Semiotics of Architecture

yasraf amir piliang

Sign (1)

Uv F

St Name

S2S1 Sign Vehicle

(F) = Fungsi/use value

(St) = Type

(S2) = Token

Stone == signification system== communication system

St

F Name

R

O I

(Eco)

(Peirce)

Umberto Eco, A Theory of Semiotics, Indiana University Press, 1979

Sign (2)

Umberto Eco

denotatum

sign vehicle significatum

arch

sign arch

Morris

denotationform of inhabitation denoted utility utilitarian function

connotationaesthetic function architectural messageconcept of inhabitationideology

Charles Jenck

REFERENT

SYMBOL REFERENCE

substitutive

Sign (3)

Richard & Ogden

THOUGHT

SYMBOL

CONTENTCONCEPTSIGNIFIED

FORMWORD

SIGNIFIER

PERCEPTDENOTATUMTHINGACTUAL FUNCTION

REFERENT

Jenck ---------Saussure/Barthes

First Level

forms suprasegmentalspace propertiessurface rhythmvolume colouretc. Texture

iconographyintended meaningaesthetic meaningarchitectural ideasspace conceptsocio/religious belieffunctionsactivitiesways of lifescommercial goalstechnical system

Sr Sd

S

First Level

noisesmelltacticalitykineasthetic qualityetc.

iconologybetraved meaningslatent meaningsantrhopological dataimplicit functionsproxemicsland valueetc.

Signifiers(ExpressiveCodes)

Signifieds(ContentCodes)

Sign (4)

Sydney Opera House

IconIcon:

motivated

kubahtubehot-dog‘salman’angsa

bawangpipa‘hot-dog’doa‘angsa’

metaphor

Resemblance

Kesamaan

Transference

Transposisi

Imitasi

Mimesis

Index:lateral sign

kacapanahjendelatangga

lihatarahluar/dalamnaik/turun

indicate

Index

Orientasi

Arah

Posisi

Sebab-akibat

Aksi

Symbol:conventional

menaracross

masjid/islamKristen

arbitrary

Symbol

Arbitrari

Konvensi

Aturan

Kode

Kultural

monumental

Denotation Connotation

NaturalInnocent

LiteralLogic

EksplisitCommon sense

SingularDenotative meaning

CulturalValueSubjectiveEmotionImplisitInterpretativePluralConnotative meaning

Denotasi/Konotasi

The order of denotation refers to the common‐sense, obvious, literal meaning of the sign.Connotation describes the interaction that occurs when the sign meets the feelings or emotions of the users and the values of their culture.(John Fiske, Introduction to Communication Studies, Routledge, 1992.

Architecture, besides denoting a utilitarian function, refer to a certain conception of inhabitation and use, they may connote an overall ideology that has informed the architect’s operation.

(Umberto Eco, “Function and Sign: The Semiotics of Architecture”,  dalam Neil Leach, Rethinking Architecture, Routledge, 1997

Denotasi/Konotasi Arsitektur

Denotasi

utilityhabitexpectationprimary function

Konotasi

ideologisymbolicsocial relationsocial statussecondary function

Metaphor

Implicit or explicit comparison between sign systems. The effect of metaphor is to ‘inject’meaning from one sign system to another. (1)

A process of transposition from one sign system to another. (2)

The basic principle of metaphor is “likeness”, often a new or innovative likeness between two (or more) things -- iconic

1. Tony Thwaite, Tools for Cultural Studies, MacMillan, 19942. John Fiske, Introduction to Communication Studies, Routledge, 19903. Sheldon Sacks, On Metaphor, University of Chicago Press, 1989

Metaphor

1. Transfer (replacement, substitution, translation), namely a process of transfer of one sign system to another.

2. Similarity (iconicity, analogy, likeness)

A Bsimilarity

transfer

Basic Principle

Wings Museum

The Wave Bolgen, Denmark

Codes

CodeThe convention may be implicit or explicit, and this is one of the (flexible) boundaries which separate technical codes from poeticcodes. (1)

Code are social constructions, shared by a group, the positions they provide for addresser and addresse are necessarily social positions. (2)

Code refers to systematic bodies of status or rules. Something secret—a set of figures or letters or symbols with arbitrary meanings. (3)

