Another gem of a thought from On Looking:
In the book, author Alexandra Horowitz’s lettered friend Paul Shaw dates a building in Manhattan based on the typography it exhibits, and does a pretty good job of it, according to the newspaper archives. They reveal that the building on Delancey Street had a colorful history: theatre, shoe shop, residences, rock club.
This exercise puts me in mind of a book I purchased several years ago, and have still not cracked open (for shame!):
The author, Edward Hollis, examines 13 buildings in a similar way. How did they get built, evolve, decline?
I find this stuff fascinating, and great fodder for stories. Anybody else? 😉
