Space As A Sign

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
The following study is hereby approved as a creditable work on the

approved subject, carried out and presented in a manner sufficiently
satisfactory to warrant its acceptance as a pre-requisite to the
Degree of Bachelor of Interior Design for which it has been
submitted.
It is understood that by this approval, the undersigned does not

neccesarily endorse or approve any statement made, opinion
expressed or conclusion drawn therein, but approves the study only
for the purpose for which it is submitted and has satisfied the
requirements laid down by the thesis committee.
Name of Student Name of Guide

Rahul Sen Prof. Yatin Pandya
Thesis title: “Space as a Sign - spatial design communication as an

interactive process of conception and perception”
Date:
PREface SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’
Space as a Sign | s p a t i a l d e s i g n c o m m u n i c a t i o n a s a n
interactive process of conception and perception
2
An undergraduate thesis by | Rahul Sen
Guide | Mr. Yatin Pandya

SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’ PREface
3
(... For Ma, Baba and Kunal - for always believing in my abilities and for
daring me to dream.)
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
I N T R O D U C T I O N 6
P A R T O N E
17
EMPHASIS ON NON- VERBAL
COMMUNICATION
1 . a . N o n - v e r b a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n
1.a.1) Abstraction and the experience of meaning 19
25
1.a.2) The search for ‘decoding’ inherent meaning in spaces in the
minds of people.
35
1.a.3) User participation through ‘encoding’ in built spaces – “the
manner of doing” 62
1 . b . S e m i o t i c s , S y m b o l i s m a n d N o n -
v e r b a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n
4
48
1.b.1) Signs and Semiotics
1.b.2) Mental processes in human creativity 50
1.b.3) Non-verbal communication through a built space 53
1.b.4) What are ‘perceptual’ and ‘conceptual’ images? 59

P A R T T W O T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
EMPHASIS ON SPATIAL 63
COMMUNICATION
2. a . A r c h i t e c t u r a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n 65
2.a.1) How does architecture communicate? 65
2.a.2) ‘Space’ v/s ‘Place’ 73
2.a.3) Conception and architectural signal systems 78
2 . b . T o o l s f o r A r c h i t e c t u r a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n 83
2.b.1) Basic elemental tools and their assembly 83
2 . c . M e t a p h o r s a n d S y m b o l s
129
2.c.1) Metaphors in Design - 129
2.c.2) Symbols and Icons – Culturally recognized signification 134
P A R T T H R E E 135
S P A T I A L 5
I L L U S T R A T I O N S
1 | The Mill Owners Association Building (ATMA), Ahmedabad 138
2 | L a C h a p e l l e N o t r e D a m e d u H a u t , Ro n c h a m p 146
3 | “Between the Lines” - The Jewish Holocaust Museum, Berlin 159
4 | T h e V i e t n a m W a r M e m o r i a l , Wa s h i n g t o n D C 174
182
C O N C L U S I O N
INTRODUCTION
(....When are spaces ALIVE?)
...where does one begin a search for meaning in spaces?
6
Cave painting from Spain illustrat-

ing an inherent and a timeless desire
“There are no facts, only an infinity of interpretations”
in the human species to communicate
Nietzsche1
through abstraction, the phenomena
1 he encounters around him
This thesis is an analytical enquiry into the phenomenon of ‘design communication’.

It is a quest in search for meaning in the built environment. The study analyzes the
ways in which inherent meaning can transform built spaces from being mere mute
objects in an environment, and elevate them into experiential vehicles of
meaning to the people who use it.
Among other physiological factors, the animal world is differentiated from the plant 2
world and the non-living natural world by the power to communicate. All animals
“La Guernica”, by Pablo Picasso painted in 1937.
have their own inherent modes of communication within their own species. They The painting marks the artists protest against the hor-
develop ‘signals’ that, with time, experience and understanding come to represent rors of the Spanish Civil War or 1936.
something meaningful. These signals come to manifest themselves in different ways The painting illustrates the power of visual media to
among different animals. These signals in animals are often termed - “body express feelings and emotions, an aspect of commu-
nication which remains timeless.
language”, and come to represent their expression of feeling, emotion and meaning.
However, as bearers of messages, their signal-content is never interchangeable. In “The Scream” by Edvard
other words, animals do not demonstrate the ability to abstract and think in Munch, 1893.
The work depicts not so
metaphors, or be poetic in their gestures and utterances. 7
much an incident or a land-
scape as a state of mind.
The human species, on the other hand, is blessed with a potentially advanced and this state of mind is ex-
highly sophisticated system of communication. The degrees to which these modes pressed not only in the lit-
eral expression on the
of communication are developed depend on various factors such as the mental and
screaming man’s face, but
relative social development of the individual within the ‘tribe’ or society as it is 3 also in the texture and
called today. In Indian society today, even these hard lines between urban and mood of the rest of the painting through the use of
rural behavioral systems is rapidly diminishing. It is not uncommon to find people waves of colour and texture. The sound of the
in tribal areas displaying behavior that is adopted from mediatized urban stimuli scream is made to manifest at varied levels
Nature’s spaces are an outcome of natural forces; De- such as the television, graphic advertisements and the radio. On the other hand, it
signed spaces are often inspired by these natural phe-
is also common to find highly urban people, still attached to old customs and values.
nomena in their resolutions
The communicative tools used by a child, or a tribal varies drastically with the tools
used by a person living in cities and towns. Even within cities and towns,
geographical locations and culture play an important role in determining the way in
which people communicate.
4 5
(Above left) The roots of the towering trees of the An average human being is endowed with five senses – sight, sound, taste, smell
Amazon which evolved with roots that expanded in a and touch. In addition to this, there is also the vital aspect of the sub-conscious
planar manner so as to be able to provide lateral sta-
sense or the ‘sixth sense’ or intuition as we commonly call it. With these senses,
bility due to the weight of the towering trunks.
(Above right) The flying buttresses of the Gothic Ca-
we become aware of or ‘sensitive’ to our environment.
thedral - a symbol of man’s ability to derive meaning
from natural phenomena and apply them to relevant During the course of our interaction with our environment – we largely encounter
constructed environments. spaces built by the human hand, but conceived by the human mind and for
subsequent perception in the human mind. The intention of this analysis is to
examine the content of these built spaces for their power to effectively influence
the user’s mind so that the body may follow and perform an appropriate activity.
A designer is entrusted with the task of giving life to the mute form that is being
8 6
created. Even Nature’s spaces are intrinsically loadeded with meaning. They
communicate the various tangible and intangible forces that act on them.
It is we humans who draw inspiration from natural phenomena. Natural spaces
7
evolve out of natural, chemical and physical processes and find their need to
(Above left) An image of a tornado, a form caused by
drastic fluctuations of pressure and wond forces.
exist from within themselves creating natural systems and cycles. A tree
(Above right) The Moonsoon restaurant at Sapporo, does not feel the need to justify its existence to any other neighboring life form, or
Japan designed by Zaha Hadid. The designer resorts entice the sun through its mannerisms, to provide it with sunlight. A tree just ‘IS’.
to the dynamic imagery of the natural tornado to cre-
ate a thematic space.
On the other hand, the human intervention in creating built spaces makes it
neccesary for the designer (conceiver) to resort to alternate means of
communication with the user (perceiver), since the built spaces that he creates
cannot speak directly to the user. Designed spaces need to be endowed with
meaning, that allow for a process of communication between between the user
and the built environment.
This transmittance of signals transforms the role of architecture from being

a mere composition of mute forms for fulfilling mechanical functions – to
an architecture of experiences, where the human mind is actively involved in
each and every act that it perceives as meaningful.
8
Fatehpur Sikri, Agra - an architecture of experiences.
These spaces with time become an inseparable existential need in our daily lives. The image above is of the Anup Talao and the diwan-
i-Khaas in the complex of Fatehpur Sikri.
They provide us with the basic need for shelter, and additionally provide us with
The placement of the seat of the Anup Talao upon
environments that entice, induce and invite us to perform our activities with greater which the court musicians would sing, and the bridges
meaning. These spaces make gestures; they invite us to turn, climb, look, walk, sit that link it to the main coutrtyard seem to create an
and perform a host of other functions without ever actually speaking to us. They effect of giving emphasis to the person who was per-
forming upon the dias.
communicate not just physically, but also psychologically through cultural and sub-
This simple gesture of isolation through detachment
conscious pre-determinants that are ingrained in us as users over many years of from the rest of the court demonstrates the impor-
conditioning. tance of music and dance to the Mughal dynasty.
9
“By the use of raw materials,
And starting from conditions more or less utilitarian,
You have established relationships
Which have aroused my emotions.
This is Architecture.”
Le Corbusier
“Towards a New Architecture” 2
A society evaluates itself by the level of refinement that its sign-systems have
undergone in the context of changing times.
This thesis finds its justification from the knowledge that for architectural design
to remain at the founding pillars of any civilization, it must readapt and reinvent its
sign-systems so that they continue to arouse emotion and feeling in the minds of
the user today. This leads us to understand and acknowledge built spaces for their
value as ‘places’ to the user – places where meaning is made to manifest.
Architecture in many ways can be assumed to be a functional art. Its primary

importance is to create spaces for fulfilling certain specific functions. These functions
each provide the architect with innumerable complex design issues, which require
great amounts of attention and design acumen from the architect. If a designer
lacks in this respect, the building or spaces he designs fail to work.
A rationally efficient, purely functional space is not a guarantee for a space to be 9
an emotional and a lasting experience on a person who uses it. It reduces a built
form to a mere machine for function. Formal diversity in the history of architecture, Cinema: Posters depicting two films from two different
eras and cultures, where the same signal content is re-
reveal that function alone is not the answer to mankinds problems. This has has
invented and re-introduced in a more meaningful
been proven time and again through historically diverse forms for the same basic representation of the same theme.
10 functions, such as the floor, the roof and the wall. If mechanical spatial resolution
for a mechanical performance of function was to be the key to human existence -
then a perfect formula for each function would have been discovered and
implemented a long time ago. But this is not the case with human behavior.
As human beings, we ‘inhabit’ our architecture - we develop a tendency

to relate, associate and develop attachment to them.
This attachment occurs at various levels ranging from associational to purely

cognitive factors. The crux of the argument forwarded by this study is that as
human beings, we look to relate to what we see and what we inhabit. We like to
belong. We like to occupy a significant place in the space that we are to inhabit.
Our functions cannot and will not ever be mechanical, and hence devoid of meaning
- because meaningfulness is the very basis of our existence as human beings on
this planet. In every human act we find inherent hierarchies of meaning attached.
These hierarchies bring about a need to elucidate not just on the act itself, but
more on the manner of performing a function, or an act. This in turn enables a
human being to reflect on newer and enriched light, each time he performs this
function. In other words, the manner of doing something gives a human being -
signs (or gestures expressing meaning) - in what they are about to achieve.
The Chambers’ dictionary, however, says that art is ‘the manner of doing’.
The manner of doing in the case of architectural design is an aspect of ‘coding’

that falls within the role of a designer in the process of conception and performed
by the users for whom the message is intended.
Le Corbusier (from Oeuvre complete, Vol.6) says very aptly –

“(…) It only remains to decide whether life (…)
11
Can but touch unknown beings along its path, by the means that one
commonly calls - ‘art’.” 3
Architectural spaces are also entities in a man-made environment that can arouse
feelings, emotions and associations of various kinds. In that aspect, and the aspect
that we shall focus on in this thesis, architectural design is also a form of art.
AIM OF THIS THESIS
The ‘manner of doing’ in architectural spaces is made possible by their

being endowed with signal constructs that are perceived as meaningful
by the user.
This study aims to analyse this process of architectural communication.

The analysis is from the point of view of the individual components of a space
along with their synthesis as larger spatial constructs that make a narrative manifest
itself through the way a person moves through the space.
In the case of a column or a floor as elements in a space construct, history reveals

that the semantic content attached to them has always shifted from era to era. The
attachment of meaning, beyond the mere expression of existential function has
always been an inherent phenomenon in archictectural design. Architectural elements
endowed with meaning, function as characters in a theatrical performance, where
they play an active role in communicating a narrative, while in doing so,
expressing their own character with greater lucidity.
The aim of this work is not to judge architectural design or its history as something
12 that was good or bad, right or wrong - architectural design is too vast and culturally
varied as a subject for a study like this to draw out a formula for providing signal-
content in built environments.
The study simply aims to address -

• The various ways in which our built environments can ‘speak’ to us
as users.
• The role of signal-content in a work of architectural design, from the
point of view of the encoding and decoding.
The formal appearance of the elements of architecture form a primary layer in the
ordering of signal content in a meaningful spatial construct and occupy a major
part of this thesis. There is also the vital secondary layer of surface articulation -
expressed commonly in the form of carving, sculpture, murals, paintings, commercial
stickers on building facades - that all serve to communicae something additional to
the user.
In addition to this, there are layers of symbols, metaphors and semantic threads
belonging to a specific cultural fabric that enrich an evaluation of the signal content
in a spatial construct. As in the case of a spoken language, these factors add a vital
layer of expression and accentuation that transform a language from being a mere
series of perceivable utterances to becoming a truly communicative and interactive
process of communication.
This study of architectural communication aims at reiterating a primary concern

for humane architecture - the encoding of meaning within the spaces that
we inhabit.
The analysis shall also attempt to understand built spaces for the varying degrees
of meaning that they contain in their various components for the user to perceive
and act upon. The study shall also attempt to understand the process of architectural
13
communication from the point of view of encoding and decoding messages of
meaning in built form.
OBJECTIVES
This thesis has the following objectives -
! To understand and investigate architectural communication from the aspect

of encoding and decoding during the processes of conception and perception
respectively.
! To broadly understand the field of Semiotics and non-verbal communication.
! To analyse the processes of spatial conception and perception. To focus on

the process of conception.
! To dissect and analyse the various components of an architectural/interior

space in their most basic forms as ‘archetypes’.
! To re-assemble the dissected elements and examine the role of the spatial
construct (and its variations) in expression of meaning.
14 ! To test these theories by analysing actual works of architecture and interior

design and demonstrating how the spaces created within are vehicles of meaning.
SCOPE & LIMITATIONS
The limits of such a subject area are to far spread out and generic to be encompassed
entirely and comprehensively in this level of study.
This enquiry delves into the very basis of our existence as human beings on this
planet. The focus is on a search for messages of meaning that designed
objects attempt to send to the users - a search that would inevitably lead us
into discussions of culture - specific stimuli and climate - induced decisions of
form-making. However, this thesis will limit its scope of investigation to
universal behavioural stimuli offered by designed spaces, and not to any
specific cultural or sociological cocoons in particular.
This study will focus primarily on the processes of endowing meaning in

forms (conception) and the processes of comprehension of these meanings
in the mind of a user (perception). Keeping a broad viewpoint, this analysis
will attempt to demonstrate how built spaces can evoke universal responses, both
mental and physical in the minds of the people who are to inhabit or use them.
In our search for lateral examples to demonstrate certain phenomena pertaining to

the illustration of meaning - illustrations have occasionally been borrowed from
15
dance, cinema, theatre, comics and graphic design.
The study has been limited to an understanding of the various components of

architectural spaces at their most universal level, with a few examples of culture
specific treatments of the same. It analyzes spaces as scattered fragments, as
meaningul constructs comprising these fragments and their subsequent sythesis.
And finally, it analyzes the role played by the vital layer of metaphors, images,
symbols and surface articulation in enriching their signal value.
16
SIGN
... a g e s t u r e
expressing
a meaning
Chambers English Dictionary

Chapter 1 An emphasis on Non- Verbal Communication
P A R T O N E
1
E M P H A S I S O N N O N - V E R B A L C O M M U N I C A T I O N
! O b j e c t i v e : To a n a l y s e t h e v a r i o u s t o o l s f o r h u m a n
non-verbal communication, of which built spaces form an
essential part.
! M e t h o d : To d e m o n s t r a t e t h r o u g h t h e u s e o f p i c t o r i a l
examples from the visual arts, performing arts and other
related fields- how meaning is encoded within the formal
signals that are being sent to the user. 1 17
A lamp exhibited at the Barcelona Pavillion in August,
2003 by students of Product Design in Catalunya.
The lamp, among other products, was based on the
concept of a grasshopper.
C O M M U N I C AT I O N T O O L S C O M M U N I C AT I O N T O O L S C O M M U N I C AT I O N T O O L S C O M M U N I C AT I O N T O O L S C O M M U N I C AT I O N T O O L S
P A R T O N E Chapter 1
EMPHASIS ON NON- VERBAL S T R U C T U R E
COMMUNICATION
1.a.1) Abstraction and the experience of meaning
• Abstraction and generalization
• The experience of meaning
1.a.2) The search for ‘decoding’ inherent meaning in spaces in the

1 . a . N o n - v e r b a l
minds of people.
C o m m u n i c a t i o n
• Decoding as a property of Perception
• Langue and Parole – their role in creating meaning
• U s e r ’s m e a n i n g s a n d d e s i g n e r ’s m e a n i n g s
1.a.3) User participation through ‘encoding’ in built spaces – “the

manner of doing”
• Encoding as a property of Conception
• Existential Expression and Shared Expression
• Pe rception in an age of mediated reality – new codes for greater ‘shocks’

• T h e s i g n i f i e r / s i g n i f i e d r e l a t i o n s h i p - ‘ D o u b l e a r t i c u l a t i o n ’.
18
1.b.2) Mental processes in human creativity
1 . b . S e m i o t i c s , • Context and Metaphor
S y m b o l i s m a n d N o n - • Bisociation and Conceptual Combination
1.b.3) Non-verbal communication through a built space
• The Non-verbal communication approach
• Codification in the built environment
1.b.4) What are ‘perceptual’ and ‘conceptual’ images?

1. A tribal cave painting of “The Reindeer Hunt” 1.a.1) Abstraction and the experience of meaning
Discovered in the Castellon Region, Eastern Spain.
This painting shows the existential need of man to
understand and experience meaning in his life
• Abstraction and generalization
through abstraction and representation in an im-
age. The hunter would paint the image of his victim on
the cave wall, with the belief that by abstracting and ‘cap- • The experience of meaning
turing’ the deer in an image - it would bring him success
in the actual hunt itself. This image is mankind’s earliest
example of an abstraction of reality in an image.
19
2. A French poster
for “Le Lido” by
Rene Gruau
Savignac, for a
c a b a r e t
perfomance
- “the Hunt” cap-
tured in today’s con-
3 text.
Chapter 1
" 1.a.1) Abstraction and the experience of meaning –
• Abstraction and generalization –

ABSTRACTION AND THE EXPERIENCE OF
As human beings, we are differentiated from other species by our ability to adapt MEANING
and overcome our handicap in functional and organizational specialization. This

ability has enabled us to remain flexible and capable of developing our functions
further. We gain an existential foothold and identity that is not offered to us by
nature because of our ability to abstract and generalize. By recognizing the
similarities and relationships between phenomena we discover the laws of nature
(such as gravity, climate etc.) and varied human processes. 1
4
2
This flow of phenomena when abstracted comes to represent our 5
existential meanings. 3
VE NT IO NS”
Phrase: “M OT HE R OF ALL IN
The faculty of abstraction and generalization is the basic distinction in man. It is Varied levels of experience of meaning
his ability to identify similarities and differences in what he perceives around him WORD - MOTHER
that enable him to ‘encode’ specific meanings for specific things. It is this ability in
20 us that enables us to designate a word – ‘mother’ for a face we see from childhood,
or the word ‘hot’ for an experience we might have had in our daily lives. We store
information by using our senses to abstract the phenomena we experience around
us.
Abstraction may be compared to a process of mental digestion, and

subsequent expulsion in a simpler, ‘codified’ mode in the human mind.
• The experience of meaning –
The experience of meaning is a basic need in us. When we ‘grow up’ – it is

meant that we become more aware of meaning around us. We are able to
communicate these meanings more efficiently by using our faculty of abstraction
to these processes and creating what we call a –‘language’.
6 7
Only a language, in the general sense of the word, makes it possible for us to
Architectural Language Human Language
transmit experience of meaning from one person to another and also from one
LANGUAGE - The transition of
expererience of meaning generation to another. It is our common experience, that words do not designate
(or attach the sign to) particular phenomena. Words or similar ‘symbols’ simply
designate a class of similarities between phenomena. The basic purpose of any
symbol is to conserve the inductions of man, and their ‘symbolic function’ forms a
necessary complement to man’s faculty of abstraction and generalization.
A culture or a society is the cumulative matrix of all the symbol systems

taken together to form a particular order.
Participation in any culture implies that we know how to use its symbols through
21
perception (experience) and representation (expression). Every individual is born
into a system of meanings, which he comes to know through its ‘symbolic’
manifestations.
The growth of a man’s mental facilities begin with early disseminated perceptions
that are distinguished by the acquisition of ‘total’ character. Later on they develop
into more articulate experiences where the parts and the interrelationships within
the totality are better comprehended. This is why children and people from tribal
Chapter 1
areas exhibit similar symbolic expression of simplistic meaning. The phenomena
they not understand is earmarked as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and dealt with accordingly.
A major component of imagination is knowledge. The power to imagine varies

significantly with the treasure house of what is known and stored in the memory.
These stored images in the mind act as generators of powerful signals for the
creation of imaginative ideas.
In advanced forms of mental activity, symbolization is found which is quite 8
disconnected from actual perception and sensory motor behavior. They are based
on a more articulate organization of the perceptual field and on more conceptual
classifications. They gradually open up a world of the – “as if”.
In this way conscious choice and planned action becomes possible and man
becomes capable of coexisting in different levels of reality. In general, mental
development implies a simultaneous increase in differentiation and systematic
integration of meaning.
22
# Design involves conscious choices and

planned actions -
(Apollo Schools, Amsterdam by ar. Herman Hertzberger)
The creates of places of activity by the conscious place-
ment of a free standing column with a plinth like ped-
estal which acts as a seat.
$ The experience of meaningcan

be culture specific or also universal at
varied levels of understanding and ab-
straction -
Movie poster from the film - “Dreams” by
Japanese film maker Akira Kurosawa.
To the people of Japan - the Japanese
& UNIVERSAL
script and iconography means something
CUES/TOOLS specific. At a more universal sensorial level,
% JAPANESE the film - a protest by Kurosawa against
CUES/TOOLS Nuclear Warfare - evokes understanding
10
through the use of commonly understood 12
icons and symbols.

Conscious choice and planned action - the capabil-
The rainbow in this case represents hope
ity of coexisting in different levels of reality -
and beauty - and nature’s gifts to mankind.
Painting - “The Person at the Window” by Salvador Dali.
The child at the bottom of the page repre-
Surrealism attempts to capture the most sub-conscious
sents an innocence of youth (something
and inner feelings of the human mind and emotions.
that is addressed repeatedly in the film)
Simple composition and dynamic framing represent a
The alignment of the Japanese text, and
feeling of - wait, hope, expectancy.
the placement of the title film symbol at
The painting creates associations in the mind of the
the top of the page - is a representation of
observer who feels tempted to ask - “What is the
the infamous mushroom that is caused on
person thinking?”
detonation of a N-bomb.
23
$ A painting of “Christina’s World” -

by Andrew Wyeth
The artist creates a dynamic composition by
the mere placement of the body and the des-
tination within the space of the painting. This
placement creates a tension that could be un-
derstood to mean various emotions such as
hope, aspiration,
11 fatigue etc.
Chapter 1
+ =
13 14
Image, abstraction and the importance of knowledge

-
Installation art - “Batman and Marilyn”- an installation
by Japanese designer Kenzo Miyage at the MACBA in Barce- 16
lona, Spain. Target audience - Europe and America Image, abstraction and the importance of cultural
The conception of this installation was inspired by the meta- 15 knowledge -
phors of comic character “Batman” and film legend Marilyn Advertisement poster - “Volkswagen “Superbus”.
Monroe. The association was meant to co-relate the qualities of Batman with the sex-appeal of Target audience -USA where Superman is a common place
Marilyn Monroe, who is represented here by the symbol of the bathtub - which she made famous concept to most people.
because of her erotic photo-ops in them, in the 1960’s. The conception of this poster was inspired by the metaphor
of comic character “Superman”. The association was meant
The messages encoded in designed objects can lead to the following to co-relate the power and strength of Superman with the
24 conclusion - product.
1) Any designed object - be it a painting, or a work of sculpture, a poster, a The manner in which the picture has been taken, even at
product and an built space - contain messages that are either consciously en- the cost of distortion of the form of the bus, emphasizes
coded by the designer/artist or unconsciously during the process of conception. the location of the logo (with respect to where Superman
These messages are waiting to be decoded by the user. wears his logo), the location of the lamp-lights (with re-
2) This ‘decoding-impulse’ of a designed object is often achieved by spect to where superman’s alter ego Clark Kent wears his
the use of visually associative forms, which enable the user to connect dis- spectacles).
sociated phenomena.
The encoding of messages during conception, the
3) The use of visually associative forms leads to the creation of certain de-
creation of visual associational effects and their sub-
sired visual effects that allow the user to connect emotionally with the objects
sequent decodification through the perception are
that they encounter.
what would broadly be called the process of de-
sign communication.
1 . a . 2) T h e s e a r c h f o r ‘ d e c o d i n g ’ i n h e r e n t m e a n i n g i n s p a c e s
in the minds of people.
17 18
• Decoding as a property of Perception
Recurrence of a theme in a new context through

• Langue and Parole – their role in creating meaning
the reinvention of its encoded messages - The
triumph of good over evil has been a recurring theme
throughout the history of storytelling, be it through • U s e r ’s m e a n i n g s a n d d e s i g n e r ’s m e a n i n g s
25
the epic Ramayana or through the Hindi film ‘Sholay’
Chapter 1
1.a.2) The search for ‘decoding’ inherent meaning in spaces in the minds
of people.
Meaning manifests in a space when perception occurs. The process of perception

occurs through encoding and decoding in the user’s mind. Likewise, the
process of conception occurs through encoding and decoding in the
designer’s mind.
This sets of an instantaneous dialogue between the user and the designed space. 19
The success of this communication depends as much on the ease in # The inherent search for decoding in the
comprehension of the encoded messages, and their appropriate conformity minds of people -
in the built form. The Home for the Elderly, Amsterdam, 1964-74 by H.
Hertzberger.
The use of a simple frame work construction with a
• Decoding as a property of Perception – prefabricated junction member, turned into a cause
for social unrest because people associated with the
Perception of meaning (in architectural communication) occurs only when building in very negative ways at first. The symbolic
associations with the cross made the people living there
the user decodes the messages stored (in a built form).
feel like they were in coffins before burial.
To elucidate this statement further, an architectural space is a physical experience

26 that is perceived primarily by the sense of vision. To a certain extent, the faculty of
touch is also involved, though unless a user is blind, there is no need to touch
everything in a built space in order to store the information gained from it in the
mind.
A s u s e r s , what we see is stored in our minds as an experience of

phenomena. A study of Gestalt psychology shows that our perception works in
systematic ways where simple acts such as climbing of stairs, walking through a
door, sitting on a chair, to the act of praying at a temple, working in an office etc.
are all stored in our memory as signals.
As a user of architectural space, it would be safe to assume that every

architectural space has a human action or ‘event’ associated with it. Homes
and houses have evolved out of man’s existential need to dwell. Offices and
21
workspaces have emerged out of his need to work, a temple to pray in and similarly
20
THE RECOGNITION OF THE SACRED -

a discotheque to socialize or dance within.
ICONOGRAPHY
The architectural form merely is a manifestation of the messages induced by
‘architectural event’ in a perceivable form. It begins as ‘architecture of and
within the mind’ and ends within the mind as well, while our bodies perform
motor reactions to the impulses fed to the limbs by the reactions in the mind.
Let us analyze this statement further by means of an example of the simple act of
22
Praying. To a devotee, the sign of the Crucifix or the ‘Shiva-Lingam’ have become
SCALES OF SACRED SPACES - In a house and culturally accepted and recognized symbols of worship or religious icons. When we
in a temple
pray within our homes, the space where we keep this iconoclastic object – as a
representation of God in absentia – the space assumes sacred value to us. If we
expand our thoughts laterally, this is also the case with other ‘icons’ such as our
favorite sport’s stars and film personalities or even someone we admire.
27
A temple or a church is a public place of worship where the act of praying occurs at
a much larger, social scale. It is our common experience that it is not only the
crucifix within a church or a ‘lingam’ within a temple that is treated as sacred by
23 24 the user, but the entire ‘image’ of the architecture as well. When we visit a temple,
The ambiguity of the cultural idol - we carry in our minds an image of a temple, a church or a mosque as cultural and
Lor d Ganesha and Sachin Tendulkar are both associational determinants that are stored deep within our sub-conscious. The
symbol ized as benchmark for the ideal or f or an
a s p i ra t i o n . actions that we perform in a space with these determinants are preconditioned
Chapter 1
impulses. They are culture and habit specific. Signals of these kinds may mean
something to a certain person, and nothing to another.
The architecture of any built space invites actions that are primarily simple
responses to visual and physical stimuli. Walls could make us look in certain
directions; floors could make us move in certain ways. These are reactionary
impulses that are stimulated by the decoding of architectural signs universally. A
stair will make us climb it, unless we are unaware of the signal content stored in a
stair; a door will register in our perception as a door, unless we have no prior
information of a door.
People react to spaces in terms of the meanings the spaces have in store
for them. Material objects first arouse a feeling, which provides a background for
more specific images, which are then fitted into the material as a response. These
effective responses are based on the meaning that built environments have for the
people and are partly a result of the people’s interaction with these environments.
The process of decoding signals from built spaces form the basis of what we call
cognitive behavior. The manner in which a person perceives a form or the 26
overall scheme of a built environment depends on the ease with which The architecture of any built space invites actions
28 these messages are allowed to reach him, and the user’s willingness to that are primarily simple responses to visual and
reach beyond the present situation and associate the aspects of past with physical stimuli - The manner in which a person per-
ceives a form or the overall scheme of a built environ-
the present.
ment depends on the ease with which these messages
are allowed to reach him, and the user’s willingness to
reach beyond the present situation and associate the
aspects of past with the present.
(Image of the Central Beheer, Office Building, Appeldoorn,
1968-72 by Herman Hertzberger)
Complete communication occurs through a wholesome balance of the following

three factors 1 –
1. Sensorial communication – Refers primarily to the physiological comforts

accrued from physical resolutions, essentially in response to environmental
control.
2. Experiential communication – This aspect of communication is also

universal, but the perception through this experience differs vastly as this
aspect deals critically with mental and emotional status of the perceiver or
the observer. The process is spontaneous and reactionary to the nuances of
space configuration and its dictates.
PERCEPTUAL EXPERIENTIAL COMMUNICATION
Sensorial communica- 3. Associational communication – This form of communication is a locale

tion - Our senses perceive specific perception, requiring pre-conditioning and familiarity with the context
spaces in ways that that or the acquired information base. It creates spiritual bonds and succeeds
can -
through in depth understanding of cultural connotations.
> create notions of closure
and other visual principles.
(left) Meaning gains further importance when it is realized that the concept of ‘function’ goes far
>create notions of beyond purely instrumental or manifest functions. When dormant aspects of function are
expansion,contraction etc. measured, it is realized than meaning is central to an understanding of how
29
(below)
environments work.
PERCEPTUAL SENSORIAL COMMUNICATION