A code establishes the correlation of an expression plane with a content plane. (4)

1.Pierre Guiraud, Semiology, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 19882.Tony Thwites, Tools for Cultural Studies, McMillan, 19943. Arthur Asa Berger, Signs in Contemporary Culture, Longman, 19844. Umberto Eco, A Theory of Semiotics, Indiana University Press, 1979

1. Enggineering code2. Structural code

(bentangan, sistem lantai, sistem atap, kolom, fondasi, wiring, pencahayaan

Technical Code

1. Typological codes

2. Spatial types

(circular plan, open plan, labirin, pencakar langit)

Contoh: kamar tidur dekat wc

tangga tidak menuju jendela

Syntactic Code

1. Denote Primary Function(atap, jendela, tangga)

2. Connote Secondary Function(neo-Gothic, triumphal arch, tympanum, keong mas, sydney opera house)

3. Connote Ideology (dwleller)(kamar tamu, kamar tidur)

4. Typological Meaningberdasarkan tipe fungsional atau sosial

(rumah sakit, villa, sekolah, istana, stasiun kereta api)

Semantic Code

Codes (Jencks)Kode Content:

Tanda Way of Life

Tanda Aktivitas BangunanTanda Ide dan Kepercayaan TradisionalTanda Aneka Fungsi

Tanda Makna Sosio-antropologisIkon Kelas Sosial/ekonomiTanda Motivasi Psikologis

content/expressionCE

etnis, hunian, kenyamanan

change, personal, jual, beli, etc.

Ikonografi

use, aktivitas sosial, kemampuan struktur, lingkungan

proxemics, dimensi sosial, manusia

nilai lokasi, status sosial, prestise

kode seksual, gender, unconscious

Kode Expression:

Tanda Manipulasi Ruang

Tanda Surface Covering

Tanda Artikulasi Formal

topologi, lay-out, interior, eksterior, ruang kosong

ritme, warna, tekstur, proporsi, ukuran, smell, tacticle.

volume, massa, densitas

New Code

The aesthetic sign is generally iconic and analogical. Aesthetic signifiers are perceptible objects.

By virtue of their iconic character, aesthetic signs are far less conventionalized and thus far less codified and socialized than logical codes.

Overcoding is a new code that is apparently spoken by only one speaker, and understood by a very restricted audience; it a semiotic enclave which society cannot recognize as a social rule acceptable by everyone.

Such a type of private code is usually called an idiolect. The rule governing all deviations at work at every level of a work of art, the unique diagram which makes all deviations mutually functional, is the aesthetic idiolect.

(Umberto Eco, A Theory of Semiotics, Indiana University Press)

Aesthetic Code

Bahasa berkaitan pula degan ekspresi atau gaya bahasa. “Dialek” (dialect: dia-, antara + legesthai, berbicara) adalah adab atau cara mengekspresikan diri dalam bahasa atau seni, yang dibedakan berdasarkan ucapan, grammar atau vocabulary.

Dalam arti khusus khusus, dialek menjelaskan keragaman ucapan yang berbeda dari bahasa standard atau resmi atau pola ucapan dari kebudayaan di mana ia berada.

Dialect

Sociolect atau “dielek sosial” (social dialect), adalah keragaman ucapan atau gaya bahasa yang digunakan oleh sebuah kelompok sosial: menghasilkan dialek sosial (social dialect) dan “gaya sosial” (social style).

Sosiolek melibatkan keterikatan pada aturan, kode atau kebiasaan sebuah komunitas atau masyarakat, sebagai bentuk identifikasi individu-individu dengan kelompok sosialnya

Sociolect

“Idiolect” adalah “bahasa seorang individu yang diucapkan dalam gaya yang pasti dan konsisten”(Malmkjaer). Idiolectmenghasilkan “pola” atau “gaya individu”, yaitu ungkapan yang dilakukan secara berulang dan konsisten.

Idiolek adalah “penciptaan kode radikal (code making), yang melibatkan perubahan kode (code changing), sehingga menciptakan “fungsi-tanda yang idiosyncratic dan orisinil”. Ekspresi membawa pada situasi “deviasi dari norma-norma umum” dan kode-kode sosial yang ada. (Eco)

Idiolect

Penemuan moderat (moderate invention), yaitu modifikasi kode yang sudah ada, untuk mengubahnya atau menemukan kode-kode yang secara parsial baru.

