BROADACRE CITY TYPEFACE

A typeface revival based on hand-lettered didactics drawn by Frank Lloyd Wright and his Fellowship in the 1930s for the Broadacre City exhibition.

THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FOUNDATION

SKILLS
Typographic Design

First conceived in his 1932 book, The Disappearing City, Broadacre City was a thought experiment that imagined the future of America's built landscape. Wright used the project as a way to address social, economic, and environmental issues through urban planning and design. In the winter of 1934, Wright gave his vision a tangible form: a 12-foot square model representing four square miles of Broadacre City. 

The following year, this model was displayed at Rockefeller Center as part of an industrial arts exhibition. Accompanying the model of the city were a number of hand-lettered exhibition didactics, including the one shown above. Although similar to other lettering drawn by Wright and his Fellowship, these letterforms were unique to the Broadacre City project.

Many of the letterforms are constructed with diagonals set at 30- and 60-degree angles—geometries frequently found in Wright’s floor plans and graphic work.

Today, the Broadacre City typeface is part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s licensing program, and in 2023 it was featured on merchandise produced in collaboration with Foundation licensee KITH.