Architecture and Planning ETDs

Publication Date

7-16-1974

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to study the following relationships.

1. The relationship between the process of attribution of meaning to architectural forms and the social and cultural context in which they occur,

2. The relationship of architecture as a system of meaning to this same social and cultural context,

3. The role of the architect in relation to the above,

In order to do that we are using the concepts of structural semiology, the aim of which is the study of collective representations. We are applying these concepts in an analysis of the reactions of the residents of a housing project to their environment. The thesis is divided into five parts. In the first part we present the basic concepts of semiology, the basic premises on which their application in architecture rests and we state the reasons behind our choice of the specific site. In the second part we present the architectural conceptions of the case study, based on direct interviews with the architect and the developer. In the third part we define in systematic terms the relation of the interviews with their subject, We demonstrate the method of application of the used concepts in a specific example. We define the status of architecture as a semiological system. We proceed to present portions of the interviews focusing on the relation between specific forms and their meaning. We present our preliminary remarks on the residents' perceptions. In the fourth part we organize portions of the interviews into semantic categories that reconstitute the specific ideology of the habitat that the housing project refers to and we place it in its larger social and ideological context. Throughout parts two and three, we contrast the residents' reactions to the architect's intentions and conceptions. In the fifth and last part, we contrast our findings on the production of meaning to the architect's conception and we define the role of the architect in the communication process. Finally, we define the relationship of our analytical approach to the object of our study.

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Architecture

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

School of Architecture and Planning

First Committee Member (Chair)

Edith Ann Cherry

Second Committee Member

Michel Louis Roger Pillet

Third Committee Member

Matthieu Casalis

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