BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURETHEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2016) [5 MARKS]

NAME: MEERA NAZREEN ID: 0309630LECTURER: MS IDA TUTORIAL TIME: 2-4SYNOPSIS NO: 2 READER TITLE: SEMIOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE

AUTHOR: CHARLES JENCKSSemiology and Architecture by Charles Jencks differs from the other books is probably because

approach Jencks used in distinguishing post-modernism apart from modernism. He did so by trying

to translate the study of language or literature into architecture itself. His approach for proving his

theory is through the art of semiotics which in a general definition is the study of signs and symbols

and their interpretation. In the first sub-topic; Inevitable yet Denied, Jencks said the use of a raincoat

can be dissociated from its general definition if society were to ignore the social use of a raincoat

itself, I could say that Jencks introduced the idea in which everything is always ambiguous. Not only

to an object but in language itself. The statement “My poem means nothing; it just is” for instance,

was later on said to be paradoxical by him. If a poem was written, it should automatically have a

meaning behind it, just as how he said that “the minute a new form is invented it will acquire,

inevitably, a meaning”. Here is where his semiological comes in place. A very object or a statement,

can be perceive to be meaningful. The word ‘nothing’ itself is meaningful to him. Perhaps this is what

he meant by “in any case, on one level, all these statements are paradoxical. In their denial of

meaning, they create it.” Under the sign situation subtopic, Jencks introduced us to the Semiological

Triangle that is percept-concept-representation (the form). I think he is trying to imply language as

the concept, our thought as percept, and reality and the representation. All three based on the

triangle mentioned earlier. He argue the adage that a rose ‘by any other name would smell as sweet’

and later on saying the smell will not be sweet if the rose is called garlic instead. People could be

mistaken the word ‘rose’ with garlic and it will still smell sweet. The meaning of each word could be

different and this is what the concept of multivalence is most probably. It could be interpreted into

various meaning. Through context and metaphor, even if the two are very distinct in general, it could

still be debatable. A different culture or a different language could be the reason of this. Basically

from what I understand is that Jencks does not want to limit a certain architecture to a certain

meaning.

WORD COUNT: 397 DATE: 25th April 2016

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