Chapter 1
27
28
Associational communication through individual Associational communication inspired by the surround-

form - ing context -
(The Johnson’s Wax Center Building, Racine, USA) (The Opera House, Sydney)
The individual column form draws parallels to mush- The form was inspired by familiar images from the Sydney har-
room-like forms. The architect uses the metaphor of bour on which the building is located. The form of the Opera House
natural foliage to draw associations of a forest of mush- is reminiscent of sailboats, clouds, turtle shells among others and
rooms beneath which the users work. is completely independant of the function for which it was in-
tended for.
30
29
31
30 Associational communication inspired by the Pro-

gram - Associational communication inspired by abstractions of
(The TWA Terminal, USA) the surrounding context -
The individual column form draws parallels to mush- (The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain)
room-like forms. The architect uses the metaphor of The conceptual process in this case is unique to the architect, Frank
natural foliage to draw associations of a forest of mush- Gehry. Perceptually however, visitors to the building compare it to
rooms beneath which the users work. marine life of some kind, due its scales and slippery form.
PERCEPTUAL ASSOCIATIONAL COMMUNICATION

• Langue and Parole – their role in creating meaning 2

LANGUE
According to de Saussure,Langue is seen as all the signs in a society taken together
as a total resource. It is the unconscious aspect of a social phenomenon. A langue
is an inventory of signs, symbols and behavioral syntax, which has been accumulated
gradually in every culture over centuries. A langue is not easy malleable.
“The langue is both a social institution and a system of values. As a social institution
○
it is never an act. It utterly eludes premeditation; it is the social part of language.
○
○
32
The individual can by himself neither create it nor modify it. It is essentially a
○
○
○
collective contract, with which if one wishes to communicate – one must accept in
○
○
its entirety.” Roland Barthes 3
PAROLE
○
Parole is each act or selection from this totality. It is a conscious aspect of a social
LANGUE is the universal set of signs and symbols
phenomenon. within a particular order or culture.
PAROLE is each and any act within the realm of the
The langue is seen as the more static aspect in this context, whereas the parole is existing LANGUE.
the dynamic aspect. However the two are differentially related, in the sense that, a a b
change in the parole would in some way create a change in the fabric of the langue
even by not fitting into it. Hence at a macro level, a langue too is changing minutely.
The degree of change in a langue depends on a culture’s belief in its system of
31
signs and symbols. Two important acts from within
the Langue of their specific
e ra s t h a t s u b s e q u e n t l y a f-
Any activity within a built environment may be analyzed into four components fected their Paroles for ever -
a. The activity proper according to a parole a) The discovery of the theory
b. The specific way of doing it according to a langue of perspective drawing during
the European Renaissance
c. Additional, adjacent or associated activities that become part of
b) The discovery of the struc-
the activity system;
tur e of the DNA molecular
d. The inherent meaning of the activity 33 structure
Chapter 1
USING ELEMENS OF A LANGUE TO AFFECT A NEW PAROLE
It is the variability of the last three factors that leads to difference in form,
the differential successes of various designs, appropriateness and judgments of
environmental value. This suggests that meaning itself is not something apart from
function, but is itself the most important aspect of function.
36
!!
34 35
Poster designed by Alain Le Quernec for an From Fatehpur Sikri to The High Court of
exhibition of Toulouse Lautrec’s paintings in Justice- Architect Le Corbusier had extensively
32 Paris , July 2002 - travelled across India in early 1950’s to study and
Using the symbol of crucifixion - the crown of thorns, document the existing langue of Indian architecture.
flagellation; the designer here recalls the feeling of He was profoundly inspired by the architecture of
excruciating pain and physical suffering that painter Fatehpur Sikri and other Mughal architecture of power
Lautrec underwent all through his troubled life in their use of massing, scale, siting and proportion.
because of his physiological anomalies as a dwarf. During the process of codification of spaces in
When most people remembered him as a funny, Chandigarh, he abstracted these stored experiences
midget, the designer here wishes to present a in his mind to create a new parole in the Modernist
different, lesser known side of Lautrec and thereby mould. This parole which was new at the time added
make people marvel all the more at his immense to the langue of Indian architecture for others to now 37
range of works. refer to as a storehouse of experience.
• User’s meanings and designer’s meanings –
Designers and users are very different in their reactions to environments. Meanings
exist in people and not in objects or things. However things do elicit meanings
(Bonta, 1979), the question is how they elicit or activate these meanings and guide
them, and thus which things or objects “work” best.
Users will inevitably attempt to attach a meaning to whatever it is they are doing.
It is the task of designers to see how meanings can be encoded in things in such a
way so that the users may decode them, and in doing so absorb the character of a
place and participate in its activity.
In order for the process of communication to occur, there have to be the following
three things –
' The sign vehicle (what acts as a sign)
' A sender (in our case, the designer)

' A receiver (in our case the user)
Designed aspects of the environment do encode information in the form of signals

that people decode. It is this process of encoding and decoding that sets off a
meaningful dialogue between user and the architectural product.
33
Meaningfulness implies choice, and can be thus interpreted from either the sender’s
or the receiver’s point of view. Let us briefly examine the differences in the two -
# A COMMON MIS-COMMUNICATION - Designer

meaning and user meaning are not often alike. Users
tend to associate with what they see in their own realm
of knowledge and experience, which are often far
removed from the designer’s intended signal intent.
Chapter 1
User’s perception and subsequent de-codification of a space –
Users tend to react to environments in associational (may be reactionary or

preconditioned) terms. A user is a part of society, which is a summation of all the
relevant signal systems in his environment. A user relates to the architecture around
him in existential and associational terms first, before associating with it functionally.
By being able to associate the signals that are being sent to him by the built space
with past sensorial, experiential and associational experiences, the user determines 37
the degree of meaning stored in a space that he could absorb. Whatever is

meaningful for user is called informative. # DESIGNER MEANINGS - Metaphors employed
by the ‘Taller de Arcquitectura’ from texts and after
sketches by Ricardo Bofil.
Designer’s conception of a space –
Designers tend to react to environments that they create in conceptual terms. He

uses the formal tools available to him, and tries to create meaning in them (for the
user) by using sensorial, experiential and associational signals to entice the user
to participate in his design. Whatever is meaningful for either the sender or designer
is known as communicative.
34 The complete appreciation and evaluation of the quality and success of a design
depends on an understanding of its meaning, and the way in which perceptual 38 39
variables are used to achieve and communicate it.
Therefore in the context of our study, the word ‘space’ can be understood to imply # DESIGNER MEANINGS - Metaphor of a cow’s
all that is man made and occupies a volume. It includes the man-made built head employed in the conception of the Assembly,
Chandigarh
environment, each individual building that acts as a component within that
environment, each space within the building. Any space begins to act as a ‘place’
when it arouses participatory reactions in the people who are to use them.
1.a.3) User participation through ‘encoding’ in built

spaces – “the manner of doing”

40
Manner of Doing -
• Existential Expression and Shared Expression
Above - A part of the Vitra Factory Complex, in Weil-aum-
Rhein, Germany.
The path leads from the Vitra Museum designed by Frank
Gehry to the Conference Hall designed by Tadao Ando. • Perception in an age of mediated reality – new codes for
Ando creates a path composed of straight lines with sharp
greater ‘shocks’
right angled turnings even when a straight path connect-
ing the two destinations would have sufficed. 35
Ando uses his Japanese beliefs that this strategy
wards off evil spirits from following the user to his
destination.
Walking on this path, one cannot help but wonder if the

evil spirits he is referring to is a sarcastic jab at the
deconstructivist Museum that the user leaves behind.
Chapter 1
1.a.4) User participation through ‘decoding’ built spaces – “the manner USER PARTICIPATION IN BUILT SPACES- The
of doing” creation of a ‘manner of doing’ - in this case, the
manner of taking a bath - making the bathing
space a glamorous space by affecting the manner
From our analysis thus far, it becomes clear that as designers, we are entrusted of seating and taking a bath.
with the responsibility to not just provide products that affect the ‘doing’ of specific
functions, but also affect the ‘manner of doing’ something - a vital layer in the
design process that makes the activity itself more meaningful in the overall context.
The ‘manner of doing’ architecture elevates it to becoming more than just built
physical space. It establishes a sense of ‘place’.
“Architecture is a thing of art, a phenomena of the emotions, lying outside questions

of construction and beyond them.
The purpose of construction is to make things hold together, 42
Of architecture – to MOVE us.” The ‘manner of reclining’ on the Chaise-Lounge re-

Thomas Thiis- Evenson (1987) 4 introduced in the bathroom of Mme. Savoye at the
Villa Savoye at Poissy(below)
Places evoke feelings and emotions. They communicate

$ Built spaces adopting sign like qualities
with the user. In doing so they allow him to participate through cultural pre-conditioning - An 800 year old
in the very event that makes it the space. Space monastery in Meteora, Greece
36 communicates with its own inherent language. Through Here we see a woman, sub-consciously kiss each and
e ve r y p a i n t i n g o n e ve r y wal l w i t h o u t a ny e v i d e n t
its own set of basic alphabets and sentences, a space
invitation to do so.
commits descriptive, vocative and expressive The content of these walls, sacred murals, themselves
‘utterances’. In doing so built space begins to adopt draw people into these culture specific acts
sign-like qualities.
When space adopts sign-like qualities, it starts to act

as a medium of transferring specific messages to 41
the user and in doing so allow him to participate more actively.

a
Conception of meaning in architectural communication occurs only when

43
the designer encodes relevant messages during the process of designing

ENCODING IN BUILT
a built form.
SPACES- Comparison of
two different elements of
circulation and a column As designers, we have the potential to endow what we create with appropriate
In case a) the cylindrical signals for the user. These signals are stored within our experiences as human
column is embedded into b 44
beings also as sensorial, experiential and associational images. We have control
the side of the ramp to
over the first two factors, whereas the associational is a sub-conscious occurrence
create a blend of sructure with movement path.
In case b) The act of climbing spirally is given more at first, which we come to harness and give a form to.
emphasis and added drama by allowing it to stand free
of the structural cuboidal column. To take a lateral example, a designer is also a storyteller. He has an image in his
Illus: from the Villa Savoye at Poissy.
mind, of a form that he wishes to create for a specific set of functions. The user
also has fragmented images of similar kinds within his mind. As designers, it is
how best we convey these images to the user that determines the degree of success
of the architectural communication. It is also a pre-supposition that for the
communication of information to be of some value to the user, it must tell him
something that he was not aware of earlier. Today, in our ‘age of information’ it is
37
o f t e n t h e e l e m e n t o f s h o c k o r s u r p r i s e t h a t m a ke s t h e m o s t s u cc e s s f u l
communication.
This enquiry attempts to sensitize us to the language of space making, the various
45 spatial signs, and symbols – spatial alphabets that allow the architect to reveal the
space to the user more eloquently. Like the case of story telling, a ‘spatial story’ or
ENCODED MESSAGES - Advertisement for Pan-Ameri-
‘narrative’ revealed eloquently evokes emotions from the user. It moves him, and
can airlines, designed by the J. Walter Thompson Ad-
vertising Agency
Chapter 1
hence transcends the boundaries of being just a contained or a confined physical
space. It begins to create spiritual and emotional bonds in him.
• An analogy of storytelling - Storytelling as a profession, through the use of

appropriate communication methods, has always ensured audience participation.
More important than the factual information contained in these stories – the
manner of story telling enabled the storyteller to address emotions and moods,
which made a much more lasting impact on the audience. In doing so, he was
able to actively involve the audience to participate in the experiences he was
narrating. Audience participation is the vital ingredient that ensured the
posterity of these stories.
• An analogy of performing arts – We will examine Indian classical dance for

our purpose. A classical Indian danseuse through the medium of her body,
forming various ‘constructs’, or compositions, tells us stories of different kinds.
These constructs over a period of time have come to be understood to mean
46
something specific. The danseuse uses postures and expressions, which are
abstracted and subsequently represented to a viewer in the audience. The viewer
ETHER I by dECOi ARCHITECTS - Ether I offered a
would then associate these signals with the concepts from within the story he is
new oppurtunity to the architects to experiment with
newer techniques of creative formal production. The familiar with and form images in the mind.
38
form is evolved from the negative traces of two danc-
ers that were captured on video - a trace that cannot “Where the hand goes, there the eyes should follow
be perceived by the naked eye. Ether I embodies the
Where the eyes are, the mind should follow
transitional phase from one state to another by being
Where the mind is, there the expression should be brought out
the trace of an absent presence - a surface which is
also in depth. Dance is seen here as an “architecture Where the expression is, there the rasa or flavour will be
of disappearance”. experienced”
A verse from the ‘Natya Krama’ 5
The phenomenon of ‘abhinaya’ is common to all Classical Indian dances.

Abhinaya is the expressional aspect of dance, or nritya. It is the abhinaya of
a dance form that meaning is codified and given from through body and
expressions. In contrast to this, ‘Nritta’ comprises only the pure dance and
features striking and aesthetic poses, but will have no expressional meaning
and symbolism.
A dancer uses expressions and postures as her alphabets and sequences
these in specific ways to form appropriate ‘sentences’. Using these tools, she
weaves her story to the audience and entices them to participate in the
feelings and moods that she is trying to convey. The degree of participation
of a member of the audience depends directly on the level of sensitization the
particular individual has undergone to understand the ‘signals’ the danseuse
is sending to him.
47
STORY TELLING THROUGH DANCE -Indian classi-

cal dance communicates stories to its audience by us-
ing the architecture of the human body to convey
moods, feelings, thoughts and emotions.
39
46 STORY TELLING BY THE HANDS - In Indian classical dancethe hands are used to
depict abstractions of animal expression and other subject matter
Chapter 1
Through this language of utterances, a space becomes the story or ‘performance’.
The architect becomes the storyteller. This makes it possible for us to believe that
there is an inherent ‘story’ that resides in every space. A ‘story’ that wants to be
told.
These spiritual and emotional bonds elevate architectural space to becoming more
than just physical boundaries. It makes architecture a true celebration of life.
48
• Existential Expression and Shared Experience 6

EXISTENTIAL EXPRESSION -An image of a space
from the Katsura Palace, Kyoto, Japan. Space here is
There are two factors that are inseparable from the perception of meaning, factors created from a harmonious balance of interior and ex-
that act as a common bridge between a designer and a user. They are – terior.
• Existential Expression
• Shared Experiences
1. Existential Expression
The roof, the wall and the floor all do the same thing – they balance the forces of
40 inside and outside. The struggle between these forces is an existential 50
precondition for mankind. Without shelter in the broadest sense, man cannot
49
MOTION as EXPERIENCE IN SPACE - Contrasting

live on this earth.
images of the Stepwell at Adalaj, Gujarat (above left)
and the Pyramid at the Louvre, Paris representing states
Delimiting elements of space all essentially embody a fundamental potential of of dynamic and static existence of space. In the Stepwell
existential expression, in that we evaluate them in relation to their principal role of at Adalaj, the series of successive frame enhance the
protecting an interior space from an exterior environment. The expression of the feeling of inward motion through the smallest of move-
ments. The Pyramid of the Louvre draws on the stabil-
delimitation is visualized in the span between opening and closure.
ity of the pyramidal form itself to create a heavy, static
expression.
There are three concepts that are essential to the description of how the delimiting
elements open or close themselves to the inside or the outside. These concepts are
–
• Motion – describes the dynamic nature of elements i.e. whether they visually
expand, contract or are in balance.
51
• Weight – is related to the ‘heaviness’ of elements and is more a direct
expression of gravity.
52
• Substance – is related to the materiality of elements i.e. whether they are
WEIGHT as EXPERIENCE IN SPACE - Contrasting
soft or hard, coarse or smooth.
images of a paper-and-wood partition wall at the
Katsura Palace, Japan (above left) and the stone flying
buttresses of the Sacre Coeur, Paris (above left). Weight Existential expressions are distinctiveness of a form that is at base of its symbolic
of elements is an existential expression of these two meaning, with their stylistic and symbolic variations.
basic types.
2. Shared Experience
SUBSTANCE as EX-
PERIENCE IN
SPACE - Contrasting The attitude of the user represents our most conscious relationship to how our
images of traditional surroundings are experienced. The communicative aspect of architecture is
roofing of Japanese dependant on a number of changing experiential levels. These can be grouped into
house-forms (left)
two major categories both associated to convention and based on recollection –
a n d t h e Pa rc d e l a 41
V i l e tt e ( b e l o w l e f t )
53
where materiality of 1.) Personal experiences – These levels are connected to our personal
elements is an expe- experiences of using a space, and individualities such as comprehensive ability
rience in itself.
; etc.
2.) Social experiences – These levels are linked to common cultural

associations. These cultural associations are necessary if the meaning
54
manifested in form is to be comprehended. For example, white is the color
of mourning in India, while black serves the same purpose in the West.
Chapter 1
These two levels of experience view architectural forms as symbolic expressions
i.e the forms are seen as signs of an external reality.
3.) Universal experiences – This level of experience is to a large extent

independent of cultural determinants. These experiences belong to our
impulsive and instinctive reactions to design. They are defined by our
reactions to the inherent structure of designed forms, independent of their
symbolic connotations.
Shared experiences are founded on principles of recognition but this time with
reference to bodily experience. These experiences form a complex net of references 55
that are the center for our reactions when we move in relationship to
TALIESIN WEST, ARIZONA - A UNIVERSAL EXPE-
objects in space. These movements are described in relation to physical RIENCE OF SPACE - Degrees of openness and clo-
relationships to the things around us. We walk on something, ascend something, sure, light ans shadow, texture of materials, spatial de-
descend something, and go under something. But the manner in which we do these limitations are all experienced universally in this case.
things is not irrelevant, in that the experience differs

if what we walk on is steep or slack, broad or narrow
– if what is above us is low and heavy or light and
high – if what we walk alongside is soft or hard,
42 coarse or shiny. #($
SOCIAL EXPERIENCE -
The existential expression of an architectural form the Santa Sophia at Is-
tanbul as “THE CENTER
is based on the motion, weight and substance of
57 OF THE UNIVERSE” - The
the form and is recognized on the basis of our interior of the space was con-
common experiences with natural phenomenon. As ceived on the metaphor of the universe. Though the
is the case with symbolic meanings, in architectural spatial experience in both interior and exterior aspects
is universal, the experience as “The Center of the Uni-
design, existential expressions form images to which
verse” is something that is more socio-cultural, and
56
requires pre-conditioning inorder to be experienced.
we react. This means that we use our surroundings psychologically prior to

using them physically.
“(… it is) an inhabited construct, a heritage which embraces us even before we

have attempted to think it”
Jacques Derrida on ‘architecture’
b “Point de Folie – Maintenant l’architecture” 7
61
a 58
This means that we use our environments psychologically before using them
physically. If we see a door in front of us, we actually ‘go’ through it in our
minds before we do so in reality. In this way, a door acts as a sign of its use
e as a door because of our indoctrination through past experiences.
59
d
We wish to ‘be’ what a volume and the delimiting elements do. We walk
swiftly through corridors and ceremoniously in an open space. Feelings of security
within an interior space are decided by the degree to which the space threatened
60
62
c by the assault of the phenomena of nature. It is because we ‘participate’ in these
SYMBOLIC ENTRANCES - The images above are ex- things that we are uplifted under an elevated dome and borne down upon by the
amples of entrances that are loaded with ample mean- nearness of a cellar vault.
ing and signal value to make them part of the cultural 43
heritage of their respective regions.
This does not imply that existential meanings are not influenced by symbolic
a) Buland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri - “A call to prayer”
b) The Grande Arche de La Defense, Paris - “a celebra- meanings and attitudes. What our surroundings do and what we can do in them
tion of urban life around it” are not experienced as completely different between individuals, but as different
c) Gopuram at Madurai - a gateway toward the inner possibilities within the same ‘offer’. Existential expression has a fundamental effect
shrine, these gateways are intricately carved with
on our architectural experiences as an integrated part of the quality of symbolic
activites that represent the dualities of human and cos-
mic existence. meaning.
d)The India Gate, New Delhi - built as a symbolic gate-
way to the capital of India. Meaning in a space, through signs, can be stored in the following ways –
e) The protective entry to a fort in India.
Chapter 1
1. Elements of space making – Like each word in a work of poetry, each
element at an architectural and an interior design scale is capable of being
motivated with meaning. Thus simple columns, or the ceilings or even
furniture and a play of light can be given the power to communicate by
charging it with information that is useful to the user.
2. Spatial sequences, constructs and their organization – Meaning can

also manifest in the creation of place through the spatial construct itself.
Spatial-constructs imply how a space is assembled or coded semantically
using the various individual elements to maximize the impact of transmission
of a message to the user who is able to decode it more effectively.
The use of metaphors, double-meanings, ‘bisociation’ and symbols – Formal ‘puns’

and other witticism can take the communication of meaning to a higher
dimension of meaning.
By addressing a user’s past experience, cultural pre-conditioning, and

ability to abstract phenomenon – a designer can make a user associate
meanings with form in the most creative of ways.
44
) Perception in an age of mediated reality – new visual codes for newer

‘shocks’
63
64
“Contemporary man is certainly passive most of his free time. He is the eternal
EXISTENTIAL MEANINGS ARE INFLUENCED ALSO
consumer. He takes in drinks, food, cigarettes, lectures, sights, books, films; everything
BY SYMBOLIC MEANINGS AND ATTITUDES - This
is devoured, swallowed. The world has become one large object of his desire, one is best illustrated by placing the same stair in front of
a victory podium (far above) and the gallows (above)
Spaces whose formal language is evolved large bottle, and one large breast. Man has become the eternally expectant and
through irrational processes
disappointed suckling.”
- Erich Fromm 8
Even in today’s modern situation of welfare and material progress, pluralistic

tendencies resurface and have an alarming effect on the staunch followers of the
rationalist theory. Many architects and designers again profess an architecture where
the practical-functional aspect only plays a secondary role, and their formal language
appears irrational and far-fetched.
A general doubt in the basic creed of early ‘functionalism’ is expressed. This doubt
hardly attacks the assumption that a building should ‘function’. Rather it grasps the
core of the problem: “Is the rational world conception of the post mediaeval period
satisfactory?” It is pointed out in all modern media, that ‘enlightenment’ and ‘freedom’
did not solve man’s problems. Our modern world has created passivity and discontent.
Architect Peter Eisenman; in his essay “The End of the Classical – The End of the
Beginning, the End of the End” states that for the past five hundred years or so,
most of what was generated under the umbrella of the word ‘modern’ were in fact
‘representations of representations’. The classical as a notion had ceased to
a) & b) - Interiors of the exist long ago, and we now exist in a vortex of ‘remixes’ of every kind. These are
45
Vitra Fire Station at Weil-
best demonstrated through the McDonald genre, or in music in the form of techno-
aum-Rhein, Germany
remixes. In every culture, the classical still exists, but as a living reference. In
c) & d) - The Vitra Factory
at Weil-aum-Rhein, Ger- India, we still have the classical schools of music alive in almost every state. But
many the classical is no longer merely reproduced over and over again by different
e) The Guggenheim Mu- musician, but re-invented and modified to adapt to the newer needs of the time.
seum, Bilbao
According to Eisenman, even architecture had ceased to depict the ‘fictions’ of
f ) The Parc de la Vilette,
Paris representation, reason and history, and started to evolve out of intrinsic factors
65
that drew attention to itself by its sheer existence.
Chapter 1
Today, the complete onslaught of the visual and other forms of media have played
a major role in changing the way people perceive phenomena. With information
now accessible far more easily than even fifty years ago, the extent of knowledge
in the minds of people has increased manifold. This has been reflected in the
codification of meaning in designed objects.
The principal subject matter for codification of meaning has shifted in

today’s age of information, especially in our bigger cities and towns where the
onslaught of visual media has been the greatest. Architectural concepts no longer
remain enslaved to religion, function, structure or a style as a springboard for “GODZILLA” - a hy-
representation of meaning. Walter Benjamin, in his book – “The Work of Art in an
66
pothetical project
Age of Mechanical Reproduction” discussed the reproducibility of images. He pointed by Michael Sorkin - The architect delves into the
out that the loss of their exchange value, their ‘aura’ made them interchangeable, cinematized memory of New York city which is ram-
paged by this gigantic monster in the Hollywood leg-
and that in an age of pure information – the only thing that mattered was the
end. The program is basically identical to a skyscraper,
‘shock’ – the shock of images, their surprise factor. though both in formal attitude and space making - the
architect draws parallels from the Giant Ape itself.
In the words of Bernard Tschumi, in “Architecture and Disjunction”, the field of
architectural design is where the greatest discoveries will take place in the coming
century.
46
“The very heterogeneity of the definition of architecture – space, action and
movement – makes it into that event, that place of shock, or that place of invention
of ourselves. The event is the place where the rethinking and reformulation of the
different elements of architecture may lead to their solution.”
Bernard Tshumi 9 67
Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio, by Peter

In the words of architect Peter Eisenman, architecture today has become a process Eisenman - The illustrations above are of the famous
of ‘modification’ of syntax. The subject matter being ‘written’ is not the object ‘floating’ column inside the center. This serves to act as
a sign by its being an ‘absent presence’ in the space.
itself – its mass and volume – but the act of massing. This school of thought gives
the act of architecture a metaphorical body which he calls a ‘trace’, through which
it signals its reading through another system of signs.
A trace as a sign is never decoded literally since they have no other value other
than to signal the idea that there is a reading event and that reading should
take place. A trace, in other words, signals the idea to read. Thus a trace is a
partial or fragmentary sign, and signifies that an action is in process.
68
In conclusion, while direct communication with its users remains the primary goal
of architecture even today, there as been a re-emergence of a more subtle and
POP ART by Andy Warhol - (above left) “Mick
related objective: the conception of architecture as a poetic art having levels of
Jagger’ and (above right) “The Suicide - The Purple communication that are more powerfully suggested than rather than specified.
Jumping Man”.
Warhol’s art was derived from the basic premise that
art was seen for art’s sake and hence commonplace
objects like a tin of soup or even a rock-icon could be
made into an object of art and mass produced all at
once. His subject matter often delved into the irra-
tional - where represented gruesome accidents and
death as works of art by the mere replication of the
image and the death of the subject matter thereof. 47
Chapter 1
• T h e s i g n i f i e r / s i g n i f i e d r e l a t i o n s h i p - ‘ D o u b l e a r t i c u l a t i o n ’.
69
Street posters in Mumbai
48
According to the Chamber’s Dictionary,

A sign is “a gesture expressing a meaning”. We have already discussed the
importance of the word ‘meaning’ in an earlier chapter. In this part we will focus on
70 71
the word ‘gesture’ and examine how a gesture can express something.
Human communication Semiotics’ is the process by which something acts as a sign or the study of
signs. It can also be seen as the study of consequence of the various elements of
a structured system, in this case the architectural parole. Semiology has been
concerned with what occurs when a man perceives a sign through one of his five
‘ M AY U R A ’
P E A C O C K senses.
· The signifier/signified relationship - ‘Double articulation’.

