect Lawrence Halprin’s original concept called for handcarving all the lettering on the FDR Memorial, but cost constraints resulted in most inscriptions being sandblasted. (Photo: © Richard A. Latoff/Latoff.com) I Benson is the owner and creative director of The John Stevens Shop (Newport, R.I.), founded in 1705. Legend has it that Nick’s father, John Benson, was the one who recommended that architect Maya Lin use the Optima typeface on the Vietnam Memorial design, which in turn became a huge trend in stone-carved lettering. “As one of the few remaining stone carvers who still hand draw custom lettering for each project, we scrutinize our work down to the smallest details,” says Benson. “We spend hours manipulating each hand-drawn character in place amongst the numerous grout seams in the stone.” A tradition worth honoring For the newest memorial on the National Mall, the National World War II Memorial (dedicated in 2004), architect Friedrich St. Florian chose timeless, solid granite. Its 56 wreathed pillars represent the U.S. states and territories of 1945, and 43-ft.-tall, mirror gateway arches represent the Paciﬁc and Atlantic fronts. “A paramount objective was that it must integrate into the existing vernacular of the site,” says St. Florian. It also respects the traditional design principles of stone carving, including the rule that “a stone should never be cut where it changes in form.” The John Stevens Shop was responsible for typeface design, inscription content, location plans, and design layouts, all spanning a two-year process. Due to the granite’s large, detailed grain pattern and the size of the letterforms required, the team created U-cut letters. “Generally, a deep V-cut will appear bolder as it casts dramatic shadows when used with large letterforms, but a U-cut lends itself to thinner strokes and is used to accommodate smaller characters,” says Benson. Where stone ﬂies The United States Air Force Memorial, designed by James Ingo Freed with Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and dedicated in 2006, combines 270-ft.-high stainless steel spires with intimate, inspirational 62 segdDESIGN

SEGD 2010 No. 27

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEGD 2010 No. 27