Nasri Khattar

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Nasri Khattar Nasri Khattar (1911-1998) was an architect and designer who studied at the American University of Beirut and the Yale School of Architecture, where he obtained an MA in Architecture in 1940. He worked with Frank Lloyd Wright in Spring Green, WI, and Scottsdale, AZ. In 1947, he submitted his Unified Arabic designs to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office resulting in a patent for the printed form of Arabic in 1950. He designed the first Arabic computer font, Unified Arabic Neo N. [Poster by Brittany Cox]. I am quoting verbatim the biography submitted to Arabic Type by his daughter: Architect, Type Designer, Inventor, Painter, Sculptor, Poet, 1911-1998. Nasri Khattar, architect, practiced his profession for thirty-five years in the United States; in Colombia, South America; and in his country of origin, Lebanon, where he pursued his early education at the American University of Beirut (AUB) with a B.B.A. awarded in 1930. In 1940, he earned an M.A. in Architecture from Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1939, he was associated with Frank Lloyd Wright's Fellowship in Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin; and in Taliesin West, in Scottsdale, Arizona.A dual American-Lebanese national, Mr. Khattar was an Arabic consultant to IBM in the fifties, and architect, Arabic calligrapher, and Arabist to Arab-American Oil Company (Aramco) in New York City, 1950-1957. During this time, he made innumerable calligraphic works for both Aramco and the Arabs. He received a Ford Foundation grant for the years 1958-1961, to promote his Unified Arabic, UA system. Unified Arabic is Mr. Khattar's Arabic type system that simplifies the printing and teaching of Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, and other languages utilizing the Arabic alphabet. As he continued to work on his Unified Arabic, Mr. Khattar designed new Arabic typefaces, practiced architecture, and lectured at the American University of Beirut. His topics were Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural achievements and principles of design, and his own work on the writing and design of Arabic type. Impressed by Mr. Khattar's versatility, Martin Giesen of AUB's Architectural Department, called him "the Renaissance Man", for being architect, calligrapher and type designer, painter and caricaturist, poet, and inventor (30-40 patents and copyrights). "It's been a long time since I've seen such perfection," wrote Mr. Giesen in 1977. In 1986, Reverend Dennis Hilgendorg and Dr. Ben Wood, Director of Educational Research at Columbia University, nominated Mr. Khattar for the Nobel Peace Prize for his life's visionary achievements and their vast implications for the fields of linguistics, literacy, printing, computers, and telecommunications. Mr. Khattar is survived by his spouse, Jacqueline Hedrick Khattar, and by his twin daughters, Alexandra Khattar and Camille Khattar Hedrick. His son, Christopher Khattar, passed away in 1992 after a long illness. As for digital revivals, we can cite Pascal Zoghbi's 29LT UA Neo B (or UA Beirut Modern) and UA Neo N (or UA Neo Nashki) (2007-2013). It can be purchased at 29 LT.	EXTERNAL LINKS Nasri Khattar Behance page MyFonts search Monotype search Fontspring search Google search INTERNAL LINKS Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Type design in Lebanon ⦿ Typefaces and type design for Arabic ⦿ Architectural lettering/typefaces ⦿