Perfor ming Ar ts - Classical
D a n c e
The signifier is a representation for an idea or thought, which is signified.
In language, the sound would be the signifier and the resultant idea, that which is
signified. In architecture, the form would be the signifier and the resultant content,
that which is signified.
49
The fact that every sign has this double nature is called ‘double articulation’.
The existence of this phenomenon sets the vary basis for non-verbal communication
between architecture and the user. Double articulation makes it possible for
inanimate objects in space to evoke emotion in the user by signifying something
Architectural communication
relevant to the user.
SIGNIFIER SIGNIFIED
r e l a t i o n s h i p
Chapter 1
• Context and Metaphor
• Bisociation and Conceptual Combination
50 72
French Poster by Raymond Savignac

showinng an advertisement for soap
made from milk - A direct representation of
the signal content intended to be communi-
cated to the user.
• Context and Metaphor
‘ M A Y U R A ’ All sign behavior conveys meaning in two similar ways – either by opposition or
P E A C O C K by association. They are also frequently referred to as ‘context’ and ‘metaphor’
both of which are continuously interrelated.
abstracted
attributes
When a sign achieves meaning through opposition, it conveys meaning through
the unexpectancy of its occurrence in a context. Expectancy of a message in a
associated
73 context reduces the level of information transmitted by it.
Peacock entrance to Jaipur
palace
METAPHOR Meaning is also conveyed through the use of associations, metaphors or the whole
treasure house of past memory. This may occur socially, when a series of
architectural elements convey the same connotations as in the spoken language
(like an Indian classical dancer’s ‘mudras’). It may also occur individually through
some personal way of relating one sign to another.
A metaphor originally is a figure of speech where one thing, idea or action is referred
51
to by a word or expression normally denoting another thing, idea or action – so as
to suggest some common quantity shard by the two.
74
People invariably see one building in relation to another, or in terms of a similar
object i.e. as a metaphor. The more unfamiliar a built form syntax is to a particular
“Primitives inside a cave” - the conceptual departure context, the greater is the tendency of people to compare it metaphorically with
for “the Dipolii”, Finland by Reima Pietila - a meta- what they know.
phorical approach to the evolution of a program
Chapter 1
Metaphorical thinking is inevitable and lends a greater degree of potency to any
language or thought. They have succeeded in the most accurate representation of
our ideas that are connected to the ‘distant’ and ‘future experiences’ through some
kind of images. They act as reminders by signifying through associations where
the associations are deep rooted socially, culturally or personally.
• Bisociation and Conceptual Combination
Arthur Koestler defines Bisociation as the “the simultaneous activation and 75
interaction of two previously unconnected concepts”. This collision and CONCEPTUAL COMBINATION - The Taj Mahal built by
subsequent fusing of seemingly unrelated concepts create something new that Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in Agra is a classic example
was absent from the original concepts themselves. of architecture through conceptual combination. The
physical attributes of this masterpeice were derived from
the qualities of the Emperor’s wife Mumtaaz Mahal in
Three important aspects that are necessary for making a successful ‘bisociation’ who’s memory this shrine was built.
–
1. Spotting an analogy
2. Judgment
3. Response to stimuli
52 Conceptual combination occurs when one intentionally take existing forms or

concepts and mentally blends them together. Imagery in the mind is used a
powerful provocative tool to spark off associative images.
76
CONCEPTUAL COMBINATION - The Interior of the

Gothic Cathedral was inspired by the feeling generated
from walking through the forests of Northern Europe
and the filtering of light through the trees.
a) The Non-verbal communication approach
b) Codification in the built environment
77
53
Chapter 1
a) The Non-verbal communication approach
The functions of any communication include three aspects, which refer to all
intentional communication (including built products and environments) –
78
• PERCEPTIVE – involving the reception of incoming data. TRANSMISSIVE/EXPRESSIVE COMMUNICATION -

• EDUCATIVE – involving the memory and retention of past experiences as The creation of a focal point using two simply dy-
namic lines.
well as decision-making. This includes knowledge, which encourages the
Stage designed for the play -“Frontier” directed by Martha
human sub-conscious to reconstruct past events, understand present events Graham in 1935. The stage set was designed byJapanese
and anticipate those of the future. sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi. Photograph
• TRANSMISSIVE/EXPRESSIVE – involves sending and receiving byBarbara Morgan
information, which may encompass art, design, written or spoken language,
poetry, prose and even performing arts.
In a designed space, communication is non-verbal. A spatial construct cannot

speak. It is built with materials that are not endowed with verbal communicative
54 powers. Yet, the designer represents the inherent meaning of the function of
each space he designs for the purpose of codification of the user. He tries to
‘compose’ each space in such a way, that the forms used, the layout, the scale,
the texture and color etc. each communicate with the user in a way that affects
the way the space is in use.
As is the case with any form of communication, in the non-verbal process, certain
elements are essential –
a) A sender – encoder
b) A receiver – decoder
c) A channel
d) A message form which may be in the form of -
i) A cultural code – the form of encoding
ii) A topic – the social situation of the sender, intended receiver,
and the intended meaning.
iii) The context or scene – which is part of what is being
communicated but is partly external to it.
It has been concluded quite clearly that human beings communicate in the following
ways –
• Verbally
• Vocally
• Non verbally
Verbal communication is much more codified and used more ‘symbolically’ than the
other two. However, all three – verbal, vocal and nonverbal messages “act together”
i.e. they may say the same thing or contradict each other, in the process either
55
strengthening or weakening the message.
On finds that non-linguistic somatic aspects of speech (paralanguage) greatly

clarify a spoken language. Tone of voice, facial expression, and shared habits such
as the meaning of relative physical positions, stances and relationship of participants
further enrich the meaning of the spoken word, far beyond the scope of grammar,
structure and so on. In this regard, the socio-contextual aspects of communication,
Chapter 1
which are called non-verbal, are the most important. They are the most immediately
noted and the ‘loudest’.
b) Codification in the built environment
CODIFICATION – When a person conceives or perceives a series of events and

then wishes to make a statement about them, such a statement itself has to be
represented by signs that are comprehensible to others. It is the technical aspect
of this process that is referred to as ‘codification’. In the context of built space, it
is a set of inherent rules in a specific society that explain how built space made to
‘behave’ in a certain way conveys information.
79
The built environment communicates to its users by virtue of the information stored INDEXICAL SIGN - The ‘female’ columns of the
in the elements that constitute them. In this way, a designed space no longer Erectheion, Parthenon, Greece directly indicate
remains just a geometrical compositional of forms and textures, but assume their function of proportion and scale.
associational codes for the people using them.
Architectural language, like the spoken one, must use known units of meaning or
architectural ‘words’ (refer to chapter 2. on ‘archetypes’). These ‘words’ when uttered
in some form of order, create phrases and then sentences. The built spaces become
56 a complex matrix of coded elements – all which are trying to represent an image of
something – or to signify.
A study of architectural forms till today reveals two basic kinds of signs –
1. Indexical – directly or indirectly indicating their use, like arrows, linear 80
corridors.
ICONIC SIGN - The form of the facade of the
2. Iconic – the form is a diagram of function.
Permanent Mission of India to the United Na-
tions, in New York built by Charles Correa is a
diagram of its function
These two types of signs when used repeatedly enough to form a coherent image
through codification in the minds of people become Symbols. (discussed in detail
in Chapter 2)
Almost every designer today aims to affect and influence the tastes and behavior
of a culture. It becomes important therefore to speak the language of the culture
first, and this includes its own inventory of architectural signs and semantic formal
constructs. This occurs through the correct process of codification of meaning
in the designer’s mind.
In the case of non-verbal communication among humans, a large number of these

codification systems play an important role like personal appearance, dress,
gestures, ordinary actions like eating and drinking besides simple sounds, spoken
and written words – as in verbal communication. Any action or thing may have
symbolic properties and even represent some other event.
On the basis of these three types of coding, one then finds three classes of non-
verbal behavior –
• Adaptors – These are the least intentional, most intuitive, exhibiting the
least awareness.
• Illustrators – These augment or contradict what is being stated, but have
57
less precise meanings.
• Emblems – These are known to have exact verbal translations, with precise
meanings known to all, or most members of a group. They are deliberately
used for messages, so that the sender takes responsibility for them. They
are commonly referred to as symbolic gestures.
Chapter 1
Non-verbal communication in spaces cannot occur without the use of proper
codification. Pure codification occurs in two ways –
a. DIGITAL CODIFICATION – A form of codification which involves phonetic

alphabets and which forms language.
b. ANALOGIC CODIFICATION – This form constitutes a series of symbols
that in their proportions and relations are similar to the thing, idea or event
for which they stand. For example, in architectural practices small scale models
of the built form are made along with their surrounding context, topography,
texture etc. These models may be viewed as being analogous to the actual
railroad itself. Such a form of codification deals with continuous functions.
Non-verbal communication, specifically in the built environment uses

analogical codification devices. Thus various kinds of actions, or pictures or
designed objects represent analogical types of denotation. In lingual terms, ‘analogical’
is the discursive language.
Non-verbal codification cannot exist autonomously. In fact, non-verbal and verbal

codifications work in unison through imagery. If words are to be used successfully,
they are expected to arouse pictorial images in the mind of the reader or listener. It
58 is precisely these non-verbal images that make emotional expression possible
through words.
Every object is either designed consciously or has evolved over a period of time or
belongs to such a time that it has additional socio-cultural or historical significance
wedded to it. Hence it is bound to be a part of a type of codification system. Individual
elements in space and their arrangement are perceived as an integrated whole with
respect to principles of common sense, accessibility (both physical and emotional),
usage and previous knowledge of it.
1.b.4) What are ‘perceptual’ and ‘conceptual’ images?
59
82
$ Assembly Hall drawing by Le Corbusier,

(June 1953) - Section and studies of the roof com-
pared to the chimneys of an Ahmedabad power plant
(shown below) - a metaphor of release of collective
energies meant to combine within the Assembly Hall.
Chapter 1
1.b.4. What are ‘perceptual’ and ‘conceptual’ images?
' Perceptual and conceptual images
We cannot experience sensation without characterizing it with meaning.

Communication (visual/verbal) is a language of stored ideas and images that
are to be expressed. Thoughts, feelings and emotions of any kind become ideas
only when they are objectified or given some tangible form.
The visual form of ideas are better understood as IMAGES. To imagine

means to cast or to objectify. We see images and not things. Imagism is a
symbolism where the symbol is naked and unexplained. A natural object exists in
nature as itself and does not represent anything more than it shows. Everything in
nature is simple what is and as it is. In effect, it is man who uses the natural object
to signify for his convenience. An objects actual meaning and the symbol then
become a function of the original object. In this case the mind is able to derive
those functions naturally as its basic virtue.
“The mind is by nature in constant agitation.

60 It is constantly transforming itself into the shapes of objects of which it becomes
aware.
Its subtle substance assumes the forms and colors of everything offered to it – by
the senses, imagination, memory and emotions.
It is endowed with a power of transformation or metamorphosis which is
boundless and never put to rest.”
Heirmich Zimmer
“Philosophies of India” 10
Images are found to be of two kinds –
• Perceptual – Real things, actually existing in memory. Relate to real things

that actually exist or existed in memory and survive as coded information in
the memory. Perception differs among people, and therefore so does imagery.
• Conceptual – Represented in the mind from emotion or fantasy. This type
of an image is a kind of symbol, shape or form that represents something in
the artist’s mind rather than what is actually seen. Conceptual imagery derives
from emotion, fantasy or invention.
French philosopher Jean- Paul Sartre puts artistic creativity as being an “”‘imaginative
consciousness, which is free from the impact of the perceptual and conceptual
consciousness, though we know that knowledge does have a role to play in the formation
of an idea or an image.”
According to Indian philosopher Geeti Sen in her book “Image and Imagination”, “…they
(images) are born from experience, from memory, from the unconscious, from the
powers of association that link the past and the future.”
German philosopher Emmanuel Kant further adds that the aesthetic idea was sensory,
rational and merely served to set up possibilities. Artistic imagination on the other
61
hand could be said to possess higher synthesizing powers. One of the greatest gifts
given to human beings, that which distinguishes us from all other species, is this
extraordinary ‘power of the imagination’. The act of recollection, of dismantling
experience to create a new order of things, gives the designer the power to transcend
the barriers of time and space.
Creative faculties are born out of the imagination. Images, finite and tangible are
transformed in this ‘imagination’.
Chapter 1
C O N C L U S I O N In Chapter 1, the study aims to identify the various tools for visual design
communication by the use of illustration from various important fields of
visual communication.
The Chapter emphasized -
• The need for abstraction, generalization and the experience of meaning

• The basic premise of design communication - of it being the process
of encoding and decoding meaning within the built environment.
• The signifier/signified relationship - the potential of ‘double
articulation’.
• The importance of context and metaphor, bisociation and conceptual
combination.
These points become the basis for our understanding of the basic tools
neccessary for the process of design communication to occur.
62 In the following Chapter we shall aim to examine these tools with the
specifics of the grammar of built spaces.
Chapter 2
P A R T T W O
2
E M P H A S I S O N S P A T I A L C O M M U N I C A T I O N
! Objective: To analyse the various tools for

architectural and spatial communication and how they affect
b e h a v i o u r o f t h e u s e r.
! Method:
• The first part deals with understanding architectural

communication as the interctive dialogue between the
designer and the user - it focuses on encoding as a process
of conception.
62
• The second part identifies the various basic tools for
architectural communication - it examines the various effects
that encoding meaning within these tools can create and how
t h e y a f f e c t t h e u s e r.
• The third part briefly discusses the role of cultural
metaphors and symbols and their role in enriching the
b a s i c a r c h i t e c t u r a l t o o l s f u r t h e r.
S PAT I A L T O O L S S PAT I A L T O O L S S PAT I A L T O O L S S PAT I A L T O O L S S PAT I A L T O O L S S PAT I A L T O O L S S PAT I A L T O O L S S PAT I A L

Chapter 2 An emphasis on spatial communication
S T R U C T U R E
EMPHASIS ON SPATIAL
COMMUNICATION 2.a.1) How does architecture communicate?
• W h a t k i n d o f ‘ m e s s a g e s ’ d o e s a r c h i t e c t u r e t ra n s m i t t o u s ?
2.a.2) ‘Space’ v/s ‘Place’

2. a . A r c h i t e c t u r a l • ‘ S p a c e s ’ a n d ‘ P l a c e s ’ - V i s u a l a s s o c i a t i o n a s a p r o p e r ty o f p e r c e p t i o n a n d c o n c e p t i o n .
C o m m u n i c a t i o n
2.a.3) Conception and architectural signal systems
• C o n c e p t i o n - “ Fo r m d o e s n o t f o l l o w f u n c t i o n , fu n c t i o n d o e s n o t fo l l o w fo r m ”
• Signal Systems and Function as mutually dependant factors influencing the

conception of space
2.b.1) Basic elemental tools and their assembly

• Spatial ‘syntax’ as constructs for sign-vehicles, from the point of view of
1) Siting
2) Form & Massing
3) Material
4) Approach & Movement
2 . b . T o o l s f o r 5) Spatial Organization
A r c h i t e c t u r a l 6) Surface articulation
c o m m u n i c a t i o n
• Examining archi tectural alphabets or ‘alphabets’ and their potential capaci ty to
encode meaning
63
• The basic archetypes (as sensorial, experiential and associational signs)
1) The Floor
2) The Wa ll
3) The Roof
2.c.1) Metaphors in Design -
2 . c . M e t a p h o r s a n d • Metaphors in Conception
S y m b o l s • M e t a p h o r s i n Pe rc e p t i o n
2.c.2) Symbols and Icons – Culturally recognized signification

Chapter 2
2 . a . A r c h i t e c t u r a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n
2.a.1) How does architecture communicate?
• What kind of ‘messages’ does architecture transmit to us?

64
1
2.a.1) How does architecture communicate?
Design of any kind is a conscious choice and a planned action and hence,
communication is an inherent and inevitable part of a designed object.
We can assume any human product to be seen as a ‘symbol’ or a ‘tool’, which

serves the purpose of bringing order (meaning) into certain relations 3 4
between man and his environment. The human product as a ‘symbol’ or a ‘tool’, which
serves the purpose of bringing order in an environment
“I believe that architecture is not reducible to any particular climate of opinion. No
abstract theory, game of forms, application of technology or pragmatics is sufficient
to communicate the fact that architecture is a movement beyond the material.
It is length, height and width, but also the depth of aspiration and memory. The
living source of architecture is the very substance of the soul and constitutes the
structure of culture itself.”
Daniel Libeskind
Speech on being awarded project for
“Between the Lines”, 1989 1
In an ideal situation, a designed space

communicates with the user by 65
catalyzing the process of
encoding and decoding of the
meanings stored within it. When
this process is set in motion, the The designed
designed space is perceived by the a r c h i t e c t u ra l o b j e c t DESIGN COMMUNICATION - Designed products
communicates with inform the user through the codification of abstract
user who is able to decode the
the user through messages in the design of the form by the user. These
messages stored within it. Thereby the coded gestures that messages are intended to be perceived through de-
space is used meaningfully. ask to be acted upon. codification by the user.
2
Chapter 2
• What kind of ‘messages’ do built spaces transmit to us?
The phenomenon of perception is not a linear one. Several factors are working in
tandem and forming images in our mind and enabling us to decipher the matrix of
form, function and meaning.
Built space constructs can communicate its encoded ‘signal content’ to

us through the following tools –
1. It could communicate through its physical aspects – location on site,

form, material, mass, movement and approach.
2. It communicates through individual elements - their texture, color, scale,

proportion, entablature etc.
3. Collectively through the above tools, an architectural product can tell us

of its existence in relative space and time i.e. it can communicate
its ‘place in the today’, its state of ruin or usefulness.
" CULTURAL PRECONDITIONING
These tools simply make architecture a work of sculpture. Furthermore, the user
66 participates in the architectural event, within an architectural form when –
4. The architecture could communicates how best to meaningfully perform

the activities, which are to occur within it. This aspect of any built
space is known as the “program”.
5. An architectural space could convey the ‘manner’ in which these

activities are to be performed. This aspect is often referred to as
" “interpretation of a program”.

RELATIVE SCALES OF SIMILAR FORMS
# Messages of cultural
These additional messages enable the user to enter a built form and perform
association - The illustration the function intended within it efficiently, meaningfully in the present. It
here simply demonstrates the makes architecture purely a machine for efficient function, which is not necessarily
basic ambiguity of any
true, as had been discussed in the introductory part of this analysis.
a rc h i t e c t u ra l s i g n . W h il e t h e
‘swastika’ symbol is considered
sacred and worshipped by There is a third layer of signal-communication that works in the sub-conscious of
Indians, it is seen as a sign of every user that is inevitable. These messages, affect the earlier messages in a way
guilt and embarrasment in
that makes the user feel ‘emotion’ that are rooted beyond the mute
Germany because of its
association with the Nazi party architectural form. These messages are –
during the second World War.
$ A sketch of a typical ‘puja’ 6. Messages stored from past experiences of encountering built
or personal place for worship in
an Indian home. While to an
spaces. These involve physical and sensorial dimensions. The experiences
o u t s i d e r, t h i s c o n f i g u r a t i o n could be of similar spaces or different ones. They could be experienced
might seem alien - it is treated first hand, or through secondary sources through pictures or other forms
as sacred by the owner and an
of visual media.
outsider as well.
7. Messages of association, derived from cultural, metaphysical and

# Messages of other subconscious determinants. These additional messages enable
religious or metaphysical the user to enter a built form and perform the function intended
association - The image
within it efficiently, meaningfully in the present. It makes
shown here is of the
architecture purely a machine for efficient function, which is not 67
metaphysical figure or
‘Purusha’ which stands for necessarily true, as had been discussed in the introductory part of this
the constant thought analysis.
harmonious duality of man
and the cosmos. It is seen
here in this image as a work From this analysis, it emerges that when perceiving architectural design, what we
5
of sculpture that greets a ‘see’ as physical space is actually a complex matrix of signs and codes.
person who enters the intended space. However, to a
The designer can encode these messages within the form in order for the user to
person conditioned to the deeper meanings rooted in
the form - the act of entering will assume a different decode them in the best manner possible.
meaning.
Chapter 2
These messages are never perceived as a linear narrative, like the spoken word, to
the user. They are acting simultaneously at varying degrees - both visible and
invisible in the minds of the user, who processes them and then responds to them
accordingly.
# BUILDING AS A ! SIGNIFICATION THROUGH PROGRAM, Center

FRAME, The Grande Arche Georges Pompidou, Paris - The architect, Renzo Piano
de La Defense, Paris - This
left exactly half the site area unbuilt so that people visiting
symbolic building stands as a
the centre and the people of Paris would perform a
8 counter-point to the Arch of
multitude of activites in the plaza in front of it. The rest of
Triumph at the other end of
the building as well is a skeleton of its program, where
its axis. The building here assumes the dual role
every function is revealed in all its nakedness to the user.
of programmatically housing the offices as well
This makes the building one of the most communicative
as acting as a frame for a larger activity of
and interactive of its kind in the Modern era
Parisian life.
6
! INTERPRETATION OF A PROGRAM, ! HINDU NORTH INDIAN

St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City - The TEMPLE FORMS - Hindu belief in one-
Christian belief in worshipping together as to-one personal worship has led to an
a community is exemplified in its most grand o r d e r i n g o f s u c c e s s i v e s p a c e s t h a t
68 example. The overpowering volumes of the gradually grow in their altitude and in
inner apse, and the constant impulse of the their degree of entablature, but reduce
visitor to look up and marvel at the sheer in their degree of openess from inside
scale of the space is a direct outcome of and in scale. The inner most shrine is
9
the correct interpretation of program. completely dark and closed in. 7
In the subsequent part, we shall study the tools for spatial encoding of
meaning with a greater degree of detail.
# SPACE: “Godzilla” - a conceptual mega-skyscraper designed by Michael Sorkin.
2. a . A r c h i t e c t u r a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n
2. a . 2) ‘ S p a c e ’ v / s ‘ P l a c e ’
S P A C E 10
• ‘Spaces’ and ‘Places’ - Visual association as a property of

perception and conception.
69
11
P L A C E # PLACE: A image showing a visually busy street facade in Mumbai, India - a struggle
to establish individual identity, a sense of familiarization in a community.
Chapter 2
PLACE: Scenes from around the

Picasso Museum, Barcelona - the
images here show the inherent need
of users to associate and familiarize
themselves with a space and create
a ‘place’.
70 12
13
SPACE: Arches define the entrance to the

Picasso Museum in Barcelona. They are
constructed of exposed local brick.
The newer extensions to the museum are
steel plates painted black.
14
# O C C A S I O N
MAKES PLACE -
The image here is
taken inside the
Cathedral of Mary de
Deu de I’ile,
Barcelona.
The ancient Gothic
cathedral is
prevented from
becoming a ruin,and
15 remains a meaningful
place because of the
activities that make 18
the occasion of
visiting this Cathedral " From SPACE to PLACE -
more meaningful. The image here is taken outside the Hotel
(Left) A lady lights a de Ville in Paris in the month of summer
ceremonial candle, at an occasion where the government
thereby affecting not creates artificial beaches on the roadside,
only the quality of the to allow the citizens to enjoy the summer
space - but also holidays with greater zest.
creating a timeless Acts or gestures of this have the potential
personal bond with to drastically transform the program, and
16
the visitors. hence the architecture of an environment.
(Left below) A choir 71
sings devotional “Whatever space and time mean,
songs - transforming Place and occasion mean more.
the quality of space For space in the image of man is place,
through sound and and time in the image of man is
also creating a occasion.
humane link with the
visitors, who find this Make of each a place, a bunch of
occasion a means of places of each house, and each city;
emotionally scaling for a house is a tiny city,
the vastness of the a city - a huge house.”
17 building. Aldo van Eyck, 1962
Chapter 2
• ‘Spaces’ and ‘Place’ - Association as a property of perception and
conception.
From our understanding of the earlier sub-chapters, it becomes clear that

• Formal configurations comprising materials, texture, order etc. constitute a
space.
• PEOPLE i.e. their association, feelings, emotions make spaces into
places.
The essential linking aspect between and a space is the human factor – that
designers design spaces for people to associate with them. It is when the user is
made to participate emotionally with a space, that it becomes a place for him.
A physical space construct remains purely a work of functional sculpture without 19
the use of some form of sign-content. It is these semantic aspects of space making SPACE v/s PLACE - Toward the creation of
that make users participate emotionally and whole-heartedly in the activities that meaningful places:
are to be performed within it. By participation, we mean that the process of de- The image here is taken at the Parc Andre
Citroen in Paris.
codification of meaning is successful and that signs in spaces are communicating
The image demonstrates a common
effectively not only in the physical use of the space, but also being stored as signal- transformation of a space into a place - an
stimuli in the user’s sub-conscious memory. outdoor staircase being used by the user
72
as a seating element.
The perceptual property of visual association is an ingrained habit in an user’s

psyche enables the user to co-relate apparently disjointed phenomena and derive
meaning from the narrative of a place. It is this aspect of ‘place-making’ that
elevates architecture from being a purely physical experience, to becoming
a wholesome experience of emotions, moods and character. It is very often
a ‘place’ that endures longer as a vivid memory in the minds of users.
# WEXNER CENTER
FOR THE ARTS, OHIO - According to George Baird from “Queues, Rendezvous and Riots”, by becoming
A r c h i t e c t Pe t e r E i s e n m a n ‘arbitrary’ sign-vehicles, architecture asks questions of the people who
resorts to the language of a
use it. The arbitrariness of a public symbol makes them susceptible to
scaffolding to evolve form from
it. This gesture is meant to reinterpretation in the first place. In the context of a langue and parole
signify the constantly changing relationship, it is this arbitrariness of a sign as a ‘parole’ in society that makes it
temporalness that a Center for possible for a ‘langue’ to be flexible differentially over long periods of time. This
Arts must possess as an
is what makes it possible for spaces to continue to evolve as newer sign vehicles
ideology
while at the same time, remaining as places to people who use them.
20
! EXTENSION TO
THE LOUVRE
MUSEUM, PARIS -
Architect I.M.Pei resorts
to the memory of the
Grand Pyramids of Egypt
to signify monumental
presence of the artefacts
inside, and also the
majority of Egyptian art
21
that is stored in the
museum.
$ CEILING OF
LA SAGRADA 73
F A M I L I A ,
B A R C E L O N A -
Architect Antoni Gaudi
creates an organic
architectural language
by drawing inspiration
from natural form for
22
t h e c re a t i o n o f t h e
elements of this
cathedral.
Chapter 2
2 . a . A r c h i t e c t u r a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n
23
2. “The Creation of Adam” - Michaelangelo (1508-

1512), from the vault of the Sistine Chapel,
Vatican
- Conception depicted in a painting, as the very root of
2 . a . 3 ) Conception and architectural signal systems
the existence of life
• Conception - “Form does not follow function, function

does not follow form”
• Signal Systems and Function as mutually dependant

factors influencing the conception of space
74
24
2. “The Last Damnation of Christ” - Michaelangelo

(1508-1512), from the vault of the Sistine
Chapel, Vatican
- Conception as the act of giving life to something. In
this case a vault is elevated to becoming a source of
communication in numerous emotive ways.
2.a. Conception and architectural signal systems
· Conception - Function does not follow Form, Form does not follow
Function
Conception is the act of abstract codification of meaning within the mute, material
forms of a space.
In today’s world where railway stations become museums and churches become
nightclubs, a point is being made: the complete interchangeability of form and
function, the loss of conventional, canonic cause-and-effect relationships. Function
does not follow form. Form does not follow function. However they certainly interact,
with the help of signal patterns that make both the form and the function cognitive
to the user.
25
This occurs through the transmission of information (through proper coding) that
is beneficial to the user both for his performance of a function and his usage of a Form follows function?
The Orsay Museum in Paris built in what was for-
corresponding space.
merly the Gare d’Orsay railway station. Architect/In-
terior Designer, Gae Aulenti inserted the new museum
Built spaces encourage different responses in people. Before any quantitative within the restored shell of the old station.
75
judgments about the scale and dimension are made about a building one finds it The re-use and adapatability of a space comes from
the fact that any sign can be re-used to fit into a new
common to attach qualitative evaluation to it. Spaces are spontaneously
context. Form is never reliant purely on function ,
characterized as ‘happy’, ‘sad’, ‘gloomy’, ‘vibrant’ etc. and function cannot be made potent by form alone.
In the field of interior design, the ‘spirit’ or ‘character’ of a space overwhelms the
viewer first as a whole before any clarification of function, or the organization of
spaces. One immediately grasps the ambience or the mood that a place tries to
convey.
Chapter 2
“Architectonic arrangements vary according to the nature and form of the society
whose image they are. In every age, they express the fundamentals that constitute
the socialist state.”
Victor Considerant
From “Le Corbusier” by William J.R. Curtis 2
The old credo of – “form follows function” may not unconditionally hold true in
today’s context. As architecture and built space continue to fill the earth in which
we live, they begin to function as ‘medium of communication’ that elicit
responses in people through their interaction with them and the meaning
that is extracted from these interactions in the minds of people.
Pure form can never follow simply a function, because these two terms are never in
isolation from signal systems and semantic patterns that form a part of the user’s
conscious and sub-conscious memory.
76 26
Places create the possibilities of occasion

The image above demonstrate the multivalence of the
architectural sign in public space. Simple stairs be-
come places where unforeseen activities occur such
as a public gathering (far above) or the washing of
clothes. This search for places to dwell in in in-
herent within the human race. It is the design-
er’s prerogative to provide for them in their designed
environments.
• Signal Systems and Function as mutually dependant factors

influencing the conception of space -
It becomes clear that forms and function are interrelated by the signal stimuli that
each provide to the other.
A function carries images that lend sign-stimuli to the form that they are to
be contained within, so that the designer can incorporate the stimuli in a way that
gives the form greater meaning. The function of climbing a flight of stairs, over a
period of time, memory and shared experience, has formed a specific image in the 27
minds of the user and the designer. When we say ‘climbing’ we can usually associate
an image or a memory to the stored concepts in our brain, and our body generates
motor responses accordingly.
Simultaneously, a form too has the potential to transmit signal-stimuli to the user
and affect the function he is to perform within a space in a more meaningful way.
When we see a stair in front of us, our stored memory of a stair makes us perform
28
Light as signal- stimuli to demarcate a function

a ‘function’ accordingly. A wide stair could make us climb in an air of grandeur. A and a tectonic aspect of architecture.
narrow stair could make us feel cramped and subdued. (Far above) - The wall at “The Chapel with the
Light” at Mt. Rokko in Japan, built by Tadao Ando. 77
The equation of form, function is a dynamic one, where each one through the Here the image of the function of praying in a church
has been re-introduced in the most mysterious of ways
manifestation of its signs - differentially affects the other. It also differentially affects
by the simple use of a symbol of the cross on a wall.
the user. These are factors that a designer would find necessary to keep in mind This simple gesture or sign addresses questions of re-
when designing a space construct. ligion, God and prayer in the most intimate of ways.
(Above) - The roof of the Pantheon in Rome (AD
124-24), where light is used in a dynamic way to
This gives the elements of space making the added potential of becoming carriers
animate an otherwise static space. Light here seems
of powerful messages, which affect the way a space is given life and meaning to convey relationships of scale, tectonics, corporeality
and illusion to the viewer in the space.
Chapter 2
within a specific cultural system. We shall examine spaces, both as parts and as a
whole, as carriers of signals later in this chapter.
4929
Musee d’Orsay, Paris -

The glass floor that makes people look down over
the model of the city of Paris.
78
Communication of conceptual tools and reper-

toire
(Left) A series of caricatures (artist unknown) pub-
lished in the annual journal of the Center for Envi-
ronmental Planning and Technology annual diary in
1998.
Six world famous architects are depicted here using
30
their principal design projects as facial elements.
2 . b. Tools for Architectural communication
2 . b. 1) B a s i c e l e m e n t a l t o o l s a n d t h e i r a s s e m b l y
• Examining architectural alphabets or ‘alphabets’ and their

31
" The makers of meaningful places -

potential capacity to encode meaning
American architects at the Beaux-Arts ball
of 1931, dressed up as buildings.
• The basic archetypes (as sensorial, experiential and
associational signs)
1) The Floor
2) The Wall
3) The Roof
• Spatial ‘syntax’ as constructs for sign-vehicles,

from the point of view of
1) Siting 79
2) Form & Massing
3) Material
4)Approach & Movement
5) Spatial Organization
6) Surface articulation
(Above left) - Human anatomy from Gray ’s Anatomy.