Penemuan radikal (radical invention), yaitu penemuan kode yang revolusioner, yang sama sekali belum dikenal, dipahami dan t dimaknai (“lukisan abstrak dan tak dimengerti”, dst.).

Penemuan ironik (ironic invention), yaitu penemuan kode-kode melalui rekombinasi kode-kode yang sudah ada melalui mekanisme “kode ganda” (double coding) dan intertekstualitas, untuk menghasilkan perbedaan.

Inovasi Kode

Bee, Korea

Lilypad, Asadov Alexander

Lima Kode

Roland Barthes, S/Z, Hill & Wang, 1974

KODE CHARACTERS

Hermeneutics Enigma, Question, Delay, Conclusion

Semantic Connotation, Seme

Symbolic Contrary, Antithesis

Proairetic Sequences, Time, Narrative

Cultural Knowledge, Wisdom

Hermeneutic Semantic Symbolic Proairetic Cultural

Double Coding

Intertextuality is a transposition of one or more systems of signs into another, accompanied by a new articulation of the enunciative and denotative position.

Any signifying practice is a field (in the sense of space traversed by line of force) in which various signifying systems undergo such transposition

A text is constructed as a mosaic of quotations; any text is theabsorbtion and transformation of another.

Julia Kristeva, Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art, 1989.

SrN Sr3 Sr2 Sr1

IntertextualityIntertextuality

Two verbal works, two utterances, in juxtaposition, enter into a particular kind of semantic relation, which we call dialogical. Dialogical relations are (semantic) relations between all the utterances within verbal (or visual) communication.

Two languages, two sign systems, two codes intersect one to another in creating a new semantic field.

Mikail Bakhtin, The Dialogical Imaginations, 1990

Jencks, What is Postmodernism?, 1986

CODE A

CODE Z

CODE AZ

Double Coding

Keyakinan akan titik balik sejarah (historical reversal), dengan merayakan pandangan ke masa lalu (nostalgia)’

Merayakan prinsip ‘peminjaman’ (borrowing), daur ulang (recycling), pengkopian (copy), mimesis, rekontekstualisasi, danreinterpretasi) 

Bersifat ‘anti‐sejarah’ (anti‐historic), yaitu sejarah sebagai ‘garis linier kemajuan’.

Pastiche

Sebuah komposisi seni di mana ungkapan karakteristik seniman yang ada diimitasi untuk membuatnya tampak absurd,

Parodi adalah imitasi yang bermuatan kritik, kelucuan, kejanggalan

Karya asli disimpangkan arahnya, sehingga menghasilkan efek-efek kelucuan.

Linda Hutcheon, A Theory of Parody, The Teaching of Twentieth Century Art Forms, Methuen, 1985

Parodi

Segala jenis seni palsu (pseudo‐art), senimurahan, seni tanpa selera, selera rendah atau seni rendahan.

Selera rendah dimanifestasikan oleh lemahnya ukuran atau kriteria dan sensibilitas estetik pada satu karya.

Gillo Dorfles, Kitsch: The Antology of Bad Taste, Studio Vista, 1969

Kitsch

Sr1 Sd1

Sr2

SrN

Sd2

SdN

Love

Differance

Difference

Delay

Flower

Death

Bank

War

‘Gram’ : ‘a structure at the same time a movement, which can not be seen in the scheme of a binary opposition.

Differance: a free play of difference, that is, a free movement from one signifier to another indefinitely.

Spacing: a kind of interval between two or more terms (passive/active, etc.) in the condition of indecidability.

‘Diseminasi’ (dissemination): a condition of nothingness or emptiness of meaning as the result of the deconstruction of the relation between signifier and signified.

Deconstruction

Deconstruction gains all its force by challenging the very values of harmony, unity and stability, and proposing instead a different view of structure: the view that the flaws are intrinsic to the structure and cannot be removed without destroying it.

Andreas Papadakis, Deconstruction, Academy Editions, 1989

Conclusion