Krenz J., Architecture of meaning
The book published by
Wydawnictwo Politechniki Gdańskiej in 1997
Summary
A
lot has been said about meaning and its function in architecture, but the
problem seems to be essential to the art to the extent that it requires
constant reconsideration. The more so that the rapid social changes of
recent times have resulted in a new cognition of traditional concepts of
contents, meaning and symbol.
The
greatest works of architecture are characterised not only by their masterly
technical quality, but also by their ability to influence the recipient
through a meaningful message which appeals to his or hers knowledge and
imagination, thoughts and emotions. The layer of meaning has been consciously
inserted into these works and may be treated as a language, a code, a system
of signs, which broadens its context with notations and connotations, all
of which makes the form something more than a mere spatial creation. The
layer of meaning may be treated at three levels: the intention, which derives
from the architect, the formal realisation and, lastly, the way in which
it is perceived by the recipient. The meanings con-veyed by works of architecture
have been analysed on the basis of a twofold division between meanings
denotating architectural features and meanings connotating other things,
phenom-ena, concepts and people.
The
denotating meanings include:
- functional meanings which
denote the particular function of a building and its elements
- structural meanings which
denote the essence of spatial relationships, the construction and the composition
of the interior
- meta-meanings, in the
case when the form is commenting upon itself, reflecting about it-self
Among
connotative meanings we may mention:
- ideals and aspirations
of the epoch; architecture reveals the major ideas, the hierarchy of values,
the political system and the kind of government
- the past and tradition;
a work of architecture is an echo of the past days, tells its history,
includes archetypes, myths, characters and events from the past
- metamorphoses, quotations
and interpretations of architecture, which means using ar-chitectural sources
from various epochs and places (architecture within architecture)
- status and prestige; the
form informs us about the prestige of the investor, of an institu-tion
or private owner
- sacrum and profanum, which
is the basic category of meanings given to sundry spaces of peculiar importance
to human existence
- a relationship to nature
- general concepts used
by people to bring order and hierarchy into their lives and the sur-rounding
world
- moods: meanings which
influence an emotional perception of architecture
- illusions: manipulation
with perception through optical illusions along with a surprising relationship
between particular elements results in the effect of an illusionary space.
The
ways in which meanings appear in architecture have been discussed on the
basis of modern architectural works and the author's own designs and realisations.
The common fea-ture of the works discussed is the fact that their architectural
forms contain a message, sym-bolically articulated, by which they become
meaningful elements in the existential space. To achieve that goal, architects
employ various techniques: metaphor, symbol, tradition, canon, style, gesture,
allusion, announcement, innovation or even a game, illusion or irony. The
multitude of the techniques is related to the complexity of meanings conveyed
by modern times. The meaningful layer is most frequently revealed in the
general "look" of the building, sometimes in the detail, although it happens
that it is concealed in the structure of the edifice, the geometry of the
design, the syntax of particular elements. Meanings may be conveyed by
technology and materials, in the play of light, colour, sound or even scent.
It may also be found in the way in which a building enters into a dialogue
with the surrounding space.
Modern
architects, armed with almost unlimited technical and material possibilities,
be-come in reality directors of new existential spaces. Here lies the fascinating
opportunity: architecture, instead of deepening the technocratic solitude
of an individual, may - and per-haps must - create new designs aimed not
only at their aesthetic values, but also at generat-ing ethical ones, along
with expressing various aspects of culture and spiritual aspirations. The
spiritual, emotional and intellectual values, incorporated into the form
and space through specific architectural techniques, become a communiqué
sent by the creators to the recipi-ents, a message that has an unlimited
ability to create new worlds.
Copyright by Jacek Krenz