( A b o ve r i g h t ) - S h a ke r s t a i rc a s e b y M . B u r n e t a t Ke n -
tucky (1839-41)
32
Chapter 2
More than the surface articu-
2.b. Spatial ‘syntax’ as constructs for sign-vehicles
lation, it is the mass of the
Gates of the complex that
stand as visual signs of entry, • The importance of abstract implicit relationships in the conception
even when the temple complex of a ‘space syntax’
is not in sight.
The diminishing of mass, scale,
Syntax is defined as the relationship of one sign to another sign within a
surface articulation as one
moves inward gradually indi- system of signs or the structure of the sign system concerned.
cate a transition from the outer
33
physical world into the per- In the study of built spaces, a spatial syntax would constitute studying the
sonal spiritual one.
relationship between the various elements, each acting as a sign, that make the
MEANINGFUL SPATIAL SYNTAX - The gates of the space. This possibility enables us to encipher and decipher meaning encoded within
Meenakshi Temple, Madurai, India are largest at the
these ‘sentence-like’ utterances.
outer perimeter of the complex. As the visitor
moves toward the shrine they progressively di-
minish in size and surface articulation. The Architectural communication is governed by the presence of ‘actual objects’
shrine as the innermost layer is intimate in dealing with real dimensions of form and space. In painting, the relationship of
scale advocating a one-on-one interacting with
forms can be used to create the illusion of space. In architecture, however, the
the idol.
relationship of forms is the space. The mere presence of some form of
construction, whether it is two walls or a grid of columns and beams will necessarily
define, suggest and imply space. In architecture there is no given frame for
understanding or demarcating the abstract structure because the viewpoint for
80 experiencing architecture is constantly changing. Architecture is understood
by the sum of many perceptions in time and in space.
Built space is characterized by the presence of actual physical relationships. In the

process of finding meaning through formal constructs a necessary first step would
b e t o p re s e n t a m e a n s t h r o u g h w h i c h a b s t r a c t r e l a t i o n s h i p s w e r e
34
conceivable as independent of tangible relationships.
The complex plan (not to scale) indicating diminishing
masses for diminishing interaction with the outer world.
In architecture, both abstract and tangible relationships coexist continuously. There

is a surface aspect fundamentally related to the sensual qualities of the object i.e.
aspects of surface, texture, color, shape etc. which engender responses that
are essentially perceptual. These are actual relationships that are perceived.
There are also equally important aspects concerned with conceptual relationships,
which are not sensually perceived. These include phenomena such as ‘frontality’,
obliqueness, recession, elongation, compression and shear, which are concepts
understood in the mind. These are characteristics, which accrue relationships
between objects in a specific context rather than to the physical presence of
the objects themselves.
Spatial abstractions of the conceptual aspect are constructive simply because of

their capability to present a structure for implied meaning as opposed to explicit
meaning. SITING
To analyze this in further detail, we shall examine architectural syntax

from the point of view of -
1) Siting
2) Form & Massing
3) Material 81
4)Approach & Movement 35
5) Spatial Organization COMMUNICATION THROUGH SITING -

Accessibility, sense of grandeur, contextual response
6) Surface articulation
etc could usually be communicated in a work of
architecture by the siting of the built form. Siting can
encode vital messages that pre-condition or acquaint
a visitor to the overall character of a built form.
THE SITING OF THE CHAPEL AT RONCHAMP,

FRANCE
Chapter 2
SITING as a sign s p a t i a l s y n t a x
Stable - Taj Mahal Agra(left)
1) C O N T R A S T T H R O U G H S I T I N G -
Tensioned - Church on the
Water, Japan (below)
36
b b 38
Field of influence of built form Field of influence of built form - Leh Palace, Ladakh
a 37
and its respective environs
i) F O C U S / P R O M I N E N C E / D I S T I N C T I O N - PROMINENCE -
The Secretariat
B u i l d i n g ,
Chandigarh is given
a Focus
prominence by
placing a pool of
b water at its
39
periphery thereby
Prominence/
FOCUS - The placement of the Anup focusing on the
Distinction
Talao, Fatehpur Sikri on a pool of water 40
mass of the building
82 a and connected by bridges b itself.
ii) DISTANCE/IDENTITY-
RETREAT/INACCESSIBILITY
a Distance/Identity
41
b a IDENTITY through DISTANCE - The 42
Retreat/ Udaipur Lake Palace, Rajasthan.

b INACCESIBILTY through DISTANCE -
Inaccessibility The Monastery at Meteora, Greece.
s p a t i a l s y n t a x SITING as a sign
2) M E R G I N G T H R O U G H S I T I N G -
44
43 b Monastery of La a b
a Taliesin East, USA
Tourette, France
i) INCONSPICUOUSNESS
Fallingwaters, Bear Run, USA
set against a backdrop of a
waterfall
46
45
The Church on the
Water, Japan set against
a backdrop of natural 47
elements
48
ii) BACKDROP 83
51
a b
49
50
a Amphitheatre at Lucco town square, Italy b St. Peter’s Square, Vatican

iii) INTEGRATION/ CONTAINMENT
Chapter 2
F O R M ! NAGAKIN TOWER, TOKYO by
C O M M U N I C A T I O N T H R O U G H F O R M - Visual KISHO KUROKAWA - Metaphor of a
cognition of the overall form of any built construct is pidgeon-hole strucure is used here to
the most basic first step in the process of perception. convey a verdict on the changing
Any built construct is first perceived by the social structure of urban Japan.
codification of its form in the mind of the user
and the feelings invoked therewith. In this case,
architecture varies from other similar fields such as fine % THE ‘SHIKHARA’ OF A HINDU
art or literature, where the overall form is not often TEMPLE - The form here is inspired
perceived first, and does not play a primary role in their by the form of the mythical Mount
respective narratives. Kailasha, where Lord Shiva is believed 54
to reside.
! THE GEORGE RESTAURANT, POMPIDOU
CENTRE, PARIS - Fluid forms are used here by
architects Jacob and McFarlane, to communicate a
contrast to the rigid ‘pipeline’ framweork language of
the rest of the Center. The conception of the final form
was possible using the same technical understanding
53
of ship-buildiers. 52
MASS/MASSING ' 57
COMMUNICATION THROUGH MASSING - Form

alone is not the only visual tool for conveying messages
to the user. Massing - or the relatively proximity or
density of arrangement of forms also plays an important
84
role in expressing meaning in spaces.
56 (
" JAISALMER FORT- Massing of the bastions here & TOWN SQUARE, SIENA, ITALY -
emphasizes the message of defense that a fort wall Massing is used to create an effect of enclosure
should communicate to enemies attempting to conquer in an urban square. The facades and rooves of
it. the buildings surrounding the central cathedral
55
# VILLA SAVOYE, POISSY, FRANCE - Massing are massed together to achieve this effect.
is used here as a tool to create a floating effect in of
the house. This effect signifies the freedom of the
building from the ground plane.
FORM as a sign s p a t i a l s y n t a x
58
65
From Sailboats, Gull’s wings etc.
From Egyptian pyramids
60
59 From cascading of waterfalls 66 67
From Fish like forms From a crucifix From the notion of a bird in flight
1) THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOCIATION 2) T H R O U G H P R O G R A M M A T I C A S S O C I A T I O N
61
85
62 From a mountain
From a lotus 68
Organic against in-organic
63
64
From a bird Fluid against rigid
From a ruin 69
3) THROUGH METAPHORICAL ASSOCATION 4) T H R O U G H C O N T R A S T

Chapter 2
s p a t i a l s y n t a x MASSING as a sign
2) T H R O U G H M E R G I N G
Water Temple, Hyogo, Japan -
massing used to create contrasting
entity the surroundings
76
78
77 Kailasha temple, Ellora - merging of masses

through progession of spaces
71
2(i) INTEGRATION WITH THE STRUCTURE
" From an aircraft hangar - The AND FORM
American Air Musuem, Manchester.
70
" A m o u n t a i n - M e e n a k s h i Te m p l e ,
Madurai
1) T H R O U G H N O T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N / 80
Fallingwaters, USA -
merging due to site
conditions
79 Hemis Monastery, Patwa ki Haveli -
Ladakh - merging due to merging due to site
site conditions conditions
81
2(ii) DIRECTIONS FROM WITH IN THE EXISTING

CONDITIONS Taliesin West, Arizona, USA - merging
86 due to integration of forms defining spatial
Udaipur Palace - merging due volumes
to integration of forms defining
72
Musee d’Orsay, Paris - massing spatial volumes

used to create contrasting entity
with the existing shell.
! Toilet block as mass - Mill 73

Owner’s building, Ahmedabad
! Farnsworth House, USA - 83
Mass is used here to show 82
independance from the site

2(iii) INTEGRATION OF FORMS THAT DEFINE SPATIAL
74
75
3) T H R O U G H C O N T R A S T VOLUMES
M A T E R I A L
COMMUNICATION THROUGH MATERIAL -
Materials, both man-made and natural have their own
semantic value in creating associations and feelings in
the minds of people. Natural surfaces often exude
warmth and comfort, and industrial materials could
broadly speaking have the opposite effect. Materials
can create their own visual and tactile effect that aid
in signification of a specific message. In addition to
85
this, the users also respond to tactile changes in
material. " THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, BILBAO by
FRANK GEHRY- Material and technology here enabled
! THE EXTENSION TO PALAIS de BEAUX-
the architect to conceive this fantastical form. Beginning
ARTS, LILLE - Glass is used both for its transparency
with the metaphor of fish and marine forms, the
as well as reflective properties as an outer sheath of
architect used the technology of doubly curved
the new building. This effect creates a new building
aluminium plates to his advantage to conceive a form
that simply gestures the shift of focus and importance
which was an outcome of the processes of computation.
at all times, to the older Gothic Palace opposite it. 84
# SANDSTONE
BRACKET, FATEHPUR
SIKRI, INDIA - A
structural function is
given greater meaning
through entablature.
87 87
! WATER CHANNEL,
JAHAZ MAHAL, MANDU,
INDIA - The act of draining
water is underscored to give
greater emphasis on ‘flow’ 88
Chapter 2
MATERIAL as a sign s p a t i a l s y n t a x
94
93
89 90
" Vaulting detail at Musee
The Reichstag building, Berlin, covered Glass tubes at the Johnson’s d’Orsay,Paris -cast iron tectonic
in cloth by artist Christo - a gesture of Wax Center, USA - creating a
enshrouding a historical building in fabric visual texture through the & Column detail, Pompidou
reflections through glass Center, Paris - prefabricated
tectonic
! Bracket detail, Fathepur Sikri
India - stone expressed as wood
95
1) THROUGH TEXTURAL GESTURES 2) THROUGH TECTONIC GESTURES
88
92
" The sign of the cross as

a pattern on material - creates
associations of function in the
98
minds of people 96 97
# Stone etchings of names " Detail at Musee " Thermal Baths, " Katsura Palace,
Japan -contrasting
in the Vietnam War Memorial, d’Orsay,Paris - Switzerland -
treatment of the same
Washington DC - creates contrasting colour and c o n t ra s t i n g m a t e r i a l
associations in the minds of people and environment material
material
91
3) THROUGH ASSOCATION 4) T H R O U G H C O N T R A S T
• Kinesthetics (Kinetic aesthetics) -
The built environment only becomes ‘meaningful’ when it offers rich possibilities
of identification of the various signal systems that are in play.
These abstract relationships are made to manifest before the user through
‘kinesthetics’.
In the words of Goethe 3: - “ One would think that architecture as a fine art works 99
solely for the eyes. Instead it should work primarily for the sense of mechanical The role of kinesthetics as a powerful tool for an
effective spatial narrative - The Angkor Vat Tem-
motion in the human body – something to which scant attention is paid.”
ple complex in Cambodia built by King Suryavarman
in the 12th century AD.
Kinesthetics or kinetic aesthetics is the perception of spaces through 1. Cruciform Portal
movement with dynamic points of view and the varying vignettes that 2. Vishnu gallery enclosing complex
arise as a result of the spatial composition. 3. Courtyard crossed by galleries
4. First terrace with corner towers
5. Central terrace with stairways on both sides
Space is conceived and perceived on account of movement through it. The journey, 6. Central tower (Mount Meru)
the process of movement through the space – in itself becomes the event. Actions In keeping with the Hindu notions of space making, the
take place in spaces, and the signals that are encoded in inner most sanctum is extremely small, signifying an inti- 89
mate one-on-on interaction with God. The form of the
these spatial elements inform the user how to proceed. It
inner sanctum is an abtracted mountain, depicting cos-
is when the user is allowed to participate whole- mic Mount Meru which the Cambodians held as sacred.
heartedly in the process of deriving meaning from From the inner sanctum outward, the dregree of enclo-
each space he encounters do they become ‘places’ to sure, transparency, and interaction with the outer world
him. increases gradually. The most elaborately carved and ar-
ticulated parts of the temple are the walls and the gates.
# Narrative bas-reliefs depicting Hindu epics
found on the galleried cloisters, and remain a source of
100
enchantment even today.
Chapter 2
During the user’s journey from one domain to the next along paths, various places
are revealed to him. The clues for movement that are coded inherently within the
space are sequentially revealed to him. The time gap essential for the ‘de-
conditioning’ of the previous and the preconditioning for the next space is taken
care of within the dimensions of the current place. This gradual unfolding of spaces
creates a sense of curiosity within the user, and involves them in the process.
During the process of movement through domains comprising places the stimuli
that create paths are three-fold:
1. The physical path or the route that the user is made to follow by inherent
physical conditions of the building.
2. The path created by visual axes along the path of movement governed
by visual principles of perception. This causes him to trace a path using the
eye as a guide, but this path may not necessarily coincide with the physical
path chosen.
3. The third and most intangible stimulus that guides him through a space is
the way he moves within a space based on cultural pre-conditioning.
This is what makes a Buddhist walk clockwise around a stupa and never in
the opposite direction. It is this habit of culture that plays an important role
in how people relate to the codification of meaning in a building vis-à-vis
90
movement.
Though the character of spaces discovered along a visual axis, the physical path of
movement changes to make the observer move around the theoretical cores of the
space. These changes in direction and diversion of movement cause variations in
path and axis.
The presence of an axis is made more prominent by variation along its

course. The whole length of the imperceptible axis is not revealed at once, but is
experienced as an episodic sequence of places. This may be compared to punctuation

in a sentence. ‘Thresholds’ or ‘pause’ elements serve to de-regularize these
sequences. These elements cause individual nodes of interest, which create sub-
spaces. They also enhance the pause in movement making even the act of pausing
a meaningful and informative one. Threshold elements define spatial boundaries
and reinforce the transition from one place to another. They also serve as vital
spatial tools for the perception of meaning in the spaces that are being traversed
by the user.
91
Chapter 2
A P P R O A C H
COMMUNICATION THROUGH APPROACH - The
approach to any built form or space or element in a
space can communicate/signify in various respects to
the user. It can act as a precursor to an experience of
a space. The approach could condition the user’s mind
to feel certain emotions and feelings before actually
physically performing a function.
# THE STEPWELLS OF GUJARAT - The approach
to the pit of a wells here, are made visually and sensorially
enriching experiences by the constant shift of frames and
the constant binding of the element of the sky, earth and
water. The simple act of collecting water is given a
deeper meaning by the approach alone.
! SCALES OF APPROACH - The grand humbling

entrance of the Buland Durwaza, Fatehpur Sikri and the
101 modest entrance to a tribal home in Manali 102 103
M O V E M E N T
COMMUNICATION THROUGH MOVEMENT -
Movement plays the most important role in the
unfolding of any spatial narrative, as architecture
is never viewed from a static view point. It acts like a
script in a dramatic performance.
92 $ TEMPLE ENTRANCES, SOUTH INDIA - The
movement toward the inner sanctum of a south Indian
106
temple is a truly metaphysical experience. Temple gates
104 105
have the most communicative value to the user through
their scale and their varying degree of enclosure, as
" SPIRAL RAMP OF " ILLUMINATED CORRIDORS OF
well as their entablature. In walking from one gate to
THE GUGGENHEIM - This THE JEWISH HOLOCAUST MUSEUM,
the next, the user experiences town-life as exists. Along
building is characterized by BERLIN - Dark corridors here are given
the axis of movement toward the shrine, the degree of
a source of light overhead a movement impulse by illuminated bands
enclosure increases gradually, and the outer world is
and a ceremonial of light. This light signifies hope or
g r a d u a l l y l e f t b e h i n d . In t h e i n n e r s a n c t u m , t h e
movement toward it direction in a tunnel that is generally dark.
interaction is most intimate.
MOVEMENT (CIRCULATION) s p a t i a l s y n t a x
# Stepwell at
Adalaj, India -
movement along a
linear axis
% Plan of Hindu
temple, India
111
107
108
112 113
230
1) ALONG A PROMINENT LINEAR AXIS 2) AROUND A CENTRAL POINT
110 93
109
114
ECO-TAAL Ecological Center,

Phillipines, 1997
Movement is along the curved
spine of the prominent axis
116 117
232
115
# Katsura Palace, Japan -inside outside relationship
4) THROUGH TENSIONS CREATED THROUGH

3) ALONG A CURVILINEAR PATH CONTRAST
Chapter 2
MOVEMENT (APPROACH) s p a t i a l s y n t a x
118
119
127
128
120
1) THE PARTHENON, GREECE 2) THE CHAPEL AT RONCHAMP, FRANCE
94
122
125
121
123
124
3) “FALLINGWATERS”, BEAR RUNS, USA 4) THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA 126

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION s p a t i a l s y n t a x
Central Beheer, Amsterdam - creating
interlocked interactive volumes
136
Katsura Palace,
Japan - creating
inside outside
relationships
129
130 135 137
1) ESTABLISHING SPATIAL HIERARCHY 2) RELATIONSHIP TO LANDSCAPE

Horyuji temple, Nara, Japan - Havelis of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan - degree of
composition within peripheral enclosure transparency increases as one climbs higher
Casa Milo, Barcelona - street profile affects
spatial organization
138
95
133
131
139
140
132 134
4) RELATIONSHIPS IMPOSED BY EXTERNAL

3) COMPOSITION WITHIN AN ENCLOSURE FACTORS
Chapter 2
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION s p a t i a l s y n t a x
146
143
144
# Master plan of
"
147
142
The Musee d’Orsay - composition of
Peking - composition of the
141
the inserted masses follows prominent axis of
Royal Palace is along a rigid
the vaulted site
1 ) COMPOSITION ALONG AN AXIS linear axis 145
The Guggenheim Museum, New

York - spatial organization evolves
radially around a central void
96
150
The Nagakin Capsule,

Tokyo - spatial organization
148
is around a central mass 151 152
3) AROUND A CENTRAL MASS 4) AROUND A CENTRAL VOID

149
SURFACE ARTICULATION s p a t i a l s y n t a x
163 164
155
153 154
165 166
1) CULTURAL MESSAGES 2) RESPONSE TO CLIMATE

167
97
156
168
157 158
171
170
160
159
169
3) THROUGH ASSOCATION 161 162

4) RESPONSE TO CONSTRUCTION
Chapter 2
2.a.Elements of space making as sign vehicles
• A brief introduction to the ‘alphabets’ or ‘archetypes’.
A study of space as sign could move in a very different psychoanalytical direction if

it were not for the use of an understanding of archetypes. A study of these
archetypes is necessary because they help us in our study of meaning in form
by achieving meaning primarily through a spatial understanding , supported
by metaphors, associations and abstract images. 172
A work of design communicates in various ways with the user. In planning an action, Archetypes in music -
The basic note, modifications of the basic note and
event or an effect, a designer must be acquainted with the expressive
their relationship to the overall musical composition.
characteristics of basic formal elements so as to be able to use them effectively.
He must also be able to select the most suitable form for the intended representation.
“Archetype – the original pattern or model prototype.”

The Chamber’s English Dictionary
98
These basic forms are commonly referred to as the archetypes of architecture. The
word is derived from a Greek word that meant ‘first form’ or ‘original model’.
It has gradually been perceived that design creativity is primarily related to the
173
way certain basic forms are combined and varied. Behind the plurality of the Archetypes in classical dance -
The basic gestures, modifications of the basic ges-
many forms in history lies a simple set of archetypes that we could call alphabets
tures and their relationship to the overall dance com-
of architecture. These archetypes may be understood as images, which can be position.
identified in relation to architectural form, function and technology.
Carl Jung first used the term within the field of psychology. Paul Zucker later
Archetypes in architecture-
systematically employed it for the first time in the field of architecture in 1959, in
his book “Town and Square”.
“The most essential aspect of building is that the images they offer our senses
should arouse sentiments analogous to the use for which these buildings are
dedicated.”
FLOOR WALL ROOF E. L. Boulee
“Boulee and visionary architecture”
By H. Rosenau (1974)
An archetype’s expression can be found in the exact description of ‘what they are’,
‘what they do’ and ‘how they do it’.
The archetypes that constitute the elements of ‘spatial delimitation’ are

–
MAJOR FORMS • The horizontal elements – floor.
• The vertical elements – walls, columns, and openings.
• The overhead plane - roof
(This is not to ignore spatial volume itself such as the cube, the sphere, the cylinder 99
and the cone.)
With respect to representation of SCALE, these categories may be divided into

further sub-categories –
SURFACE
• Major forms.
TREATMENT
• Construction system.
CONSTRUCTION SCALE • Surface treatment of major forms.
OPENINGS
SYSTEMS • Openings.
Chapter 2
Within the interior of the space, the elements that lend a vital added layer of
refinement in spatial delimitation and experience are –
• Furniture (fixed and movable)

• Light and shadow
• Secondary layers on either floor, wall or roof (e.g. carpets, 175
176
tapestries) FURNITURE LIGHT &

SHADOW
• Objects of personalization
• Color and texture
In each of these sub-categories, archetypes exist which represent general solution

to problems of form that remain the same regardless of time, place, or function.
These are known as ‘themes’ and ‘motifs’. Themes are related to the function of
elements to ‘what they do’ (e.g. a floor which directs, delimits and supports). Motifs
suggest how the elements do their job, which means the specific interpretations 177 178
within each of the themes. S E C O N D A R Y OBJECTS OF

LAYERS PERSONALIZATION
100
179
TEXTURE
COLOUR 180
INTERIOR ELEMENTS
FRAGMENTA-
TION OF FLOOR • The Basic Archetypes (as sensorial, experiential and associational
- The Floor of the
signs)
Villa Doges at
Venice
1) The Floor –
The floor has three primary functions in relation to our actions. The floor –
• Directs
• Delimits
• Supports
The Directional Theme – concerns the way in which the form of the floor
emphasizes certain motion, connecting places to each other. These motions are
generated either by the floor’s surface, form or by its paths. They may act alone
61 or in combination. The directional floor concerns the quality of our forward
movements .
The Delimiting Theme – signifies the way in which

the floor creates a stationary situation by keeping the
• Delimits
user in a centralized position or containing us within a
boundary. 101
• Directs The Supporting Theme – deals first and foremost

with the vertical nature of the floor, that is, its
relationship to the ground below. It deals with the
floor’s expression of weight and substance i.e. whether
it lies above, on or below the ground; or whether it is
• Supports
BASIC TYPES soft or hard, loose or solid etc. whilst on the other
OF FLOOR 181
DIRECTIONAL FLOOR - Out-
door path at the Katsura Palace,
Japan
Chapter 2
hand, the directional and delimiting themes deal more with the expression of motion
of the floor.
Architectural history reveals 6 types or basic motifs –

a. The attached floor – which rests firmly on the ground. F l o o r a t A n u p -Ta l a o ,
Fatehpur Sikri, India
b. The sunken floor – which are sunken into the ground and are physically 186
beneath the ground’s surface.

c. The open floor – if the decline into the floor is merely an optical effect.
d. The rising floor – floors that rise above the natural ground level
Floor at Modehra Sun,
Temple,Ahmedabad
187
Sunken floor
Open floor Rising floor

Floor at Kailasha tem-
ple, Ellora
102
188
185
182
Inherent forces in floor

types 189
183 Top - Town Square, Siena, Italy a), d), e) - Raised floor Throne at the Diwan-
Above - Floor at Fallingwaters, b) - c) Sunken floor i - k h a a s , Fa t e h p u r
Floor at the Musee’ d’Orsay, Floor at the Fondazione Querini
184
USA f) Rising floor Sikri
Paris Stampalia, Venice
e. The detached floor – which is independent of the ground, whilst lying

above its level.
f. The directional floor – those that are independent of the ground, but
serve to guide us along it.
* Stairs – an expression of motion
Stairs are the connecting link between the below and the above. In content, stairs
conflict between potential humility (of descent or departure from a higher plane to
a lower one), and potential exaltation (of ascent or arrival from a lower plane to a
191
higher).
Stair leading to the monasteries at Meteora, Greece
The expression of the stairs is determined by the motion impulses it arouses in
us. These are determined by the extent to which the stairs demonstrate relative
strength in upward or downward motion, a relationship, which is dependant on two
factors –
a. The climbing impulse – a spontaneous response a stair creates in a person
facing them. This response is generated by the importance of the destination
at the top of the stairs. Creating polarities of importance – destinations,
help in creating a greater climbing impulse.
Climbing impulse of a stair b. The impulse created by form – the way in which the basic form of the 103
as a function of its slope
stair itself can lessen or increase the impulse to climb or descend. The basic
structure, decided by the diagonal form and the form of the steps contribute
to this impulse.
The relationship of the stairs to its immediate surroundings, a factor determined

by the approach to the stairs and the goal to which the stairs lead also play an
important role in determining the expression of the stairs.
Escalators at the
Pompidou Center, Paris 192
Chapter 2
In the study of the architectural stair forms, there emerge 4 clear motifs, which
determine motion expression –
a. Breadth,
b. Slope,
c. Attachment and
d. Form
vIn these ways we see that the floor, the horizontal ground plane (either as a
whole, or as a flight of stairs act as a sign of its basic functions of delimiting,
directing and supporting.
76
193 194
195 196
2.a) - b) Height of the stairs -

1.a) - b) Width of the stairs - 200
Above left - Stair atJewish Museum, Berlin
104 Above left - Stair at St. Peter’ dome, Vatican
Above right - Ramp at Mill Owner’s building, 3.a) - b) Mass of the stairs
Above right - Stair at the Opera, Paris Above left - Stair at Mill Owner’s build-
Ahmedabad.
ing, Ahmedabad.
Above right - Stair at Jahaz Mahal, Mandu
197 198
199
4.a), b), c) - Split motifs of stair
4.e) - f) Split motifs of stair
Above left - Stair atSchauspielhaus, Berlin
Far right - Stair at Vaux-de-Vicomte,
Above centre - Stair at Modhera Sun Temple, In-
Paris
dia
Right - Stair at Ronchamp, France
Above right - Stairs atEl Castillo Pyramid, at 201
202
Yucatan
2) The Wall -
In architectural and interior design, the function of the wall is to delimit a space
from another and to support the overhead plane or roof. Supporting the roof is
more a architectonic and structural problem. Delimitation as a vertical phenomenon
is found not only in landscape forms, but also in social behavior between people.
In both cases a wall demarcates territorial spaces of two kinds each having a specific
content.
The constructed wall demonstrates the definite way in which two diverse areas can
meet, thereby interpreting the relationship between them. The wall is a concrete
realization of the existential struggle between an attacking exterior and
a secure interior, and thereby acquires expressive importance.
A wall that delimits an interior space may vary between expressing complete
openness, thus inviting us to enter, and complete closure, which rejects us. The
expression of penetration is dependant on the relationship between three themes,
which are a result of the interface between delimited and enveloped space. This 105
interface affects the wall in its –
• Breadth – indicates the relation to spaces, which meet the corners to the
left and right.
• Height – indicates the relation to spaces above and below.
• Depth – indicates the relation between spaces in front of and behind the
wall.
203
Facade of the Hawa Mahal, Jaipur
The Wall as an encoded element of meaning
Chapter 2
* The Breadth Theme –
The ‘vertical tri-partition of a wall –

A wall’s extension may be described as the dynamic relationship between a central
field and two peripheral fields. This phenomenon may be called ‘vertical tri-partition’.
It postulates that every wall comprises these three basic fields of energy. This
theme exists as an archetypal reference for the treatment of the breadth of a wall
and can be divided and strengthened to suit the desired expression.
The expression of the breadth theme –
The expression of the breadth theme could manifest in the following ways –
• Symmetry –
The theme of breadth is by nature correlated to symmetry or the lack of it. Symmetry 204
can be seen as an image of a fundamental order, which we carry with us as a

106 reference for all of our actions. The Town Hall, Amsterdam
A clear demonstration of the phenomenon of verti-
cal tripartition of a wall.
A more anthropomorphic explanation takes symmetry to be a sort of extension of
Placement of
an image of our own human bodies. Just as the shoulders terminate the ‘wall’ of openings and
their effect on the
our bodies, it takes its reference of symmetry from the position of the head. Thus
vertical force
the expression of the wall also depends on the relative placement of its openings fields of the wall
and energy outlets.
• Centrum and corners of the space and their spatial implications
Vertical and horizontal forces

acting along the surface of the In the context of this study, bodily experiences must be supplemented by a model
wall -
that answers mans spatial need in relation to what the forms ‘invite us to do’.
The Centrum of a space generally is the place where we experience the essence of
the space. The corners give the space its perceptible form. The order of a space,
generally, has an existential meaning. The form of the space tells the user where
he is and therefore has a more concrete and local meaning.
Centrum – Man always seeks a place in his environment where things achieve
their main objective or essence. This essence is known as the centrum, the
CENTRUM midpoint between its corners. This does not necessarily means it is the geometric
center. Every place in which meaning becomes manifest is in fact a center. It is the
very basic notion of primitive existential space.
The centrum is then a place for the space’s communication with the environment
206
both as a goal for our movement inward and as the starting point for our movement
CORNERS outward.
Corners - It is the corners i.e. the angles between the walls which intersect, in 107
addition to their number and the spacing between them, that dictate whether the
form of the space. In this way, the wall, which creates the space, is a function of
the corners.
207
Wall - centrum and corners

‘Solitary’ corners create invisible walls as well by making the user draw invisible
Top - The columns of the step well at Adalaj; the sym-
metry constantly reinforces the creation of a centrum
boundaries from corner to corner. Conversely, two wall planes that are located
Above - The Vitra fire Station, Germany; the absense apart from each other are optically extended so that they meet at the projected
of a centrum creates a dynamic effect with the walls corner and complete the space. This is elaborately explained by the Gestalt principle
Chapter 2
of Closure, which makes the human power of perception complete an incomplete
form by itself, with the help of the reference of his experiential memory.
Corners and walls tell us where we are in relation to a space, thereby making it a
figure. They are mutually dependant on each other although they have disparate
meanings. The corners hold the space together and are the factors that govern the
space’s individuality and ‘force of resistance’. The central area conversely, is where 208
the pace communicates with its surroundings.
In buildings in which the facades have powerful corners and open midsections, the
walls provide an immediate sense of both strength and publicness. This has
been demonstrated amply in architectural design history where the theme of breadth 209
is emphasized in monumental buildings. Thus ancient churches, palaces, city halls

and libraries have a definitive communal role, which is expressed by their façade
walls.
The Motifs of the Breadth Theme –
If the theme of breadth is examined deeper, it is discovered that the phenomenon

of tripartiton can vary between 3 basic motifs. Each motif helps to either accentuate
108 or weaken the basic meaning of the major expression. 210
To p - T h e wal l a t t h e V i c t o r
Emmanuel II Monument in Rome.
These ‘motifs’ may be called – Second from top - The wall at the
• Breadth Motif Va u x - d e -V i c o m t e , Ve r s a i l l e s ,
• Split Motif Paris.
Above - The wall at the Casa del
• Side Motif
Fascio, Como, Italy.
VERTICAL TRI-PARTITION OF WALL

(VARIATIONS)
* The Height Theme –
The horizontal tri-partition of wall-

This theme is concerned with the relation to the
‘up’ and ‘down’ in any wall. This involves the
meeting between a wall and the earth (or floor
211 in an interior space), and between the wall and
the sky (or ceiling in an interior space). In this
way we can divide a wall into three horizontal
bands of energy. The lower band relates to the
floor and tends so seem heavier and sink
downward. The upper band relates to the roof and tends to be lighter and lift
212 upward. The middle band mediates between the two, and determines whether the
wall’s overall character is to be dominated by either the upper or the lower bands.
The expression of the height theme -

With reference to the acknowledgment of the forces of gravity and a wall’s attempt
to either oppose or strengthen its pull, the expression of height varies according to
–
213
• Gravity and motion from above downward. 109

• Experience and motion from below upward
Far above left - Wall at the Cincinatti Arts Center, USA

Second from top - Wall at the Vitra Fire Station, Germany
214
Above left - The facade of the Villa Savoye, Poissy, France
HORIZONTAL TRI-PARTITION OF WALL Left - The facade of the High Court of Justice, Chandigarh,
(VARIATIONS) India
Chapter 2
The Motifs of the Height theme -
If the theme of height is examined deeper, it is discovered that the phenomenon of

horizontal tri-partition can vary between 4 basic motifs. Each motif helps to either
accentuate or weaken the basic meaning of the major expression.
215
These ‘motifs’ may be called – a

• The rising motif
• The sinking motif
• The split motif
• The opening motif
216
* The Depth Theme – b
A study of the theme of depth of a wall is dependant on the following 4 factors, on

the basis of which they may be analyzed – 217
a) Main form of the wall (height, width, slanting, curving and their effect on
inside and outside) c
b) Building system (massive, skeletal or a combination of both and their effect
of interior and exterior space)
110 c) Openings (doors and windows; the form of the opening, location and area,
framing around the opening)
d) Surface articulation (affects scaling of the wall, division of the wall, colors d
and textures) 218
a) Main form of the wall

Far above right - Wall at the Mill Owner’s Association b) Building system
building, Ahmedabad, India c) Openings
Second from top right - Wall at the Mill Owner’s Associa- d) Surface articulation
tion Building, India
DEGREES OF LAYERING OF MEANING IN A WALL
Above right - Fort wall, India
IN TERMS OF PURE SPATIAL EXPERIENCES
Right - The Merchant’s Exchange, Philadelphia
a) Main forms -
a, b
All basic motifs of the main forms of a wall are actual representations of
fundamental motion situations. Assuming that we stand more or less at the
same position in front of each wall motif they will arouse motion impulses, which in
turn create highly different impressions of the inside-outside relationship through
depth.
These 8 basic motifs, with reference to the basic motion impulse created by them
are –
c, d, e
a. Horizontal – ‘follow along’ motion
b. Vertical – ‘upward’ motion
c. Flat – ‘halting’ motion
d. Convex – ‘retreating’ motion
e. Concave – ‘advancing’ motion
f. Straight – ‘neutral’ motion 111
f, g, h
g. Leaning toward
MAIN FORMS (VARIATIONS) -
h. Leaning away
a. Horizontal – ‘follow along’ motion
b. Vertical – ‘upward’ motion
c. Flat – ‘halting’ motion
d. Convex – ‘retreating’ motion
e. Concave – ‘advancing’ motion
f. Straight – ‘neutral’ motion
g. Leaning toward
h. Leaning away
Chapter 2
b) Building systems (massive, skeletal, infill and layer system) –

b
The expression of motion, weight and substance in the various types of building
systems of a wall play a vital role in transforming the impact of the main form. The
building system implies how the wall is built. The four motifs we prevail are -
a) Massive system – In this case the wall is built as a solid whole. This signifies
c
that it is a compact mass from inside to outside and all its parts are of equal
importance.
b) Skeleton system – In this system, the wall is divided into separate units,
each having a different role in transmitting vertical load. The basic unit of d
this system is the frame comprising the lintel and the posts.
c) Infill system – In this system, the basic supporting element is the frame.
112 A secondary wall fills the opening, which might be massive or skeletal.
d) Layer system – This system is composed of wall sections juxtaposed in

depth. Support may be fulfilled either by the front or rear sections or all the BUILDING SYSTEMS (VARIATIONS) -
a. Massive
sections together.
b. Skeletal
c. Infill
d. Layer
THE ASPECT OF THICKNESS AND TEXTURE IN A

WALL
BUILDING SYSTEMS (MOVEMENT
FORCES) BARRIER v/s PASSAGE
223 224
LAYERED SYSTEMS
a b
(VARIATIONS) - 219
113
221
d
220
c 225 226
Top right -Layered wall at the entrance foyer
o f t h e M i l l O w n e r ’s A s s o c i a t i o n b u i l d i n g , a) Planar wall at the Barcelona Pavillion, Spain
Ahmedabad. b) Massive wall at the Chapel at Ronchamp, France
222
Above right - Layered wall at the St. Peter’s c) Textured wall at Humayun’s tomb, Delhi
Top - Barrier wall, Ronchamp, France
Basilica, Vatican. d) Plain walls at the tomb of Ahmad Shah, Gulbarga
Above - Passage wall, Adalaj Step-well, India
Chapter 2
abstract visual FORCES CREATED BY
SURFACE ARTICULATION
literal and Literal -

informative The literal messages displayed
on the walls of The Cathedral
of Toledo, Spain.
TEXTURE OF A WALL
Transparent and
smooth - Vitra fire
texture of
Station, Germany
material
227 SURFACE ARTICULATION

114 229
Rough and Abstract visual -

opaque - Chorten The composite textures created by
walls in Choglamsar, the walls at the Wexner Center for
the Arts, USA.
228 231
Ladakh
230
Texture of material -
The granite and onyx clad walls at
the Mies van der Rohe Pavillion,
Barcelona
Scales and massing of the

trabeated form of con-
struction -
Contrasting examples of the
Stonhenge ruins (far below)
and the tube corridors of the
Pompidou Center, Paris dem-
onstrate the role of scales and
massing.
232
115
231
The earliest example of the trabeated style

of construction - China and Japan
Most striking feature of the frames constructed
in the Katsura Palaces and other similar palaces,
was the complete absense of triangular tied
frames. This made it neccessary to ensure a ver-
tical thrust upon the pillars by multiplying the
233
poi nts of support under the rafters.
Chapter 2
Cuboidal column v/s Cylindrical
column
Below left - Cuboidal column at the

Schroeder House, Utrecht
Below right - Column of the Tower
of Victory, Chittor, India 236
Curved wall v/s free-standing

column -
(Below) The St.Peter’s Square,
Vatican City
237
234
Contrasting attitudes in
235 the join of a wall to a col-
116
umn -
a) Independant
b) Integrated 239
Illustrations -
238
Top - The walls of the Katsura
Palace are examples of Penetration of column
THE COLUMN - intergration of the two. through a slab -
Form, Proportion Above - The walls of the Bar- (Right) Penetration of cylindrical
and Surface celona Pavillion are examples column at Mill Owner’s Associa-
of independance of the two. tion building, Ahmedabad.

Weight suggested by
Straight
placement of openings
The Diwan-i-Khaas
and their repsective
Fatehpur Sikri,
components -
India
a) Neutral
240 b) Upward
c) Downward
Rounded
d) Neutral
Byzantine arch of
Monastery in
Greece
(Far below)- Openings at
the Monastery of La
Tourette, France
Pointed
(Below center) - Openings
Arch atTughluq’s 241
at the Unity temple, Oak

Tomb,
Park, USA
Tughluqabad,
(Below) - Openings of the
India
Winslow House, USA
Shallow
Byzantine arch of
Monastery of
243
Castiraki in Greece
117
242
244
Variations in the type of

beam in a trabeated
structure-
inherent gestures of force
suggested. 124
245
Chapter 2
+ Roof at the Sacre Coeur, Mont-
martre, France - The roof as the spatial
experience of
the divine or the
a ‘above’
3) The Roof -
In an interior environment, a roof is two-dimensional.

b The fundamental function of a roof is to protect an
interior space from the exterior spaces both over and
a r o u n d i t . I n r e l a t i o n t o t h e s k y, a r o o f m a y 246
acknowledge the sky by accentuating a downward

c motion from above. Conversely, it may resist the sky by directing motion upward
from below. A roof may also be a balance between downward and upward motion.
Basic themes of the roof –

d
Architectural history reveals a series of shelter forms that in their own way are
variations, vertically and horizontally of these basic expressive components. These
basic themes are –
118 a) The dome
e
b) The barrel vault
c) The gable roof
BASIC THEMES OF ROOF (forces of direction) - d) The shed roof
a) The dome e) The flat roof
b) The barrel vault
c) The gable roof
d) The shed roof All these prototypes suggest precise expressions with regard to motion, weight
e) The flat roof and substance. These in turn shape the experience of the space underneath. In
relating the expression of these various types, the terms ‘neutral’, ‘sinking’ and
‘rising’ are used in terms of its verticality. The terms ‘centralizing’ and ‘directional’
are used with reference to the horizontality of the roof plane.
These impressions depend upon three conditions of the walls that support the roof,
each influencing the main influence of each theme. These are –
• Spatial form of the wall
• Height of the wall and
• The articulation of the wall
Directions of force created by the variation in

placement of roof with respect to the geom-
etry of the room -
a) The vaulted roof is perpendicular to the
circulatory openings of the space underneath.
b) The vaulted roof is parallel to the circulatory
openings of the space underneath.
c) The curve of the vaulted roof is perpendicular
to the cir culatory openings of the space
247
underneath.
248
249
Directions of force created by the various

typologies of the roof form -
a) The flat roof 119
b) The dome
c) The vaulted roof
d) The shed roof
250
Illustrations -
Above left - The domical roof of the St.
Peter’s Basilica, Vatican
Height of a space in relation to
Above center - The vaulted roof at the Muse’ the roof -
d’Orsay, Paris a) Vaulted roof at Monasteries in
Above right - The shed rooves of the Katsura Kastiraki, Greece
b) Va u l t e d ro o f a t H i g h C o u r t ,
Palace, Japan Chandigarh 251
Chapter 2
DOME ROOF
257
Height of dome above the ground

and the effect of forces -
a) Downward - (Above right) Domed
roof of a Mosque in Multan, Pakistan
252 253
254
b) Upward - (Below) Domed roof of
the St. Basil’s, Moscow.
Openings in a roof and its effect on a space -
a) (Above left) Vaulted roof with openings in the
Musee d’ Orsay in Paris.
b) (Above right) Circular opening at the base of the
step well at Adalaj.
120
255
Basic types of domed roof -

a) Accented vertical axis - (Above left) Domed roof
of the Cathedral at Florence, Italy
b) Flattened surface - (Above right) Domed roof of
the Hagia Sophia, Constantinople
c) Accented horizontal axis - (Right) Domed roof of 256
the Pallazetto dello Sport, Rome

258
121
260
The inverted vaulted roof -

Illustrations -
(Top) - The inverted vault of the Chapel at
Ronchamp, France.
259 (Above) - The roof at the Secretariat, Chandigarh,
India
The horizontal and vertical forces of a dome
- (Illustration from the Pantheon in Rome)
Chapter 2
V A U L T E D SHED ROOF
R O O F
261
264
The role of the width of

the vault -
(Above) - The vaulted roof
at the Libary of St.
Genevieve, Paris. # The shed roof as a in-
(Below) - The vaulted roof stinctive symbol of shelter -
at the High Court building, from a child’s drawing.
Chandigarh, India. % The traditional shed-
265
roof of the Izuno Shrine, Ja-
pan - one of the oldest ex-
Variations of the
amples of this kind of arche-
height and profile of
type.
a vaulted roof
122
266
" The effect of
forces with a shed roof
on the walla and the in-
ner structure.
263 ! The shed roof at
Gothic vaulting - the Acropolis, Parthenon,
an intersection of vault perpendicular - Greece.
(Right) Exeter Cathedral, England.
262 267
INCLINED
R O O F SPLIT VOLUMES WITH
INCLINED ROOF
TYPES
# Variations in the roof
type in scale and in the
role of intermediary
masses.
270
# Variations in the di-

rection of force -
(Above left) - guiding
# " Variations in the
along circulation path
basic form of the shed roof
(Left) - effect of shelter-
ing
272
268
" The traditional shed roof of the

Padmanapbhapuram Palace, Kerala, India
271
123
" The sheltering effect created at the
Stadelhofen Station, Zurich
# The two con-
trasting gestures of
the inclined roof type
" (Top) The dy-
namic forces gener-
269
ated by the inclined " The split-towers on the East wall of the
roof at the MoonSoon Chapel at Ronchamp which seem to reach out to
" The composite shed rooves of the Vaux-
restaurant, Japan. the far horizons in a gesture of calling to prayer.
de-Vicomte, Versailles, France
Chapter 2
DEGREES of • Spatial (archetypal) elements as ‘signs’ in a space –
motivating a form
1) At a sensorial level
“Any form in the environment,
- with regards to
visual dimensions, Or sign in language,
thickness etc. Is motivated
2) At an experiential Or capable of being motivated.
level - with regards to
light, texture, colour,
scale, movement, The moment a new form is invented (or noticed)
organization etc. It will acquire inevitably a new meaning”
3) At an associational
Charles Jencks
level - with regards to
cultural and “Meaning in Architecture”
m e t a p h y s i c a l
assocations. The archetype merely acts as an existing reference of stored meaning in
forms. Modifications in these archetypes, based on other related factors, causes
the archetypes to be motivated to carry newer meaning in newer contexts.
EXAMPLE: The In an early chapter in this thesis we had mentioned, “architecture is a celebration
273
peripheral walls of of life”. A study of basic archetypes reveals to some extent the reason behind this
the Hagia Sophia, statement. Archetypes and their modifications enable mundane functions to
Constantinople
attain a more refined degree of meaning. Hence it becomes essential to
1 ) As a wall with
124 understand the basic semantic essence of each archetype before attaching further
physical dimensions.
2 ) As a wall with layers of meaning to it.
experiential qualities
created by light and
shadow, colour and
For example, by using a common archetypal expression (either of verticality or
surface articulation even elements themselves), an industrial shed may be made to feel like a place of
3) The entire worship. We have seen this illustrated in the monasteries of Ronchamp and La
assembly as a
Tourette by Le Corbusier, where a simple ship is represented in its archetypal essence
depiction of the place
being a ‘center of the to communicate to a devotee that a temple is a vehicle to reach God. A similar
universe’. 274 phenomenon has also been demonstrated in the Kailasha Temple at Ellora, in India,
The notion of ‘vimana’ or KAILASHA TEMPLE,

aircraft created by the ELLORA,INDIA
Kailasha Temple, Ellora by an effect of hover-
the simple use of massing
ing, and surface articula-
tion ! Floor plan indi-
cating the clear profile
of a vehicle created by
the massing of ele-
ments
276
275
where the Hindu notion of ‘vimana’ or spacecraft is made manifest in the temple
form.
Spatial elements throughout the history of architecture have potentially been the
vehicles of important semantic meaning to a user. 277
" The gesture of upheaval and immense force rep-

To summarize, spatial sign vehicles may carry the following messages – resented by rows of elephants in the rear of the Temple
• Communicate their specific functions – Natural objects always exist as 125

they are. They do not need to adopt the signal of function from somewhere
else. For example, the seeds of plants in the Amazonian forests have rotor-
like forms so that they can hover away from the tree trunks and hence
blossom into newer trees. Such functions are adoptive in man made forms.
The designer borrows these ideas from phenomena around him, and is able
to attach these to formal elements he designs. A wall may convey, either by 278
an exaggeration of form or by articulation, the manner in which it carries " Free standing elements act as beacons that ges-
ture upward to the sky in anticipation of flight
Chapter 2
out its basic structural purpose. An individual furniture element could tell
the user how best to sit on it. The Pompidou Center is one such example of
a b u i l d i n g w h o s e e l e m e n t s m a ke a n a e s t h e t i c o u t o f ‘ fu n c t i o n a l ’
communication right to the façade to the interior. This makes the built space
interact more actively with its users.
• Inciting a physical act – The use of appropriate formal stimuli may cause
a spatial element to attract, repel, re-orient, and animate a user. For example,
279 the door of the innermost sanctum of a Hindu temple, the ‘garba-griha’ is
of a relatively small height as compared to the rest of the temple. This
A column (right) modified by thematic influence
of the metaphor of a flying bird (TWA Airport, causes the user/devotee to bow before the presence of God as a symbolic
USA). act, before entering the shrine. Formal elements can have this power to
orchestrate actions.
• Cause associations in the minds of people – Formal elements in a space

are never perceived simply as they are. They have the power to house
implied meanings. The moment they are placed in the context of a culture
or a society, they are bound to cause associations in the minds of the user.
280
They form iconological or symbolic images in the minds of people. This is
born out of a natural tendency to attach meaning to what they see, with
126 what they are already familiar with. Thus it is normal for users to look at
the Sydney Opera House and associate it with sails, turtles, eggshells etc.
This inevitable phenomenon is a powerful tool for the designer, which if
281
kept in mind during the process of design can cause conscious associations
A domed roof (above) modified by multiple meta-
in the minds of people, thereby increasing the degree of meaning absorbed
phors to create a shell like effect (Sydney Opera
House, Australia) from a built space.
ARCHETYPES MODIFIED TO CAUSE
ASSOCIATIONS THROUGH • C a u s e s h a r e d e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h i n p e o p l e – T h e r e a r e s p e c if i c
ENCODED ABSTRACTION conventions (grammatical structures) that are the founding blocks of any
society (as in verbal language). By either conforming to, or opposing these

conventions spatial elements could act as signs. This is what causes the
experience of the ‘tree-ness’ of a column, or a ‘fluidity’ of a floor.
• Manifest existential expressions before the user – Every element of

form as a product can express qualitative existential values to the user.
Thus a column can seem like it is ‘floating’, or ‘heavy’ by the sheer nature of
semantic content stored in its form.
282
The encoding of ‘treeness’ in the ribbed Gothic

vaults in Europe - the archetypal transformation
of a pointed vault.
127
283
The feminine proportion 284

of a column -
expressed in the Erechtheion, Parthenon, Greece
ARCHETYPES MODIFIED TO CAUSE

ASSOCIATIONS THROUGH
ENCODED ABSTRACTION
Chapter 2
2.c. Metaphors and Symbols
2 . c. 1) M e t a p h o r s i n D e s i g n -
• Metaphors in Conception
• Metaphors in Perception
128
2.c.2) Symbols and Icons – Culturally

recognized signification
2.c. Metaphors and Symbols
In the earlier parts of this chapter, we discussed the various elements that constitute
the physical aspects of the conception of any space. These form the alphabets and
sentences in the grammar of every architectural utterance conceived.
285 However there exists a vital layer in every language of communication that provides
a deeper dimension to the language through the perception of associated images.
This happens when the system of codification of a language is understood and
developed enough to be able to draw parallels between apparently dislocated
phenomena.
Metaphors, symbols (which include cues and icons) provide this most vital layer in
every creative conception. We use these three methods almost all the time in our
daily existence.
2.c.1) Metaphors in Design -
Metaphors are conceived through the transformation of ideas through the

286
association of concepts (or objects as concepts) with another – either through a 129
Metaphors - transformation of ideas through the
direct combination of the two or by looking at one as the other.
association of concepts.
The Institut du Monde Arab designed by Jean Nouvel.
The architect uses a sign familiar to the Arab world - Metaphors as figures of speech in English language exists in two rhetorical senses
the intricately decorated screen. However the archi- –
tect achieves a shift in message content by combin-
1. By achieving its desired affect through association, comparison and
ing the metaphor of a screen with that of the shutter
resemblance.
of a camera. In doing so, Nouvel achieves a dynamic,
moving series of shutter frames that re-create the 2. By comparing two things by saying that one is the other.
feeling of a Islamic screen.
Chapter 2
Therefore, only in the broadest sense is has been suggested that all language is
metaphorical because of is symbolic nature.
287
• Metaphors in Conception
“…we all perform metaphorical acts whenever we…displace the focus of our scrutiny
from one area of concentration for from one inquiry into another (in the hope that
by comparison or through extension we can illuminate our contemplated subject in “Both juice-squeezers do
their job, one has more
a new way…”
fun” - Terence Conran
Anthony Annoniades (from “On Design”) -
“The Poetics of Architecture” (1992) The one on the right designed
by Phillipe Starck combines
In addition to what has just been stated above, the ‘transfer of references’ from the functions of a juice-
squeezer, with the dissociated
one subject (concept or object) to another also, assists in performing metaphorical
visual imagery of an alien
acts i.e. seeing one object as if it were something else. from a sci-fi movie, making
the act of squeezing lemon, 288
In the mind of the designer, the gestation and transformation of metaphorical ideas more meaningful.
occur in a pre-rational manner. Metaphorical thoughts are based on previous and

well-known ideas that stretch, grow and transform in the process of assimilation of
a new vision. They often comprise many unexpected yet associated ideas. They
130 come together as formal solutions through some initial, hazy, wordless cognition of
an interesting design idea.
In the words of Annoniades, “Metaphors in relating unusual ideas, allow the 289
admission in the mind of relationships and aspects relevant to the new conception Metaphors from Nature -
which would not normally be available to a conscious and therefore practical and Paul Henningsen’s PH5 Hanging Lamp (1958) demon-
critical mind.” strates the role of natural processes and elements in
influencing the design process and making objects more
interactive with the user’s sub-conscious.
• Metaphors in Perception
The Exeter Cathe- As opposed to spoken language, metaphors in design provide a possibility of
dral, England - ‘tree- changing, reducing, adding to, reshaping or of being entirely new, to present and
ness’ created through define the new idea. Thereby in the perception of design, metaphors are provided
Gothic vaul ting and
with the possibility of suggesting different meanings in different situations.
the surface articula-
tion which resemble
leaf-like patterns Metaphors ensure a more effective communication when the perceiver does actually
290
not see the object of resemblance from which the metaphor is derived. Instead
communication occurs when, a perceiver is able to map the resemblance or
association in the object or act in which the metaphor is manifested, in his sub-
conscious.
Metaphorical perception is in many ways inevitable in the minds of users. Any new
building or form that becomes part of an environment always struggles to find a
place in the user’s array of meaning stored in his experiences. By comparing the
new form with something that has been experienced tangibly, the user finds
291
similarities and resemblances with the new form and draws his conclusions through
292
metaphor. It is in this way that we see many buildings being compared to ‘ice-
METAPHORS IN CONCEPTION - The “tree-ness” cream cones’ or ‘egg-crates’ or ‘a slice of cake’.
of the Gothic space - an effort to create the effect 131
of walking under trees, through the use of light and
The power of the metaphor has often been considered to be the bedrock of
the roof
imagination. The metaphor can be helpful in achieving the ‘new’ at many points in
the built space and in its conceptual process. The shape of architectural elements
may be seen in a new light, overall expressiveness and feelings that are intended
to be sent as signals to the users, can be done more effectively with the use of
metaphors.
Chapter 2
Metaphors may be broadly classified under the following categories:
i Intangible metaphors - Those in which the metaphorical departure for the creation
is a concept in itself, or an idea, a human condition, or a particular quality (e.g. individuality,
naturalness, community, tradition, culture.)
ii Tangible metaphors - Those in which the metaphorical departure stems strictly

from some visual or material character (e.g. a house as a castle, or a roof of a temple as the
sky, or a church as a ship etc.) 294 295
INTANGIBLE METAPHORS -
iii Combined metaphors - Those in which the visual and the conceptual overlap as (Above left) The cosmic dimension as a metaphor in th e
ingredients of the point of departure, and the visual is an excuse to detect the virtues, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople.
qualities, and the fundamentals of the particular visual encounter. (Above right) Despair as a feeling is expressed in the
Jewish Holocaust Museum, Berlin
132
296 297
TANGIBLE METAPHORS -
(Above left) Bird nests represented in the Nagakin Cap-
sule, Tokyo, Japan.
(Above right) Train compartment joinery metaphorically
represented through masses in the Musee d’ Orsay, Paris
2.c.2) Symbols and Icons – Culturally recognized signification
Meaning is transmitted through means of communication and results in perception.

The means are perceptual representations, which are learnt by all human beings
from childhood, as well as systems and forms of varying kinds, which make
description and expression possible for communication. These systems and forms
over a period of repeated usage become ‘symbols’ of their perceptual schemata.
Symbols integrate an individual with a culture’s sign systems.
298 299
INDEXICAL SIGNS -
The capacity of a symbol system (form, in the case of architectural design) depends
(Above left) The internal order of Pompidou Center, Paris
is displayed directly on its facade
on its ability to fit the ‘content’ it has to receive; the inner consistency and the
(Above right) The cascading organization of spaces is degree of articulation.
displayed directly as the form itself
Symbols are usually of two kinds –
ICONIC S I G N S - 1. Indexical – when they directly indicate their use, like arrows.
(Left) The Sydney Opera 2. Iconic – when the form acts as a diagram of its function.
House
(Below left) The Lotus
Temple, New Delhi
Robert Venturi in his book – “Complexity and Contradiction in Modern Architecture”
(Bottom left) The Pyramid illustrated the indexical symbols aptly by calling them ‘ducks’ as opposed to
300
at the Louvre, ‘decorated sheds’. A ‘duck’ building is one that looks like its function or that allow 133
all function as diagrams its internal order to be displayed on its exterior.
of their functions - in the
sense that the form itself
causes associations of im- In a rapidly mediated, pluralistic urban society the possibility of a common basis to
plied meaning within the the different symbol systems exist, making it possible for us to communicate
301
user. universal emotions, beliefs and reactions, in a manner generally understood by
most in spite of our cultural differences.
302
Chapter 2
In Chapter2, the study has identified and demonstrated through the use C O N C L U S I O N
of varied examples how the various tools for spatial design communication
become more meaningful to the users.
The Chapter emphasized -
• The inherent capacity of any element in a space, to be encoded with

meaning that is either sensorial, experiential or associational.
The various aspects of Spatial Design communication will be discussed in

greater detail in Chapter 3 where the study will aim to demonstrate the
subject - “Spaces as Signs - spatial design communication as an interactive
process of encoding and decoding” further.
134
Chapter 3
SPATIAL ILLUSTRATIONS
1 | The Mill Owners Association Building (ATMA), Ahmedabad
2 | La Chapelle Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp
3 | “Between the Lines” - The Jewish Holocaust Museum, Berlin
4 | The Vietnam War Memorial, Washington DC

136
Chapter 3 Spatial Illustrations
The illustrations chosen in Chapter 3 have been selected on the basis of the following C R I T E R I A F O R
criteria - S E L E C T I O N O F
S P A T I A L
1 | The Mill Owners Association Building (ATMA), Ahmedabad I L L U S T R A T I O N S
• To demonstrate the role of perceptual dynamics to a user upon upon

physical interaction with the building - a spatial narrative.
2 | La Chapelle Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp
4 | T h e V i e t n a m W a r M e m o r i a l , Wa s h i n g t o n D C
• To demonstrate the potential of encoding meaning - at various levels

- within a built form.
137
Chapter 3
Architect - Le Corbusier
Location - Ahmedabad, India
Built in the year - 1962
Aims and Objectives
• To analyze the perceptual experience of visiting the

138
b u i l d i n g f r o m n o d e s o f e x p e r i e n c e ( r e f. “ T h e P e r c e p t u a l C o n c e p t u a l
dynamics of Spacemaking” - unpublished thesis b y Priyamvada Singh).
• To illustrate the purely spatial phenomena that was dealt

with in Chapter 2 by recognizing the major elements of the
building (with special focus on the connecting spaces) and analyze
how they are perceived and responded to by the user.
139
Chapter 3
140
141
Chapter 3
142
143
Chapter 3
144
INFERENCES
• This illustration simply demonstrates the importance of

encoding through the various components of an architectural
space, without any specific emphasis on a function or program.
It demonstrates the near-universal responses that encoded
elements of a built form can have on the user.
• The primary encoding strategies in this study, may be

summed up as -
1. T h e u s e o f c o n c r e t e a s a m a t e r i a l t h r o u g h v a r i a t i o n s i n
texture.
2. T h e u s e o f t h e c u r v e d a n d e n c l o s i n g w a l l a s g u i d e s t o
movement along a certain direction.
3. T h e u s e o f b a s i c c i r c u l a t i o n e l e m e n t s t o m o t i v a t e t h e u s e r
to climb or descend in different ways.
4. T h e u s e o f f r e e s t a n d i n g s e c o n d a r y e l e m e n t s t o g u i d e
145
movement and orientation.
• Archetypal elements and their constructs have the power

to encode meaning and re-invent themselves in newer
contexts. These meanings manifest before the user by the
correct planning of the ‘kinesthetics’ of the built form.
Chapter 3
2| L a C h a p e l l e N o t r e D a m e d u H a u t , R o n c h a m p
Brief description of the project background and brief – Architectural promenade – Brief description
of the formal division of the space – Ronchamp as a sign vehicle with respect to time (as a relic/
ruin/ symbol), overall volume, bi-sociation, directional thrusts, kinesthetic forces etc – The significance
of these signals in the creation of emotive responses in the visitor.
Architect: Le Corbusier
Duration of project: 1950-56
146
TO ANALYZE ARCHITECTURAL SIGN
THE ENCODING OF MEANING THROUGH -
SITING
OVERALL DYNAMICS OF FORM
PERCEPTUAL/CONCEPTUAL ASSOCIATION
CODIFICATION OF INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS
KINESTHETICS
SCOPE - This analysis will deal only with the aspects of the outer architectural
interplay with the environment of the Chapel. The interior of the Chapel has not
been discussed in this illustration
About the project –
The Chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp is widely regarded as

one of the most important works of master architect Le Corbusier and is
the best evaluation of his treatment of the catalysis of spatial meaning
right from the conceptual phase.
Along with the Monastery of La Tourette, the Chapel

at Ronchamp comprises Le Corbusier’s entire repertoire
of religious architecture.
Monastery of La Tourette,
The Site – Le Corbusier
From its commanding position on the hilltop of Bourlemont in the Haute-Saone

region in France, the Chapel overlooks the village of Ronchamp. The hill reaches a
height of about approximately 500 meters, flanked by trees, through which two
access paths have been allowed out. It culminates in a rounded summit forming a
small plateau, which serves as a ‘podium’ for the chapel 147
as an exhibit for pilgrims.
The site of Ronchamp is thus steeped in history. Its

tradition of pilgrimage is deeply rooted in its local culture
right from the time of the Roman conquest of Gaul.
These factors lend a symbolic dimension to the place Plateau and hilltop lo-
cation suggest a monu-
and cloak it in an air of emotion. Le Corbusier was
ment of some visual
consequence
Chapter 3
especially sensitive to the atmosphere that bathed the site as well as its cosmic
dimension.
“…this is a place of pilgrimage, but some things go deeper than one would generally
imagine; there are certain places that for one reason or another are hallowed,
because of their site, setting, geographical location, political tension surrounding
them etc. And there are designated places, ‘high places’ in both senses: altitude
and elevation.”
Le Corbusier
“Le Livre de Ronchamp”
cited by Jean Petit
! SITING ‘TRACE’ - Any vertical structure placed on
such a circular, equipolar site at a high altitude would
Ob
East
naturally tend to act as a beacon for miles.
liqu
es
ite
con
diti
on
! The approach route - from southeast flanking the ! The site is placed at the high
open area with the contours also giving a south eastern slope. point on an east-west axis
148 When the Chapel was first completed, purists were aghast that the ‘proscribed’
laws of Modernist thinking, the ‘zeitgeist’ (spirit of the time) was broken. Forbidden
spatial vocabulary such as the plastic mass, the hole in the wall, the expressive
curve and the foetal interior reappeared here at Ronchamp. But upon actually
embarking on a journey through the space, and becoming aware of its narrative
power – it was universally agreed that Ronchamp was a truly new dimension in
modern architecture. An attempt at creating a plastic, dynamic space that was well
ahead of its time.
The Chapel at Ronchamp also marked a renewal of interest in basic existential

meanings in the field of Modern architecture.
a\ The first basic gesture of meaning comes

to manifest from the confrontation between
the building and the movement around it
in an oblique site condition
b\ Le Corbusier creates two separates

zones for entry and pilgrimage on either
side of the oblique axis on the site
Kinesthetic of the Chapel - The “Promenade Architecturale”
The rich application of plastic arts in this building, and to discover the way in which
it unfolds spaces, forms and functions as a narrative can be valued by embarking
on what Le Corbusier called the “Promenade Architecturale” - proposed by him in
the late 1920’s.
This kinesthetic or ‘notion of procession’ as he called it performed a crucial

role in the way in which visitors to his buildings were to perceive meaning
inherent in his work.
149
We walk, we turn, we never stop moving or

In 1936, at a conference held in Rome, he explained the vital role of the
turning towards things. Note the tools we use
individual within the architectural interplay –
to perceive architecture… the architectural
sensation we experience stems from hundreds
“Forms bathed in light. Inside and outside; below and above.
of different perceptions.
Inside: we enter, we walk around, we look at things while walking around and the
It is the ‘promenade’, the movements we make
forms take on meaning, they expand, they combine with one another.
that act as the motor for architectural events.”
Le Corbusier
Chapter 3
Outside: we approach, we see, our interest is aroused, we stop, we appreciate, we
turn around, we discover. We receive a series of sensory shocks, one after the
other, varying in emotion; the jeu (architectural interplay) comes into play.
The Exterior of Ronchamp as a vehicle of meaning -
1. Associative abstractions of the overall form
The greatest power of the architecture of Ronchamp is the treasure house of

suggestive metaphors it possesses. The visual codes used here take in both
private and social meanings at an unconscious level in the minds of the visitor and
the people of Ronchamp. We are able to associate these metaphors immediately
! INTERIOR VIEW of the Chapel, showing
the play of light and darkness- without caring to draw a single plan or diagram. The architect is able to call upon
the visitor’s rich storehouse of images without our being aware of our intention - a
classic example of space’s power to act as a sign in numerous ways. It invoked
sub-conscious perceptual and conceptual processes from both the designer
and the user.
Program forms an essential stimulant for the metaphors associated with this
150 building. The fact that Le Corbusier intended the building to be ‘a vessel of intense
concentration and meditation’ (from “Oeuvre complete 1946-52”) gives the
built form a sub-conscious ‘shipness’ that is inescapable. This also emerges as a
spirit of the times, both at a social and an individual level. It is well known that Le
Corbusier, both in his Purist paintings and his architecture often referred to industrial
icons – ships, airplanes, and machines, as inspirational symbols to layer his work
! INSPIRED ASSOCIATIONS - Interior views
with.
of the Byzantine Santa Sophia at Constantinople
(above left) and the Gothic Cathedral at Chartres,
France (above right)
A visitor arrives at the south side of the building and perceives the heavy white
mass of a lofty tower firmly anchored to the ground and a high wall pierced with
sporadic openings. He also perceives the dark massive curves of a roof that sags
into a thick sloping wall with smattering of color sprinkled over the door.
To the visitor to the Chapel, the object itself seems to be derived out of a pair of
hands folded in prayer, or a priest’s headgear. These are inevitable cultural
associations that are based on the preconditioning of the visitor and his own inherent
system of decoding and encoding in the mind. This ambiguity adds to the drama of
Ronchamp by inviting the visitors to search their memory for possible clues to
unraveling the possible meaning of the forms themselves.
This overall semantic power of The Chapel at

! CONCEPTUAL ASSOCIATION - The metaphor
Ronchamp enables it to establish a niche for itself in
o f t h e fo l d e r h a n d s i n p r a y e r a n d i t s p hy s i c a l
the history of religious architecture without having manifestation in the apex of the roof
to resort to the formal dogmas of the time or of the Directional
curved wall
past. The Chapel makes the visitor experience
meaning at virtually all three levels – existential,
sensorial and associational.
Approach
Route
2. The south facing Entrance Façade

151
o Horizontal directional gesture of curved

wall and roof - The entrance façade is composed of the thick
curvilinear wall overseen by the volume of the roof. The
combined dynamic of the wall with the roof create strong visual
lines of force that entice a visitor to move along its face and ! THE ROOF AND WALL CONSTRUCT - Sets the
view the East façade where the pilgrimage usually ends in a visitor in motion along the face of wall toward the pilgrim
arrival area, whilst protecting the interior. Demonstration
mass gathering. The wall is intended to act as a receptacle for
of the vertical tripartition of wall.
Chapter 3
visitors and pilgrims, and in receiving them, set them in a procession around
the building itself.
o Vertical directional gesture of zenith of the curved wall and the roof -
The curved wall is skew tilted in relation to the entrance, and straightens up
The south east corner - verti-
cal directional gesture upwards gradually, re-establishing a strong verticality in the swell of the southeastern
corner, where the ‘crab-shaped’ roof is at its highest level and seems to be
sending a physical gesture of prayer to the heavens. This south wall meets with
the east side in a pronounced vertical line. This line forms the highest point of
the chapel.
o Signal outlining the main entrance - On it’s lowest side where it is most
steeply inclined, the base is at its widest – the roof appears to be thickest and
sags lower than at any other point. The bold vertical
column formed by the curving of the west façade
establishes a strong verticality in the composition and
invites the visitor to also enter the Chapel through the
main entrance door also situated on this face.
The vertical plane within which the door is set marks the
152 division between the wall and volume of the tower. Here a
The south gap serves to free the mass of the roof from that tower.
entrance
wall - percep-
tual dynamics o Smaller elements of reference - Within this free
and dynamic range of shapes, the geometric order is
set by several essential elements from within the plan.
Two parallelepiped blocks for example accentuate the
outline of the door. The first is of vertical proportion
and acts as the foundation stone of the Chapel. The
second sits horizontally and is actually a console fixed into the surface of the
main tower. This marks the relative right angle in the overall composition.
These two volumes highlight the entrance space, which in the larger scheme of
things is set back between the powerful volume of the southwest tower and the
sloped mass of the south wall. They also serve as an orthogonal and static reference
within a façade dominated by dynamic curves and oblique curves. In addition to
this, these are the sole protruding volumes and thereby contribute to the plastic
play of positive and negative space, by invoking a dialogue with the depressed
cavities in the openings.
3. The Outdoor Chapel in the East
o Overall composition - The overall composition of the eastern wall of the Chapel
is characterized by the dynamically tensioned facades, a balance of curved and
straight lines and shapes that stretch out towards the surrounding countryside
respond to the very basic function intended by the architect – a southern
façade that opens out in a warm gesture of welcome – adding a sense of
grandeur to an otherwise mundane act of gathering for Mass.
o The Eastern Wall - In keeping with the same concept of dynamics, the form
153
of the east side of the chapel resembles a full sail, or an airplane’s dorsal plane.
Here the roof juts out to form a large hood
leaving space beneath for an outdoor chapel.
This canopy joined to the far end of the
southeastern corner slopes down to the north
side to finally rest on a pier concealed within
a cylindrical sheath. Like the south wall, its
Chapter 3
surface is skew and its shape expands so as to encompass the outdoor sanctuary.
o The sanctuary - This sanctuary was designed to receive crowds of gatherers

on pilgrimage days and host open-air celebrations of Mass. It opens onto a
natural walkway whose limits are defined by the orthogonal volumes of the
pilgrim’s shelter nearby and the pyramid of stones forming a memorial to the
dead.
The floor of the outdoor chapel is formed by paving stones that follow the curve of
the roof canopy. This hood overhangs and protects the liturgical elements – the
altar, the bench for officiating priests, pulpit and choir gallery. An effigy of the
Above left - the choir gallery and altar on the East Virgin Mary is embedded into an opening visible from both inside and outside.
facade
Above right - The upward thrust of the south-east cor-
ner in a gesture reminiscing hands folded in prayer to A second entrance, reserved for celebrants, separates the vertical wall from the
the skies. reverse side of the south wall. Recesses designed to hold religious objects are
hollowed out within this reverse side.
o Secondary elements - Other secondary elements are extremely simple in form

a n d c o n s e q u e n t l y produce a stabilizing effect within the overall
composition.
154
· The sacred altar – the ancient component – is simply perceived as a
block of white stone perched on two orthogonal bases. Several other
smaller geometrical elements mark the right angle in the façade. They
act as a geometrical counterpart to the curved forms of the structure,
such as those comprising the choir gallery and the sheath encasing the
pier. In other words, they add a human dimension to the order.
The East facade
I n t h e w o r d s o f J e a n Pe t i t , “ T h e b l u e
amphitheatre of the sky and the landscape
unfurls in the distance. The altar is perceived
as the pivot of a cosmic celebration”.
· The pulpit is a rigid-cube laid on a pillar,

accessed by an oblique set of steps at the
rear; it backs onto the massive cylindrical white surface in rough plaster.
Made from exposed concrete it creates a contrast with the walls of the ! The north fa-
chapel both through its form and the color of its material. cade - an introverted
wall that conceals and
protects what is inside.
· Inserted recesses - Another cubic part made in exposed concrete is
the service table used for keeping all objects used for outdoor celebrations
of Mass. This is inserted into one of the hollowed out recessed in the
rear of the massive south wall. These recesses play a vital role in the
overall composition – by acting as a typological opposite to the
surrounding elements, they serve to exaggerate their interplay. They also
emphasize the thickness of the wall, by emphasizing their solid
appearance.
4. The North and West Facades

155
o Overall composition - The north and west facades stand in stark contrast
to the south and east walls. They are made up of vertical and horizontal lines
and stalwart thickset shapes like those of the two small towers. If the south
and east walls we more extroverted from the exterior and served to gesture
and welcome a visitor; the north and west facades appear to be turning their
backs to the surrounding landscape in order to protect themselves from the
outside world in a concealed, closed off, protected place that inspires meditation.
Chapter 3
o The north façade - This façade confines both the functional spaces and the
two side chapels housed with the two towers. Orthogonal openings and a two-
level oblique staircase leading to the functional rooms punctuate the vertical
wall. The dynamic tension of its form underscores the play of mass and space.
The cylindrical towers face in opposite directions and seem to invoke the feeling of
the bastions of some ancient fortress. One cylinder is bathed in light at sunrise and
the other, at sunset. A second door is placed in the gap that separates these towers
as they stand back to back. Visitors and worshippers use this entrance on a daily
basis.
o The west façade – This facade is the ‘blindest’ of the entire structure and acts
as an extreme introverted element, characterized by its stark, opaque white
surface. It seems to act as a backdrop to another cosmic act of rain and the
collection of the water into the ground.
This façade is characterized by the parabolic curve of the last leveling course of
the wall. The line of the last leveling course visually links the vertical line of the
edge of the north tower with that of the south tower. It is the highest of the three
towers that causes the building to stand out so strikingly against the landscape,
156 thus beckoning visitors from all around.
o Secondary elements - The façade is embroidered with

secondary elements, which fulfill both a functional and
semantic role – the gun-barrel shaped gargoyle, which
drains rain, water from the roof and the tank that catches
this water and stores the water due to a scarcity of wateron
! Periscopic towers - A clear gesture of the hilltop. These elements create a sculptural drama on
summonig to prayer is sounded by the two opposing
towers on the north facade
the façade, a sort of ‘plastic event’ within the architectural
promenade.
157
Chapter 3
2 | The Chapel Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp
INFERENCES
• The study analyzes the dual function bestowed on this

building by the architect – a small chapel for prayer and
meditation and a place of worship with facilities for receiving
thousands of worshippers. It highlights the manner in which
these appropriate gestures have been encoded to create these
effects.
• These shapes both debate and dialogue with one another: the
breathtakingly high thrust of the southeastern corner, offset by
the mass of the towers anchored to the ground; the dynamic shape
of the hull of the roof, counterbalanced by the solid static forms
of the gently curving towers. These shapes complement and
communicate with each other in the same way in which they
158 converse with the surrounding landscape and the four horizons.
• This illustration demonstrates best how architectural form

can encode meaning at all three levels - sensorial, experiential
and associational - to the user. This potential of spatial forms
when harnessed by the architect can influence not ony movement
and other aspects of human behaviour but also cause emotions
and feeling in the mind.
! The Horrors of the Jewish Holocaust
Jewish children, kept alive in the Auschwitz II
3| “ B e t w e e n t h e L i n e s ” - T h e J e w i s h H o l o c a u s t M u s e u m , B e r l i n
(Birkenau) concentration camp, 1942
Brief description of the project background and brief – Brief description of thevarious concepts inducted
by the architect into the for of the building – The Museum as a sign vehicle with respect to representation
of the feelings of a time and people - The Jews of the Holocaust. The use of bi-sociations, directional
thrusts, kinesthetic forces etc – The significance of these signals in the creation of emotive responses
in the visitor.
Architect: Daniel Libeskind
Duration of project: 1989 - 99

159
SPATIAL SIGN
TO ANALYZE
FORMAL ASSOCIATIONS THROUGH CREATION OF FEELINGS
! The Stairs to the Old Jewish Museum, OVERALL DYNAMICS OF FORM
Berlin - A Museum that acts as a standing re- PERCEPTUAL/CONCEPTUAL ASSOCIATION
minder of a human tragedy, for generations to CODIFICATION OF INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS
come. KINESTHETICS
Chapter 3
Introduction -
“I designed a building that is emblematic of the earth

shattered by conflict”
Daniel Libeskind
Excerpt from “Between the Lines”
The Jewish Holocaust Museum in Berlin is a museum, which

unambiguously schematizes and integrates the history of the
Jews in Germany and the repercussions of the Holocaust,
for the first time in post-war G e r m a n y.
The design of the Jewish Museum engenders a fundamental rethinking of Perceptive metaphors
architecture in relation to its program. The museum exhibits the social, political Scars in a collective psyche
and cultural history of Jews in Berlin from the 4th Century to the present. A crack in the earth’ s surface
Incisions
The new extension is connected to the Baroque building via underground axial TER
SHAT
160 roads. The longest one leads to the ‘Stair of Continuity’ and to the Museum itself;
the second leads to the ‘Garden of Exile and Emigration’ and the third axis leads to
the dead end of the ‘Holocaust Vo i d ’.
The displacement of the spirit is made visible through the straight line of the Void,
which cuts the ensemble as a whole, connecting the museum exhibition spaces to
each other via bridges. The Void is the impenetrable emptiness across which the
absence of Berlin’s Jewish citizens is made apparent to the visitor. In the first eight
weeks of the opening more than 200,000 visitors attended.
Daniel Libeskind and his involvement in this project -
“Architecture is a communicative art. All too often, however, architecture

is seen as mute. Buildings are understood as disposable consumer items
whose sole fate is to disappear with their use. In our day, the only
distinction people make between architecture and building is that
buildings are utilitarian and architecture is a monument belonging in a
cemetery.”
Daniel Libeskind
From the essay “Catching on Fire”
the extension to the museum
The discussion about a Jewish Museum in Berlin was in process for almost a quarter
of a century since the completion of the Second World War. Many eminent experts
and Holocaust survivors discussed this issue and the implications of building a
e t a hoffman
t h e h o l o c a u s t garden of
Jewish Museum in Berlin. The conclusions reached were the ones formulated in a
v o i d exile b r i e f fo r t h e c o m p e t i t i o n h e l d i n 1 9 8 8 - 1 9 8 9 .
Libeskind was invited by the Berlin Senate in 1988

to participate in this competition for the Jewish
161
Museum. The architect felt that the project was not
a program that he had to invent or a building that
needed research. He felt the project was one in which
he had been implicated from the very beginning -
being a Jew himself. He had lost most of his family
in the Holocaust and had been born only a few
hundred kilometers east of Berlin in Lodz, Poland
where the most heinous of Nazi supported genocides
Chapter 3
An experience represented
through space -
A constant reminder of guilt and re-
gret are expressed through the Voids
in the museum where by the simple
creation of tall spaces without any
openings. The floor is covered by
masks of faces contorted in agony
162 upon which the visitor is made to walk.
An experience represented throuhg space -

an experience of unstability and insecurity is represented
by the constant use of unstable geometric forms that
seem to be frozen in its unstability by unseen forces.
These serve to disorient the visitor and creating a con-
stant feeling of unrest.
An experience repre- 163
sented through space -
Unstable, dark spaces are cre-
ated with the placement of
openings at their farthest end
- thereby creating impulses to
move ahead even when there
apparently seems to be no
physical route ahead.
This echoes the same feeling
that prisoners must have had
when they were imprisoned in
concentration camps during
the War
Chapter 3
of the Jews was carried out in the Second World War.
The Concept – “Between the Lines”
Libeskind was deeply challenged by the notion of creating

a place, which was at once intimate and civic. He wanted
to create a “place in which the story of the
significance, sacrifice, tragedy and destiny of
conflict can come alive”.
”What could inform a museum of conflict and of war?

Clearly, this is not a museum of peace but a museum of the permanent struggle to
attain it.”
There are three basic ideas that formed the foundation for Libeskind’s design of ! Climbing impulse of the
main stair to the old Museum -
the Jewish Museum design - Intersecting and piercing beams
along with a drama created by light
1. The impossibility of understanding the history of Berlin without and shadow give a user a constant
impulse to climb while looking up-
understanding the enormous intellectual, economic and cultural
ward.
contribution made by the Jewish citizens of Berlin.
164
2. The necessity to integrate physically and spiritually the meaning
of the Holocaust into the consciousness and memory of the city of
Berlin.
3. Third, that only through the acknowledgement and incorporation of

this erasure and void of Jewish life in Berlin, can the history of
Berlin and Europe have a human future.
Libeskind called the project - “Between the Lines.” because it was a project about
two lines of thinking, organization and relationship. One was a straight line,
but broken into many fragments; the other was a tortuous line, but continuing
i n d e f i n i t e l y .
The site was the new-old center of Berlin on Lindenstrasse next to the distinguished
Kollegienhaus, a former Baroque Prussian courthouse.
The Order – an irrational codification of a human matrix –
1. The invisible and irrationally connected star, which shone with the
! Laceration on the facade - derived from the absent light of individual address.
mapping of Berlin - a building representative of a
scarred psyche of the Jewish community
An important clue for his codification of meaning into the forms he chose for the
built form, Libeskind felt that there was an invisible matrix of connections, a
connection of relationships between figures of Germans and Jews. Even
though the competition was held before the Berlin Wall fell, he felt that the one
binding feature, which crossed East and West Germany, was the relationship of
German people to the Jews.
Certain people, workers, writers, composers, artists, scientists and poets formed
the link between Jewish tradition and German culture. Libeskind identified these 165
connections and plotted an irrational matrix, which would yield reference to the
emblematic of a compressed and distorted star: the yellow star that was so
frequently worn on this very site. This was the first aspect of the conceptualizing
of the project.
2. The cutoff of Act 2 of Moses and Aaron, which culminates, with the
nonmusical fulfillment of the word - the influence of the music of
Schonberg –
Chapter 3
An aerial view of a Polish con-
centration camp at Birkenau
Libeskind was always interested in the music of

classical music composer, Schönberg and in
particular his period in Berlin. His greatest work
was the opera called “Moses and Aaron”, which
could not be completed.
For an important musical structural reason the

logic of the libretto could not be completed by a
musical score by Schonberg. According to Libeskind, “…at the end of the opera,
Moses doesn’t sing, he just speaks “oh word, thou word”, addressing the absence
of the Word, and one can understand it as a ‘text’, because when there is no more ! Conception of the plan -
The influence of the ‘Gedenkbuch’ - a diary containing
singing, the missing word which is uttered by Moses, the call for the Word, the call the addresses of Jews killed in the Holocaust, and the
for the Deed, is understood clearly.” opera of “Moses and Aron” were sources of encoding
Libeskind sought to complete the opera ‘architecturally’ and this formed the second
aspect of the conception of this project.
3. The omni-present dimension of the missing Berliners
The third aspect of this project was my interest in the names of those persons who
166
were deported from Berlin during the fatal years of the Holocaust. I asked for and
received from Bonn two very large volumes called the ‘Gedenkbuch’. They are
incredibly impressive because all they contain are names, just lists and lists of
names, dates of birth, dates of deportation and presumed places where these people
were murdered. I looked for the names of the Berliners and where they had died -
in Riga, in the Lodz ghetto, in the concentration camps.
! Conception of the plan -
4. Walter Benjamin’s urban apocalypse along the One Way Street. The geometry of the building is derived from the ab-
sent adresses of Jews who were killed or deported dur-
ing the Holocaust
The fourth aspect of the project is formed by Walter

Benjamin’s “One Way Street”. This aspect is incorporated
into the continuous sequence of 60 sections along the
zigzag, each of which represents one of the ‘Stations of
the Star’ described in the text of Walter Benjamin.
The spatial narrative of meaning and form -
Daniel Libeskind in his book “Between the Lines” wrote

that - “A building can be experienced as an unfinished
journey. It can awaken our desires and propose imaginary
! THE E.T.A. conclusions. It is not about form, image or text, but about
HOFFMAN ‘GARDEN OF
EXILE’ - the experience, which is not to be simulated. A building
Planters emblematic of can awaken us to the fact that it has never been anything more than a huge question
tombstones that seem to
sink into an inclined ground mark.”
plane - the visitor is made
t o fe e l u n e a s y a n d c o n - Libeskind aimed to create a building, that not only intelligently programmed for
stantly unsettled by this ex-
perience. the events which were to take place in it, but one which emotionally moved the
soul of the visitor toward a sometimes unexpected realization – that “Conflict was
not simply a story with a happy or unhappy ending, but an ongoing momentum,
which structured one’s understanding of the future in relation to the past.”
167
In specific terms the building measures more than 15,000 square meters. The
entrance is through the Baroque ‘Kollegienhaus’ building and then into a dramatic
entry Void by a stair which descends under the existing building foundations,
! Seat at the garden crisscrosses underground and materializes itself as an independent building on the
- a place to contemplate the outside. The existing building is tied to the extension underground, preserving the
t ra g e d y s u f f e r e d b y t h e
Jewish community in the contradictory autonomy of both the old building and the new building on the surface,
Holocaust. while binding the two together in the depth of time and space.
! the ground plane as an
experience of restlessness.
Chapter 3
There are three underground ‘roads’, which programmatically have three " The ETA Hoffmann garden represents an attempt
separate stories. to completely disorient the visitor. It represents a ship-
wreck of history. One enters it and finds the experience
1. The longest ‘road’, leads to the main stair, to the continuation of Berlin’s somewhat disturbing. Yes, it is unstable, one feels a little
bit sick walking through it. But it is accurate becausethat
history, to the exhibition spaces in the Jewish Museum.
is what perfect order feels like when you leave the his-
tory of Berlin.”
2. The second road leads outdoors to the E.T.A. Hoffmann Garden and represents
Daniel Libeskind (on the “Garden of Exile”)
the exile and emigration of Jews from Germany.
3. The third axis leads to the dead end - the Holocaust Void.
Cutting through the form of the Jewish Museum is a Void, a straight line whose
impenetrability forms the central focus around which the exhibitions are organized.
In order to cross from one space of the Museum to the other, the visitors traverse
1
sixty bridges, which open, into the Void space; the embodiment of absence.
As the visitor is made to move through this ‘splintered globe’ (in the words of 3
Libeskind, “Catching of Fire”) with its fragmented curvatures, there is a feeling of 2
vulnerability.
A zig-zagged, path to an end
Normally, there is a detachment of the visitor from the exhibitions, but here there A straight line path to an end
is a fusion of the instability of space with the permanent time of reflection.
168
According to Libeskind - “To create a continuity of experience across the Lines of absent ad-
discontinuity of interpretation was my aim.” dress as ordering
trace -
The architect uti-
The space of the building produces an oscillation between the artifice of the lizes the pre-Holo-
exhibition and the materiality, which it contains. Each visitor is sensitized by the caust maps of Ber-
topos, just as footsteps and the eye become guides treading through a history that lin to locate the ad-
dresses of the now-
dawns only in retrospect. The realignment of geometries toward the narrative of absent Jewish Ber-
programs, physically articulates the ambiguous tensions, which mirrors the attempt liners who were
eradicated by the
to construct and reconstruct an illusive world order.
Holocaust.
The work is conceived as a museum for all Berliners, for all citizens. Not only those
of the present, but those of the future who might find their heritage and hope in
this particular place. With its special emphasis on the Jewish dimension of Berlin’s
history, this building gives voice to a common fate - to the contradictions of the
ordered and disordered, the chosen and not chosen, the vocal and silent.
The startling and stark subject matter of the Museum is addressed not only by the
temporary and permanent exhibitions, but also by an emotive and intuitive
relationship to the building. The interplay between known proportion and the
The Interior - unknown disproportion, between an anticipated roof and an unanticipated wall
The interior emerges as an out- eliminates the space in which the metaphor of Greek legend ‘Medusa’s’ face shows
come of Libeskind’s 5-point strat-
egy of conception. Openings are
itself. The danger of being turned into stone by simply becoming a voyeur, gives
kept to a minimum, and are not way to the unique spatiality of the exhibition.
viewed as traditional windows.
They act as signs of address of The architectural topography of the building allows gravity to act on the body and
missing Berliners since the war,
on the consciousness of the visitor in order to vitalize one’s awareness. The
and accidentally offer views to the
outside, and allow natural light to enter through crack- experience of architecture together with exhibition is choreographed through a
like fissures. series of precise and discrete movements, each of which is connected to the
# Inclined display panels - unfolding adventure.
> Unsettles >Unstable, like the Garden of Exile
> Directs It was important to realize that a Museum which was to depict the ongoing 169
implication of past conflicts into present day fears should also be a place that has
dignity, elegance and magnetism -– qualities offering the visitor unique sensations,
ones not to be confused with negativity or simulation.
The Museum has a wealth of such meaningful signs that when decoded penetrate
the viewer’s psyche.
Libeskind believed that this project joined Architecture to questions that are now
relevant to all humanity. To this end, he sought to create a new Architecture for a
Chapter 3
time, which would reflect an understanding of history, a new understanding of
Museums and a new realization of the relationship between program and
architectural space.
This strategy for codification of deeper meanings in the Museum not only responded
to a particular program, elevated the building to an emblem of Hope.
$ Use of fragmentation, pierc-

ing and laceration of elements to
convey a feeling -
> To evoke a memory of abuse to a
! The Wall-hung Exhibits -
Though the museum stores a very rare and valu-
group of people and constantly make
able collection of exhibits, the conception of mean-
the viewer associate with this feeling.
ing within the pure architectural space renders the
> By fragmentation, the relationship of
objects on display to secondary narrative ele-
a p a r t i n B e r li n ’s s o c i e ty a n d i t ’s
ments. The feelings evoked by the space by the
absense is given a visible, measurable
user’s perception of meaning - acts as the princi-
form.
pal storyteller in this narrative.
170
$ Use of light as a sign

of direction -
> At a outer skin level, the
slashes allow adequate quan-
tities of natural light to enter
and guide the visitor through
the space
> At an interior display level,
artificial light is used as a sign
of direction as well.
171
Chapter 3
172
INFERENCES
• Apart from being a container of artefacts, the dual function

bestowed on this building by the architectas a medium of
communication of a specific set of feelings - those of despair,
hopelessness, depression and scarring - have been encoded
within the program of the building itself.
• In this Museum, encoding of meaning occurs mostly in

elements of circulation through their geometry, scale and
surface articulation.
• This illustration demonstrates best how architectural form

can encode meaning at all three levels - sensorial, experiential
and associational - to the user. This potential of spatial forms
when harnessed by the architect influences not ony movement 173
and other aspects of human behaviour but also cause emotions
and feeling in the mind.
Chapter 3
4| T h e V i e t n a m W a r M e m o r i a l , W a s h i n g t o n D C
Brief description of the project background and brief – Analysis of the codification of meaning into a
simple archetype - in this case, a wall - A study of how meaning has been encoded by the architect during the
process of conception - A brief outlook at how users decode meaning from this wall.
Architect: Maya Ying Lin
Duration of project: 1989 - 99
174
! A wall of remembrance -A child (top) and a man ARCHETYPAL SIGN
(above) stand before the Wall and spend time contem-
plating the loss of a loved one.
TO ANALYZE
ASSOCIATIONS THROUGH CREATION OF APPROPRIATE SPATIAL GESTURES
CODIFICATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL ELEMENT
MEANINGFUL SURFACE ARTICULATION
The Program
L o c a t e d i n Wa s h i n g t o n , D C , T h e V i e t n a m
Veteran’s Memorial recognizes and honors the
men and women who served in one of America’s
most divisive wars in 1968. The memorial grew
out of a need to heal the nation’s wounds
as America struggled to reconcile different
moral and political points of view.
The semantic power of this memorial is in the fact that it was conceived to make
no political statement whatsoever about the war. The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial
is a place where all visitors, regardless of their political opinion of the war, can
come together and remember and honor those who served. By doing so, the
memorial has paved the way towards reconciliation and healing, a process that
continues today.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial accomplishes these goals through the

three components that comprise the memorial:
1. The Wall of names,
2. The Three Servicemen Statue and Flagpole
175
3. Vietnam Women’s Memorial.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial serves as a testament to the sacrifice of American

military personnel during one of this nation’s least popular wars. The purpose of
the memorial is to separate the issue of the sacrifices of the veterans from the U.S.
policy in the war, thereby creating a venue for reconciliation.
! A wall of remembrance - Views of the wall
showing the two perpendicular pathways and the wedge
shaped profile of the two walls.
Chapter 3
The Wall – Use of meaningful archetype and surface ‘décor’
“ . . . this memorial is for those who have died, and for us to remember.”
Maya Lin
The Wall was the first part of the memorial to be erected in November 1982. The
goal of the memorial was to allow all people to reflect on the price of war
and to honor those who served.
Situated in the grassy park of Constitution Gardens, the Wall is neither prominent,
nor grand, nor imposing. Rather, it is simple, thoughtful, and profound. It is a
! A vehicle
for mixed emo- place to remember those who served during a turbulent time in American history.
tions - A simple It is also a place for the nation to heal its wounds.
wall is transformed
into a tactile vehicle
of remembrance. T h e V i e t n a m Ve t e r a n s
The names of the
martyrs of the War Memorial Wall contains the
are etched into pol- names of the 58,226 men
ished black granite.
The etched name and women who were
and the reflections killed and remain missing
176 of the people visit-
from that war. The names
ing the monument
are superimposed are etched on black
o v e r e a c h o t h e r.
This symbolically granite panels that
unites the past with compose the Wall. The
the present and
transforms a mute panels are arranged into
wa l l i n t o a p l a c e two arms, extending from
loaded with deep
meaning. a central point to form a
wide angle. Each arm
points to either the
Washington Monument or the Lincoln Memorial in the distance to bring the Vietnam
Memorial into an historical context on the National Mall.
The Wall is built into the earth, below ground level. The area within the Wall’s
angle has been contoured to form a gentle sloped approach towards the center of
the Wall. While entering the memorial at ground level from either end of its arms,
the descent to the center reveals more and more of the Wall until it towers more
that ten feet above the walkway. At the center, within the protection of the arms of
the memorial and surrounded by the grassy slope, is a place of quiet, calmness,
and serenity.
Name after name after name appears on The Wall in an almost never-ending account.
The listing appears chaotic, just like war. But there is an order to the chaos. The
names are listed in the order in which the men and women died or were declared
missing. The first name is located in the center of the memorial, at the top of the
Wall, under the date “1959,” the year of the first death.
The names continue line by line down each panel, as if each was a page in a book,
towards the right end of the memorial. The names resume at the left end of the
memorial and continue toward the center. It is here, at the bottom of the wall,
where the last death is recorded, next to the date “1975.”
177
Chapter 3
· Codification of meaning in the wall –
Maya Lin had sensed that words, commentary or literal representations could not
serve the purposes of this particular memorial. Instead, she decided simply to
chisel the names of all who had died in Vietnam on black granite walls. Depending
on the observer, they would be a mute testimony – or rebuke – to the
war.
! According to architect, Maya Lin in an interview with The Washington Post said
The wall - “an incision in the earth which would
heal itsefl with time”. that it was while she was at the site that she had designed it. Her intention was not
to destroy a living park, as that would go against the basic emotive essence of the
Memorial itself. She wanted to use the landscape to her advantage by
absorbing it. When she examined the site she had an intuitive feeling that she
would design something horizontal ‘that took the visitor in’. She wanted the
visitor to feel safe within the park, yet at the same time be reminded of the dead.
“ So I just imagined opening up the earth. . . .

I thought about what death is, what a loss is. A sharp pain that lessens
with time, but never quite heals over. A scar. The idea occurred to me
! Night and day views of the rock - Mirror pol-
ished black granite as a source of relection of devel- there on the site. Take a knife and cut open the earth, and with time the
178 opment around it grass would heal it. As if you cut open the rock and polished it.”
Maya Lin
In order to make the acute angles of the wedge shaped wall mean something, the
architect wanted to engrave the names of those who died in the war, in chronological
order.
“…because to hone the living as well as the dead it had to be a sequence in time.”
Maya Lin
· De-codification of meaning in the wall –
Maya Ying Lin’s design, consisting of a long, black granite

wall upon which would be etched the names of the
57,9391 men and women who died and were missing from
the Vietnam War, sought to honor their collective
sacrifice.
A veteran assailed the design as the “black gash of

shame.”
Source – Vietnam Wa r
Memorial Website
! Surface articula-
tion - the names of
Other detractors criticized it as a “black, flagless pit,” martyrs etched into
the wall - (above) a visi-
while others attacked it as being “un-heroic,” “death- tor takes pencil rubbings
oriented,” and “intentionally not meaningful” as it went of a name from the wall:
this gesture gives greater
against the conventional form of a memorial. meaning to the wall in it-
self as a source of living
remembrance by making
With time however, each visitor, sensing the meaning of this break in the earth, the visitor interact with it
quietly takes in the long stretch of names that first appear on the few square at all times.
inches of stone at the start of the incision, then become overwhelming in number
179
and effect as the cut plunges deeper and the wall of names looms higher. As the
war symbolically fades to its end up the other side, finally rejoining the normal
plane of American life, visitors reach the end of the war and are left to contemplate
what they have seen.
The memorial could begin the healing and reconciliation process of a still divided
nation. But before the nation could heal, old wounds needed to be opened.
Chapter 3
Other than the names, nothing on the Wall describes who the men and women
abstract visual were. No name appears any more meaningful or important than any other. The
names are distinguished only by how the men and women were lost. A diamond
next to a name indicated that a person was killed. A ‘plus’ next to a name indicated
a person was missing.
· The Memorial as a Place –
“At close range, the names dominate everything. The name of the first soldier who
literal and
died is carved at the angle in the wall, and the names continue to the right in
informative
columns in chronological order of date of death, out to the east end where the wall
fades into the earth. The names begin again, with the next soldier who died, at the
west end, where the wall emerges from the earth....”
Robert Campbell,
“An Emotive Place Apart,”
A.I.A. Journal, May 1983
texture of
material
Every day, family and friends of those on the Wall, and the general public, visit the
memorial. Often, they leave flowers and mementos to remember their loved ones.
They leave letters to say thank-you, good-bye, “I’m sorry,” and whatever else is in
their heart. Some take pencil rubbings of the name of someone special.
180
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall honors all who served, and in particular, those
FORCES CREATED BY
who were lost. The memorial puts a human face on what was America’s
SURFACE ARTICULATION
longest war.
4 | T h e V i e t n a m W a r M e m o r i a l , Wa s h i n g t o n D C
INFERENCES
• This illustration demonstrates best how an architectural

element can encode meaning at deeply emotional levels. This
communications gives all three levels - sensorial, experiential and
associational - a dual meaning to the user.
• In the Holocaust Memorial, encoding of meaning in a basic

archetype i.e. a wall has been done through its texture
(surface articulation), material, and orientation.
• This potential of spatial forms when harnessed by the architect

influences not ony movement and other aspects of human
behaviour but also cause emotions and feeling in the mind.
181
CONclusion SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’
sensitization, we sometimes fail to see these associations as users. This could

definitely be an area of concern for a progressive designer of tomorrow.
As newer materials, highly advanced building technology, and a rapidly globalizing

world peer at us with the turn of every succeeding year - the point that this thesis
hopes to have underlined is that the human link to the conception of spaces must
never be lost. Architectural design must always attempt at being a mirror to the
human face of the times. If this vital link is lost, the very essence of architecture of
being an experience of emotion is lost.
It is merely then a structure, a material presence in an environment that is

disharmonious and inhospitable. It would evoke neither joy nor sorrow. Invite neither
feeling nor association. Built space becomes just one more, redundant, tool for
communication of the highest kind.
188
SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’ B I B L I O G R A CONclusion
PHY
Vistara: The Architecture of India by Charles Correa / Paperback / Concept Media / 1988
Meaning in Western Architecture by Christian Norberg-Schulz / Paperback / 236 Pages / Studio Vista / January 1980
Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture by Christian Norberg-Schulz / Paperback / St Martins Pr / August 1980
Intentions in Architecture by Christian Norberg Schulz / Paperback / Mit Pr / June 1966
Concept of Dwelling: On the Way to Figurative Architecture by Christian Norberg-Schulz / Paperback / St Martins Pr / June 1985
Architecture: Meaning and Place Selected Essays by Christian Norberg-Schulz
Existence Space & Architecture by Christian Norberg- Schulz
Meaning in Architecture by George Baird, Charles Jencks / Book / 288 Pages / Barrie & Rockliff the Cresset P. / January 1969
Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction by Christopher Alexander / Hardcover / Oxford Univ Pr / July 1976
Radical Reconstruction by Lebbeus Woods / Paperback / Chronicle Books Llc / April 2001
Poetics of Architecture: Theory of Design by Anthony C. Antoniades/ Paperback / 320 pages / August 1992
Remembrance and the Design of Place by Frances Downing / Hardcover / 187 Pages / Texas A & M Univ Pr / February 2001
Occupying Architecture: Between the Architect and the User by Jonathan Hil / Paperback / 253 Pages / Routledge / August 1998
Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition by Sigfried Giedion / Hardcover / Harvard Univ Pr / May 1967
Houses of Cards by Peter Eisenman, Manfredo Tafuri, Rosalind E. Krauss / Hardcover / 224 Pages / Oxford Univ Pr / November 1987
Chora L Works: Jacques Derrida and Peter Eisenman by Peter Eisenman, Jacques Derrida / Paperback / 207 Pages / Penguin USA / July 1997
Archetypes in Architecture by Thomas Thiis-Evensen / Paperback / Aschehoug AS / May 1988
Mind and Image: An Essay on Art and Architecture by Herb Greene / Hardcover / Intl Specialized Book Service Inc / June 1976
Queues Rendezvous Riots: Questioning the Public in Art and Architecture by George Baird, Mark Lewis / Hardcover / Lpg Distribution / June 1994
Katsura: A Princely Retreat by Akira Naito / Hardcover / Kodansha Amer Inc / August 1994
New Paradigm in Architecture: The Language of Post-Modernism by Charles Jencks / Paperback / 288 Pages / Yale Univ Pr / September 2002
Le Corbusier: An Analysis of Form by Geoffrey H. Baker / Paperback / Routledge / March 2001
The Language of Postmodern Architecture by Charles Jencks / Paperback / Wiley-Academy / July 1991
Le Corbusier: The Poetics of Machine & Metaphor by Alexander Tzonis / Paperback / Thames and Hudson Ltd / January 2002
Beehive Metaphor: From Gaudi to Le Corbusier by Juan Antonio Ramirez / Paperback / Consortium Book Sales & Dist / April 2000 189
Le Corbusier: LA Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at Ronchamp by Daniele Pauly / Paperback / 137 Pages / Chronicle Books Llc / November
1997
Master Builders: Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright by Peter Blake / Paperback / W W Norton & Co Inc / October 1976
Daniel Libeskind: Countersign by Daniel Libeskind / Hardcover / St Martins Pr / February 1992
Daniel Libeskind Jewish Museum Berlin: Jewish Museum Berlin Between the Lines by Daniel Libeskind / Paperback / 64 Pages / Prestel Pub /
May 1999
Jewish Museum Berlin by Daniel Libeskind / Paperback / 160 Pages / Taylor & Francis / June 1999
Architecture and Disjunction by Bernard Tschumi / Paperback / Mit Pr / April 1996
Complexity & Contradiction in Architecture by Robert Venturi / Paperback / Architectural Press / November 1977
Architecture, Form, Space and Order by Frank Ching / Hardcover / Thomson Learning / January 1980
BIBLI
CONclusion OGRAPHY SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’
Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich / Paperback / Perseus Books Group / March 1991
Modern Architecture by Vincent Scully / Paperback / 158 Pages / W W Norton & Co Inc / June 1977
History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the End of the Raj by Christopher Tadgell / Paperback / 336 Pages / Phaidon Inc
Ltd / September 1995
Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms by George Michell / Paperback / Univ of Chicago Pr / November 1988
Modern Architecture in India: Post-Independence Perspective by Sarbjit Bahga, Surinder Bahga, Yashinder Bahga / Book / 268 Pages /
Galgotia Pub Co / January 1993
Concept of Space: In Traditional Indian Architecture by Yatin Pandya / Hardcover / Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd / June 2004
Elements of Space Making by Yatin Pandya / Vastu-Shilpa foundation / July 2003
Zaha Hadid: The Complete Buildings & Projects by Zaha Hadid, Aaron Betsky/ Paperback / Thames and Hudson Ltd / October 1998
Archilab: Radical Experiments in Global Architecture by Frederic Migayrou/ Hardcover / Thames and Hudson Ltd / May 2001
The Living Planet by David Attenborough/ Hardcover / BBC Books / 1984
Lessons for Students in Architecture by Herman Hertzberger/ Book / 272 Pages / Uitgeverij 010 Publishers / January 1991
Architecture After Modernism by Diane Ghirardo/ Paperback / 240 Pages / W W Norton & Co Inc / October 1996
Towards a New Architecture by Le Corbusier/ Paperback / Dover Pubns / February 1986
Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms by William Curtis/ Paperback / 240 Pages / Phaidon Inc Ltd / April 1995
Mimesis As Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts by Kendall L. Walton/ Paperback / Harvard Univ Pr / October 1993
Built, the Unbuilt & the Unbuildable: In Pursuit of Architectural Meaning by Robert Harbison/ Hardcover / Thames and Hudson Ltd / April 1991
Body, Memory and Architecture by Kent C. Bloomer, Charles Willard Moore/ Book / 147 Pages / Yale University Press / January 1977
Sign,image & symbol by Gyorgy Kepes/ Unknown Binding / Studio Vista / January 1966
I.M. Pei by Aileen Reid/ Hardcover / Random House Value Pub / March 1995
Michael Sorkin Studio: Wiggle by Michael Sorkin/ Paperback / Springer-Verlag Vienna / September 1998
Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From a to B and Back Again by Andy Warhol/ Paperback / 241 Pages / Harcourt / April 1977
Metropolis by Fritz Lang, Forrest J. Ackerman, Thea Von Harbou/ Paperback / 264 Pages / Lightning Source Inc / November 2001
190
UNPUBLISHED THESES
Thinking in Metaphors - A Dip into Design Thinking by Niraj Shah / Thesis - 0011 / School of Interior Design / CEPT/ Ahmedabad
Visual Experience of Signs in Space by Monica Hirani / Thesis - 0046 / School of Interior Design / CEPT/ Ahmedabad
Perceptual Conceptual Dynamics of Space-making by Priyamvada Singh / Thesis - 0052 / School of Interior Design / CEPT/ Ahmedabad
Symbolism and its manifestation in interior spaces by Komal Dighe / Thesis - 0093 / School of Interior Design / CEPT/ Ahmedabad
SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’ I L L U S T R A T CONclusion
IONS
! The author has produced all illustrations that are not marked with a number.
! All images marked as “from the author’s personal collection of photographs” are from the author’s personal travels over a span of five years and more.
PREFACE –
1. From “The Living Planet”/ David Attenborough

2. La Guernica by Pablo Picasso - www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9820/guernica.htm
3. The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893) - www.museumsnett.no/nasjonalgalleriet/ munch/eng/innhold/ngm00939.html
4. The Living Planet/ David Attenborough
5. www.photovault.com/Link/Cities/ Europe/France/Places/NotreDame.html
6. www.photovault.com/Link/Nature/ Weather/Tornadoes/NWTVolume01.html
7. From “Zaha Hadid: The Complete Buildings & Projects”/ Zaha Hadid, Aaron Betsky
8. From “History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
9. http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?aid=817102419&item=828857
CHAPTER 1 -
F r o m t h e a u t h o r ’ s p e r s o n a l t r a v e l s : 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 34, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 51, 52, 53, 54, 59, 60, 61, 65, 69, 71, 72, 79
From books and websites:

8/9. Lessons for Students in Architecture/ Herman Hertzberger
10. http://www.allposter.com/gallery
13. Mind and Image: An Essay on Art and Architecture/ Herb Greene
16. Mind and Image: An Essay on Art and Architecture/ Herb Greene
17. www.artoflegendindia.com/read/pictures_of_ramayana.htm
18. www.sholay.com/stories/2000/september/25092000.htm
19. Lessons for Students in Architecture/ Herman Hertzberger 191
20. http://www.andotadao.org/chlight2.htm
21. reisserbilder.at/en/index.asp?a=g&gid=122
22. History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the End of the Raj by Christopher Tadgell
23. www.sanatansociety.com/indian_ art_galleries/hg_ganesha_paintings.htm
24. www.indianceleb.com/enter/Sachin-Tendulkar-Website.html
26. Lessons for Students in Architecture/ Herman Hertzberger
27. www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/ detail/-/0226776247?v=glance&vi=reviews - 48k –
28. www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/exhibits/SydneyHarbour/ - 6k
29. www.galinsky.com/buildings/twa/
30. Image # 437, Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition/ Sigfried Giedion
31. www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Guggenheim_Bilbao.html
32. from; Sign,Image & Symbol/ Gyorgy Kepes
ILLUS
CONclusion TRATIONS SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’
35. – 64. From; Jewish Museum Berlin/ Daniel Libeskind

36. – 65. From author’s personal collection of photographs;
37. From Poetics of Architecture: Theory of Design/ Anthony C. Antoniades www.greatbuildings.com (for Bilbao)
38. – 66. From Michael Sorkin Studio: Wiggle/ Michael Sorkin
39. – 67. From; http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Wexner_Center.html
45. Mind and Image: An Essay on Art and Architecture/ Herb Greene 68. Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From a to B and Back Again/ Andy Warhol
46. Archilab: Radical Experiments in Global Architecture/ Frederic Migayrou 70. From Metropolis/ Fritz Lang, Forrest J. Ackerman, Thea Von Harbou
47. http://www.kanakasabha.com/kanakasabha/index.jsp 73. From gei@cfa.harvard.edu
48. www.yamasa.org/japan/english/ destinations/kyoto/nijo.html 74. From Poetics of Architecture: Theory of Design/ Anthony C. Antoniades
49. – 75. From; http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Taj_Mahal.html
50. from; I.M.Pei/ Aileen Reed 76. From Poetics of Architecture: Theory of Design/ Anthony C. Antoniades
55. http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Frank_Lloyd_Wright.html 77. From; Sign,Image & Symbol/ Gyorgy Kepes
56. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Hagia_Sophia.html 78. www.noguchi.org/lifework.html
56. Great Architecture of the World/ John Julius Norwich 80. www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Charles_Correa.html
57. History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the 81. —
End of the Raj by Christopher Tadgell
62. History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the
End of the Raj by Christopher Tadgell
63. From author’s personal collection of photographs (courtesy Birju Shah,
SID,CEPT)
CHAPTER 2 36. From; http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Taj_Mahal.html
1. From http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Musee_Orsay.html 37. From www.andotadao.org
4. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/ 39. “History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the
288 pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
5. From; “Vistara: The Architecture of India”/ Charles Correa 40. -
7. “History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the 41. www.incredibleindianet.com/ incredible-india-luxury-tours/beach-tour-of-
End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell india1.html
10. From “Michael Sorkin Studio: Wiggle”/ Michael Sorkin 43. www.geocities.com/SoHo/1469/flw.html
20. From; http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Wexner_Center.html 44. www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Le_Corbusier.html
21. From; “I.M.Pei”/ Aileen Reed 45. www.andotadao.org/ando_resume.html
192 25. From http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Musee_Orsay.html 46. -
26. From “Lessons for Students in Architecture”/ Herman Hertzberger 47. -
27. From www.andotadao.org 48. From author’s personal collection of photographs (courtesy Rajat Shail
29. From http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Musee_Orsay.html Singh, SID, CEPT)
30. From Festival diary, CEPT, India 49. From “Lessons for Students in Architecture”/ Herman Hertzberger
31. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/ 51. -
288 pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook 52. Archilab: Radical Experiments in Global Architecture/ Frederic Migayrou
32. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/ 53. www.indiastudies.org/Publications/pages/EITAN.htm
288 pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook 54. Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by Michael Franklin
33. “History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/ January 1978
End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 56. From; “Vistara: The Architecture of India”/ Charles Correa
34. “History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the 57. Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition/ Sigfried
End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell Giedion
35. Le Corbusier: La Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at Ronchamp 58. www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Sydney_Opera.html
by Daniele Pauly
SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’ CONclusion
58. www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Sydney_Opera.html 105. From author’s personal collection of photographs (courtesy Birju
59. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Guggenheim_Bilbao.html Shah/SID/CEPT)
60. From author’s personal collection of photographs (courtesy Rajat Shail Singh, 106. “History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to
SID, CEPT) the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
61. “History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the End of 107. History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to
the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
62. www.tourism-of-india.com/lotus-temple-newdelhi.html 108. -
63. www.galinsky.com/buildings/lyonairport/ 109. From; Archilab: Radical Experiments in Global Architecture/
64. From; http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Wexner_Center.html Frederic Migayrou
65. From; “I.M.Pei”/ Aileen Reed 110. From; Archilab: Radical Experiments in Global Architecture/
66. www.andotadao.org/ando_resume.html Frederic Migayrou
67. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/TWA_at_New_York.html 111. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/
68. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Guggenheim_Museum.html Guggenheim_Museum.html
69. Archilab: Radical Experiments in Global Architecture/ Frederic Migayrou 112. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/
70. www.madurai.com/gallery.htm 288 pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook
71. www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Norman_Foster.html 113. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/
72. www.musee-orsay.fr/ Guggenheim_Museum.html
75. www.greatbuildings.com/architects/ Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe.html 114. TC
76. www.andotadao.org/ando_resume.html 115. From; Katsura: A Princely Retreat/ Akira Naito
77. TC 116. From; Katsura: A Princely Retreat/ Akira Naito
78. TC 117. From; Katsura: A Princely Retreat/ Akira Naito
80. www.pbase.com/cokids/fallingwater 119. TC
81. From; “Vistara: The Architecture of India”/ Charles Correa 121. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Fallingwater.html
82. From; “Vistara: The Architecture of India”/ Charles Correa 122. TC
83. From; phoenix.about.com/cs/famous/a/taliesin01.htm 123. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Fallingwater.html
84. Archilab: Radical Experiments in Global Architecture/ Frederic Migayrou 124. TC
85. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Guggenheim_Bilbao.html 127. Le Corbusier: La Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at Ronchamp
86. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Guggenheim_Bilbao.html by Daniele Pauly
88. — 128. Le Corbusier: La Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at Ronchamp
89. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/ 288 by Daniele Pauly
pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook 129. From; Lessons for Students in Architecture/ Herman Hertzberger 193
90. www.greatbuildings.com/ buildings/Johnson_Wax_Building.html 130. From; Lessons for Students in Architecture/ Herman Hertzberger
91. From; www.vietvet.org/thewall.htm 131. From; Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by
92. From; www.andotadao.org/ando_resume.html Michael Franklin Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/
93. From www.musee-orsay.fr/ January 1978
98. From; Katsura: A Princely Retreat/ Akira Naito 132. From; Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by
99. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich Michael Franklin Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/
100. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich January 1978
101. — 133. From; Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by
102. “History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Michael Franklin Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/
End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell January 1978
104. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/ 288 134. From; Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by
pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook Michael Franklin Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/
January 1978
135. From; Katsura: A Princely Retreat/ Akira Naito 163. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization
136. From; Katsura: A Princely Retreat/ Akira Naito to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
137. From; Katsura: A Princely Retreat/ Akira Naito 164. From author’s personal collection of photographs (courtesy: Anjalika
138. History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Bose, SID, CEPT)
End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 165. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization
139. History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 166. From; Vistara: The Architecture of India/ Charles Correa
140. From; Lessons for Students in Architecture/ Herman Hertzberger 167. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization
141. From; Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by Michael to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
Franklin Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/ January 1978 168. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
142. From; Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by Michael 169. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
Franklin Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/ January 1978 172. From; Sign,image & symbol/ Gyorgy Kepes
144. From unpublished thesis – “An Enquiry into the phenomena of insert – 173. From; chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/nritya.html
an investigation of the work of Carlo Scarpa”, by Parantap Bhatt /SID/ 179. From; www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Sydney_Opera.html
CEPT. 181. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
145. From; http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Musee_Orsay.html 182. From; www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Musee_Orsay.html
146. From; unpublished thesis – “An Enquiry into the phenomena of insert 185. From; Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition/
– an investigation of the work of Carlo Scarpa”, by Parantap Bhatt /SID/ Sigfried Giedion
CEPT. 186. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization
147. From unpublished thesis – “An Enquiry into the phenomena of insert – to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
an investigation of the work of Carlo Scarpa”, by Parantap Bhatt /SID/ 187. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization
CEPT. to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
148. From; Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by Michael 188. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization
Franklin Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/ January 1978 to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
149. From; Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by Michael 189. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization
Franklin Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/ January 1978 to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
150. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Guggenheim_Museum.html 190. -
151. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/ 288 194. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook 195. From; “Jewish Museum Berlin”/ Daniel Libeskind
152. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Guggenheim_Museum.html 197. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
194 153. From; gei@cfa.harvard.edu 198. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization
154. From; gei@cfa.harvard.edu to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
155. From; Vistara: The Architecture of India/ Charles Correa 199. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
156. From; Le Corbusier: La Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at 200. From; Vistara: The Architecture of India/ Charles Correa
Ronchamp by Daniele Pauly 201. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
157. From; “Jewish Museum Berlin”/ Daniel Libeskind 202. From; Le Corbusier: La Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at
158. From; www.awildorchid.com/monuments2.htm Ronchamp by Daniele Pauly
159. From; www.greatbuildings.com/ buildings/Chartres_Cathedral.html 203. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization
160. From; www.jewishlink.net/holocaust.html to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
161. From; www.war-stories.com/wall-search-1.htm 204. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
162. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization 205. -
to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 206. —
209. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
210. From; Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition/ 265. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
Sigfried Giedion 266. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
211. From; www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/ohio/cincy/hadid/cac.html 268. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of
214. — Civilization to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
221. From; Le Corbusier: La Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at 269. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
Ronchamp by Daniele Pauly 270. From; Zaha Hadid: The Complete Buildings & Projects/ Zaha
222. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to Hadid, Aaron Betsky
the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 272. From; Le Corbusier: La Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at
224. From; Le Corbusier: La Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at Ronchamp by Daniele Pauly
Ronchamp by Daniele Pauly 273. www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Hagia_Sophia.html
225. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to 274. www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Hagia_Sophia.html
the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 275. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of
226. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to Civilization to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 276. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of
229. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich Civilization to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
230. From; www.galinsky.com/buildings/colconv/ 277. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of
231. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich Civilization to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
233. From; www.picturesofengland.com/England/ Wiltshire/Amesbury/ 278. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of
Stonehenge/pictures Civilization to the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell
234. From author’s personal collection of photographs (courtesy: Anjalika 279. www.travelsinparadise.com/australia/sydney/
Bose SID/CEPT) 280. www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Sydney _Opera.html
235. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to 281. From; Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New
the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell Tradition/ Sigfried Giedion
236. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich 282. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
240. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to 287. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/
the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 288 pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook
242. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to 288. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/
the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 288 pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook
243. From; www.geocities.com/SoHo/1469/flw.html 289. From “Terence Conran on Design” / Terence Conran/ Hardcover/
244. From; www.oprf.com/unity/tour/ 288 pages/ Sep 1996/ Overlook
245. From; www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/ Convent_of_La_Tourette.html 291. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich 195
249. From; Katsura: A Princely Retreat/ Akira Naito 292. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
253. From; History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to 293. -
the End of the Raj”/ Christopher Tadgell 294. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich
254. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich 295. From; “Jewish Museum Berlin”/ Daniel Libeskind
255. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich 296. From; Beyond Metabolism: The New Japanese Architecture by
256. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich Michael Franklin Ross/ Book/ 200 Pages/ Architectural Record Books/
257. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich January 1978
258. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich 299. www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Fallingwater.html
260. — 300. www.imagesaustralia.com/sydney.htm
261. From; Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich 301. www.virtualtourist.com/vt/10c85e/4/2468/
262. — 302 . From; “I.M.Pei’/ Aileen Reed
From the author’s personal travels:

2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 38, 42, 50, 55, 73, 74, 79, 87, 94, 95, 96, 103, 118, 120, 125, 126, 143, 170, 171, 175, 176, 177,
178, 179, 180, 183, 184, 191, 192, 193, 196, 207, 208, 212, 213, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 223, 227, 228, 232, 237, 238, 239, 241, 242,
243,244,245,246,247,248, 250, 251, 252, 259, 267, 271, 283, 284, 285, 286, 296, 297, 298
Chapter 3
" All images, illustrations have been produced by the author, unless specified below.
Illustration 2)
All pictures are from -

Le Corbusier: An Analysis of Form/ Geoffrey H. Baker/ Paperback / Routledge / March 2001
Le Corbusier: The Poetics of Machine & Metaphor/ Alexander Tzonis/ Paperback / Thames and Hudson Ltd / January 2002
Beehive Metaphor: From Gaudi to Le Corbusier/ Juan Antonio Ramirez/ Paperback / Consortium Book Sales & Dist / April 2000
Le Corbusier: LA Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at Ronchamp/ Daniele Pauly/ Paperback / 137 Pages / Chronicle Books Llc / November 1997
Master Builders: Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright/ Peter Blake/ Paperback / W W Norton & Co Inc / October 1976
Illustration 3)
All pictures are from -

Daniel Libeskind: Countersign/ Daniel Libeskind/ Hardcover / St Martins Pr / February 1992
Daniel Libeskind Jewish Museum Berlin: Jewish Museum Berlin Between the Lines/ Daniel Libeskind, Bernhard Schneider/ Paperback / 64 Pages / Prestel
Pub / May 1999
Jewish Museum Berlin/ Daniel Libeskind/ Paperback / 160 Pages / Taylor & Francis / June 1999
196
T H A N K Guruji and the unseen powers that guide me...
Ma, Baba and Kunal - my family. My temples of peace, love and understanding. Thank you for the freedom,
Y O U the unconditional love, friendship, support and togetherness; and for urging me to be the best Rahul
Sen I could possibly be.
“...And now, The Bose family in New Delhi - Maami, Maamu and Tiklu for being my home away f rom home; my second
The end is near and so I face, family - I can never thank y ou enough. Our bonds are too deep to ever be bro ken.
The final curtain,
My director, Prof Krishna Shastri - for being there for me l i ke only a mother would. For nurturing me and
My friend I’ll say it clear, giving me the courage to innovate. Thank y ou KD and the entire staff at the CEPT and NID libraries
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.
I’ve lived a life that’s full, My guide Prof Yatin Pandya, for being the most patient and understanding guide ever - but also for some
‘meaningful’ discussions these last 5 years.
I travelled each and every highway.
And more, My good friend Prof. Aniket B hagwat for bel ieving in me, and more important ly - making me believe in
Much more than this - myself and my potential.
I did it my way” P rof. Kirit ’bhai - for being my greatest teacher, guide and phi losopher these last few y ears. Snehal’ben’
- Frank Sinatra - for being a great teacher and friend. Rajan’bhai’- for being a dedicated teacher and for al l the help.
The old guard - Rajat, Nal ini, Parker, Abhishek, Pa rantap for al l the inspiration these last fiv e years.
To the team members of Natakbaazi and the SID cricket team - you hav e taught
me more lessons about life than you wil l ever know.
The gang - Apeksha, Shakti, Shweta, Chandni, Dhara, Surra, Srujana for all the
memories.
My good friends from archi tecture - Ranjeet, Veer, Viraj, Bala, Zameer, Sagarika,
Rika, Ipsit, Mihir, Naman, Niketa, Ashok - for the laughter.
B irju, PK , Jyoti, Pooja and Darshan S oni for al l their help, friendship and support
through the years - especial ly when I needed it most. 197
Megs - for being a great thesis companion and a caring friend. Thank you for the
coffee and the memories!
Last but certainly not least, the people who real ly need all the thanks - Anjal ika. My greatest friend,
companion, rival and mentor since I first came to SID. Rink - I owe my every happiness and success to
you. We wil l be in each other ’s hearts fore ver.
Krithika - words can nev er describe the immense debt I owe to you. Only you know how I feel when I say
this - Thank you for being there for me through my darkest moments and my greatest of suc cesses. You
Thank You Kavit, Mitul and the guys at are in my heart and mind alwa ys. Finish fast!
‘Mint’. The most inspiring place to sit and Hiske - for finding me the wings to exceed my self and for chasing a dream....
do a thesis!
CONCLUSION
(....When do spaces die?)
....can a search for meaning ever end?
182
From our analysis so far it emerges that Spaces act as Signs in both subtle
and obvious ways to the user as well as the designer.
In ancient times, in almost every civilization across the world, architecture played
a pivotal role in the evolution of a culture. Through this evolution - a further
refinement of its signal systems in all forms of communication came about as a
natural consequence. Architecture was the fountainhead of art, sculpture, music
and dance. Be it in the Egyptian, the Roman, The Greek or the Indian civilization
over a thousand or more years ago - Architecture was where a civilization
placed its social treasures. In every society, a certain built form - either the
Cathedral, the Temple, the Mosque etc. - was always given the status of a social
nuclei around which common life performed its activities. An architect was
a person of supreme skill and ability to synthesize all forms of arts, craft and
culture.
Architecture was recognized by people of the time as something that was

a powerful tool for communication of emotions and value and in that sense,
it acted as a conscious mirror of the progress of a society, or the lack of
it.
Architecture as a signature of its time

Today, the reflection in the mirror that is life, has changed. Society has undergone
183
Above - A man dressed as a Roman guard from an-
rapid changes. The role of the built space is under serious threat, as it struggles to
cient times stands outside the Pantheon in Rome and
entertains tourists. reinvent and establish for itself the once meaningful place that it found for itself as
Below - Greek army soldiers conduct an army drill be- the pillars of society.
side the Acropolis in Athens
Illustration source - from the author’s personal travels
We live in the midst of a human race today where a blind belief in ‘nuclear’ society
of every kind is rapidly disintegrating. There is no one irrefutable meaning.
But that does not mean designers should deny themselves the chance to provide a
platform for re-interpretation of multivalent meaning. There is no one supreme
truth. But that does not mean that architecture should cease striving to attain a
semblance of reality.
In the last century or so, the sole supremacy of religion over the masses has rapidly
been dissolving the world over. Newer binding forces find themselves being given
places of increasing importance with each passing year. This can best be
characterized by the rapid, frantic changes that merely the last fifty years have
witnessed in the field of technology alone.
As communication vehicles, signs will always change their content with

the evolution of newer vehicles for their recognition . For example, the
wheel thousands of years ago was the symbol of transportation, today it is the
space-shuttle, or as was depicted in the tele-serial “Star Trek” in the 80’s - de-
atomization of the human body and transportation through their displacement.
A decade ago, the cellular phone was merely a figment of the imagination of the
daring dreamer. It is today found in the hands of every age-group and strata of
civil society. Merely a couple of decades ago, the computer was an alien concept.
184 Today, it finds itself at the cog of every wheel that turns in the diverse mechanism
of life. Even the remotest towns and villages find themselves being rapidly connected
to the rest of the world via the Internet and the computer. Spin the clock a few
more decades backward in time - and the television, the radio, the telephone - the
electronic media boom, were all alien phenomenon.
As a result, the way we look at things, the way we read, the way we talk,
act and communicate has changed. The way we think - conceptually and
perceptually, has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past generation alone.
Signal content of the newer media have played an undeniable role in affecting our
lives forever.
The point that is being underlined through all these cues is that as modes of
communication evolve over a period of time, so too must the signs and symbols of
the parole or ‘signal-inventory’ that makes certain form of communication possible.
Built spaces must continue to evolve as signs.
Spaces must continue to generate for themselves, a newer and more comprehensible
signal repertoire so that it can reach out and touch the masses. It must continue to
be able to strike a familiar chord with the emotions of people once again so that
the people in turn look up to architecture as being more than just shelter from
physical factors, but as bastions of cultural progress in a a society.
From our study it becomes clear that this change in signal content is inevitable in
architectural design as well. It is either a conscious tool for the architect while
designing a building. Or it creeps in subtly into thought processes and conception.
In any case, at the end of the user , ‘associative abstraction’ is an inevitable process
of perception. The user will always abstract environmental phenomena to their
essence, in order to mentally digest the signals being sent to the brain, and re-act
185
accordingly. Spaces can either incorporate this aspect in their conception,
or be confined to being mere functional mechanisms.
More specifically with architectural design, the process of associating

correlated and apparently fragmented phenomena; is an undeniable
perceptual tool. The designer may choose to encompass this tool in the conceptual
process or be resigned to the designed spaces being abstracted and judged
perceptually by the user in ways that were never intended - resulting in

miscommunication.
The four illustrations that have been chosen for the purpose of our analysis, are all
public spaces that manifest themselves as important built forms in their respective
culture. They are loaded with signs that point toward the realization of a
meaning - a message that wants to be communicated to the user.
In the case of The Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamp, the space
communicates the essence of Christianity for its time and the embodiment of its
principles through a built form. It acts as a vessel of meaning - some of which are
perceived and some which need to be investigated and underscored to reiterate
their presence. But the undeniable feeling of ‘place’ that a user gets upon visiting
the space has a lasting impact. Each wall here, each archetypal component of this
Corbusian masterpiece acts as a sign by associating human processes, emotions,
feelings and religious principles with the use of spatial elements in the play of
light.
In the case of the Jewish Holocaust Museum at Berlin and the Vietnam War Memorial
at Washington DC, the built forms stand as mute reminders of two of the last
186 century’s worst human atrocities. They serve as powerful reminders to the people
who visit it of the dangers and perils of war and violence - by signifying human
feelings through their architectural components. In the case of the Holocaust
Museum in Berlin, this feeling is comnveyed in highly abstracted terms through
often irrational codification processes. But the journey through the space evokes
the same feelings of hopelessness and desperation that a person involved in the
Holocausr must have felt. In the case of the Wall in Washington DC, the codification
of meaning into a simple archetype of a wall is shown to have far reaching and
dramatic effects on the people who visit it.
In Chapter 2, where our analysis focuses on archetypes and their collective

configurations, we conclude that each and every element within in a space can be
endowed with a power of non-verbal speech. Spatial constructs can communicate
various aspects of their existence and other abstract and associated concepts that
make the experience of a space much more enriching and memorable. We also
emphasize the importance of how meaning manifests through the spatial narrative
with the kinesthetic experience in a space.
History has proven, and the future will only underline the fact that a meaningful
archetype usually re-invents itself. The understanding of archetypes was
essential to understand their basic function and their basic semantic content. From
our enquiry, it becomes quite clear, that the archetype of a roof will never cease to
exist in so long as mankind needs to be sheltered.
As a sign of a roof however, the messages encoded in the articulation of the roof
changes with time and with changing expressional concerns. Where carving on the
wall of a temple earlier provided us with important historical information of the
time in which it was built - graffiti and advertisement hoardings today communicate
the same parole, but in a vastly different langue.
187
From our analysis, it emerges that spaces act as signs in various different ways.
However, most of these ways are so deeply ingrained in our reflex mechanisms
that as users, we often take them for granted. Conversely, due to a lack of
sensitization, we sometimes fail to see these associations as users. This could

definitely be an area of concern for a progressive designer of tomorrow.
As newer materials, highly advanced building technology, and a rapidly globalizing

world peer at us with the turn of every succeeding year - the point that this thesis
hopes to have underlined is that the human link to the conception of spaces must
never be lost. Architectural design must always attempt at being a mirror to the
human face of the times. If this vital link is lost, the very essence of architecture of
being an experience of emotion is lost.
It is merely then a structure, a material presence in an environment that is

disharmonious and inhospitable. It would evoke neither joy nor sorrow. Invite neither
feeling nor association. Built space becomes just one more, redundant, tool for
communication of the highest kind.
188
SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’ B I B L I O G R A CONclusion
PHY
Vistara: The Architecture of India by Charles Correa / Paperback / Concept Media / 1988
Meaning in Western Architecture by Christian Norberg-Schulz / Paperback / 236 Pages / Studio Vista / January 1980
Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture by Christian Norberg-Schulz / Paperback / St Martins Pr / August 1980
Intentions in Architecture by Christian Norberg Schulz / Paperback / Mit Pr / June 1966
Concept of Dwelling: On the Way to Figurative Architecture by Christian Norberg-Schulz / Paperback / St Martins Pr / June 1985
Architecture: Meaning and Place Selected Essays by Christian Norberg-Schulz
Existence Space & Architecture by Christian Norberg- Schulz
Meaning in Architecture by George Baird, Charles Jencks / Book / 288 Pages / Barrie & Rockliff the Cresset P. / January 1969
Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction by Christopher Alexander / Hardcover / Oxford Univ Pr / July 1976
Radical Reconstruction by Lebbeus Woods / Paperback / Chronicle Books Llc / April 2001
Poetics in Architecture by Leon Van Schaik / Paperback / John Wiley & Sons Inc / May 2002
Remembrance and the Design of Place by Frances Downing / Hardcover / 187 Pages / Texas A & M Univ Pr / February 2001
Occupying Architecture: Between the Architect and the User by Jonathan Hil / Paperback / 253 Pages / Routledge / August 1998
Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition by Sigfried Giedion / Hardcover / Harvard Univ Pr / May 1967
Houses of Cards by Peter Eisenman, Manfredo Tafuri, Rosalind E. Krauss / Hardcover / 224 Pages / Oxford Univ Pr / November 1987
Chora L Works: Jacques Derrida and Peter Eisenman by Peter Eisenman, Jacques Derrida / Paperback / 207 Pages / Penguin USA / July 1997
Archetypes in Architecture by Thomas Thiis-Evensen / Paperback / Aschehoug AS / May 1988
Mind and Image: An Essay on Art and Architecture by Herb Greene / Hardcover / Intl Specialized Book Service Inc / June 1976
Queues Rendezvous Riots: Questioning the Public in Art and Architecture by George Baird, Mark Lewis / Hardcover / Lpg Distribution / June 1994 189
Katsura: A Princely Retreat by Akira Naito / Hardcover / Kodansha Amer Inc / August 1994
New Paradigm in Architecture: The Language of Post-Modernism by Charles Jencks / Paperback / 288 Pages / Yale Univ Pr / September 2002
Le Corbusier: An Analysis of Form by Geoffrey H. Baker / Paperback / Routledge / March 2001
The Language of Postmodern Architecture by Charles Jencks / Paperback / Wiley-Academy / July 1991
Le Corbusier: The Poetics of Machine & Metaphor by Alexander Tzonis / Paperback / Thames and Hudson Ltd / January 2002
Beehive Metaphor: From Gaudi to Le Corbusier by Juan Antonio Ramirez / Paperback / Consortium Book Sales & Dist / April 2000
BIBLI
CONclusion OGRAPHY SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’
Le Corbusier: LA Chapelle De Ronchamp, the Chapel at Ronchamp by Daniele Pauly / Paperback / 137 Pages / Chronicle Books Llc / November
1997
Master Builders: Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright by Peter Blake / Paperback / W W Norton & Co Inc / October 1976
Daniel Libeskind: Countersign by Daniel Libeskind / Hardcover / St Martins Pr / February 1992
Daniel Libeskind Jewish Museum Berlin: Jewish Museum Berlin Between the Lines by Daniel Libeskind / Paperback / 64 Pages / Prestel Pub /
May 1999
Jewish Museum Berlin by Daniel Libeskind / Paperback / 160 Pages / Taylor & Francis / June 1999
Architecture and Disjunction by Bernard Tschumi / Paperback / Mit Pr / April 1996
Complexity & Contradiction in Architecture by Robert Venturi / Paperback / Architectural Press / November 1977
Architecture, Form, Space and Order by Frank Ching / Hardcover / Thomson Learning / January 1980
Great Architecture of the World by John Julius Norwich / Paperback / Perseus Books Group / March 1991
Modern Architecture by Vincent Scully / Paperback / 158 Pages / W W Norton & Co Inc / June 1977
History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the End of the Raj by Christopher Tadgell / Paperback / 336 Pages / Phaidon Inc
Ltd / September 1995
Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms by George Michell / Paperback / Univ of Chicago Pr / November 1988
Modern Architecture in India: Post-Independence Perspective by Sarbjit Bahga, Surinder Bahga, Yashinder Bahga / Book / 268 Pages /
Galgotia Pub Co / January 1993
Concept of Space: In Traditional Indian Architecture by Yatin Pandya / Hardcover / Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd / June 2004
190
SPACES AS ‘SIGNS’ U N P U B L I S H E D T HCONclusion
ESIS
ILLUSTRATIONS
191
ILLUSTRATIONS
192
T H A N K Guruji and the unseen powers that guide me...
Ma, Baba and Kunal - my family. My temples of peace, love and understanding. Thank you for the freedom,
Y O U the unconditional love, friendship, support and togetherness; and for urging me to be the best Rahul
Sen I could possibly be.
“...And now, The Bose family in New Delhi - Maami, Maamu and Tiklu for being my home away f rom home; my second
The end is near and so I face, family - I can never thank y ou enough. Our bonds are too deep to ever be bro ken.
The final curtain,
My director, Prof Krishna Shastri - for being there for me l i ke only a mother would. For nurturing me and
My friend I’ll say it clear, giving me the courage to innovate. Thank y ou KD and the entire staff at the CEPT and NID libraries
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.
I’ve lived a life that’s full, My guide Prof Yatin Pandya, for being the most patient and understanding guide ever - but also for some
‘meaningful’ discussions these last 5 years.
I travelled each and every highway.
And more, My good friend Prof. Aniket B hagwat for bel ieving in me, and more important ly - making me believe in
Much more than this - myself and my potential.
I did it my way” P rof. Kirit ’bhai - for being my greatest teacher, guide and phi losopher these last few y ears. Snehal’ben’
- Frank Sinatra - for being a great teacher and friend. Rajan’bhai’- for being a dedicated teacher and for al l the help.
The old guard - Rajat, Nal ini, Parker, Abhishek, Pa rantap for al l the inspiration these last fiv e years.
To the team members of Natakbaazi and the SID cricket team - you hav e taught
me more lessons about life than you wil l ever know.
The gang - Apeksha, Shakti, Shweta, Chandni, Dhara, Surra, Srujana for all the
memories.
My good friends from archi tecture - Ranjeet, Veer, Viraj, Bala, Zameer, Sagarika,
Rika, Ipsit, Mihir, Naman, Niketa, Ashok - for the laughter.
B irju, PK , Jyoti, Pooja and Darshan S oni for al l their help, friendship and support
through the years - especial ly when I needed it most. 193
Megs - for being a great thesis companion and a caring friend. Thank you for the
coffee and the memories!
Last but certainly not least, the people who real ly need all the thanks - Anjal ika. My greatest friend,
companion, rival and mentor since I first came to SID. Rink - I owe my every happiness and success to
you. We wil l be in each other ’s hearts fore ver.
Krithika - words can nev er describe the immense debt I owe to you. Only you know how I feel when I say
this - Thank you for being there for me through my darkest moments and my greatest of suc cesses. You
Thank You Kavit, Mitul and the guys at are in my heart and mind alwa ys. Finish fast!
‘Mint’. The most inspiring place to sit and Hiske - for finding me the wings to exceed my self and for chasing a dream....
do a thesis!

Space As A Sign

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Space As A Sign

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CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

The following study is hereby approved as a creditable work on the

It is understood that by this approval, the undersigned does not

Name of Student Name of Guide

Thesis title: “Space as a Sign - spatial design communication as an

Guide | Mr. Yatin Pandya

1.a.1) Abstraction and the experience of meaning 19

1.b.2) Mental processes in human creativity 50

1.b.3) Non-verbal communication through a built space 53

1.b.4) What are ‘perceptual’ and ‘conceptual’ images? 59

2.a.1) How does architecture communicate? 65

2.a.2) ‘Space’ v/s ‘Place’ 73

2.a.3) Conception and architectural signal systems 78

2.c.1) Metaphors in Design - 129

2.c.2) Symbols and Icons – Culturally recognized signification 134

3 | “Between the Lines” - The Jewish Holocaust Museum, Berlin 159

(....When are spaces ALIVE?)

...where does one begin a search for meaning in spaces?

Cave painting from Spain illustrat-

This thesis is an analytical enquiry into the phenomenon of ‘design communication’.

This transmittance of signals transforms the role of architecture from being

Architecture in many ways can be assumed to be a functional art. Its primary

A rationally efficient, purely functional space is not a guarantee for a space to be 9

As human beings, we ‘inhabit’ our architecture - we develop a tendency

This attachment occurs at various levels ranging from associational to purely

The manner of doing in the case of architectural design is an aspect of ‘coding’

Le Corbusier (from Oeuvre complete, Vol.6) says very aptly –

AIM OF THIS THESIS

The ‘manner of doing’ in architectural spaces is made possible by their

This study aims to analyse this process of architectural communication.

In the case of a column or a floor as elements in a space construct, history reveals

The study simply aims to address -

This study of architectural communication aims at reiterating a primary concern

This thesis has the following objectives -

! To understand and investigate architectural communication from the aspect

! To broadly understand the field of Semiotics and non-verbal communication.

! To analyse the processes of spatial conception and perception. To focus on

! To dissect and analyse the various components of an architectural/interior

14 ! To test these theories by analysing actual works of architecture and interior

SCOPE & LIMITATIONS

This study will focus primarily on the processes of endowing meaning in

In our search for lateral examples to demonstrate certain phenomena pertaining to

The study has been limited to an understanding of the various components of

Chambers English Dictionary

1.a.2) The search for ‘decoding’ inherent meaning in spaces in the

1.a.3) User participation through ‘encoding’ in built spaces – “the

1.b.1) Signs and Semiotics

1 . b . S e m i o t i c s , • Context and Metaphor

S y m b o l i s m a n d N o n - • Bisociation and Conceptual Combination

1.b.4) What are ‘perceptual’ and ‘conceptual’ images?

• Abstraction and generalization –

and overcome our handicap in functional and organizational specialization. This

Abstraction may be compared to a process of mental digestion, and

• The experience of meaning –

The experience of meaning is a basic need in us. When we ‘grow up’ – it is

A culture or a society is the cumulative matrix of all the symbol systems

A major component of imagination is knowledge. The power to imagine varies

In advanced forms of mental activity, symbolization is found which is quite 8

# Design involves conscious choices and

$ The experience of meaningcan

icons and symbols.

$ A painting of “Christina’s World” -