August 2, 2016 Semiotics of Architecture

Semiotics of architecture:
Contribution to a study of the architectural project

Albert Levy
Urban Mutation Theory Laboratory UMR/CNRS 7136
French Institute of Urbanism, University Paris VIII
[email protected]

published online on February 26, 2008

Plan
1) Contribution to a theory of architectural design: the dichotomy of design/project.
2) Contribution to a theory of architectural spatiality: a definition of spatial complexity
3) Contribution to a generative approach to design: the opposition between generation and genesis.
4) Contribution to the understanding of the project synthesis: syncretism of registers, meta-operator and
architectural isotopy.

Full text
The semiotics of architecture developed in the late 1960s with the rise of semiotic theory.
General.1 Its contributions have been numerous and diverse, in multiple directions and varied applications.
The goal here is not to recount the history of this meeting, but to present, based on my experience
personally, a contribution of this discipline to the study of the architectural project, recalling certain points of
Alain Renier's research in this area -of which he was, as we know, one of the most ardent defenders- by positioning me
also in relation to his work.

Contribution to a theory of architectural design: the conception/project dichotomy.

The first contribution concerns the study of architectural design: it is methodological in nature.
Taking the project as an object of study from a semiotic point of view means making its conception explicit, theorizing its
mode of production from the perspective of meaning, to make each project a particular case - an occurrence
singular - product of a general model that remains to be constructed. One could say, mutatis mutandis, by taking
the example of linguistics, that the conception is to the project what the language is to speech (F. de Saussure). The
dichotomy conception / project therefore takes up the classic pairs of language theory, language / discourse,
enunciation / statement (Benveniste), competence / performance (Greimas), schema / usage (Hjelmslev)…, in order to be clear
signifies that only the design, through the project, can be the subject of a scientific investigation.
Such an approach, which is situated in a structural perspective, must not, however, reduce the design to
a strictly paradigmatic vision by limiting the theory to a pure system, but must also include the
process (the syntagmatic axis). One should then question the conception as a process of synthesis that produces the project,
It is to answer a double question: synthesis of what, synthesis how? Resolving these questions is
build the design model and researchers will diverge on the responses to be provided. My approach to
the design, while showing convergences with that of Renier, will diverge from his on certain
points that we will examine.

2) Contribution to a theory of architectural spatiality: a definition of spatial complexity

The second contribution of semiotics is an addition to the theory of spatiality. It is known that this theory
is woefully lacking both among geographers and architects, not to mention the specialists. 2
in social sciences working on the relationships between spaces and societies (urban sociology), or on the new
notion of ambiance for example (often opposed to space). 3
On one hand, the object-space can be defined from several points of view (geometric, psycho-physiological,
socio-cultural...), on the other hand, it is important to revisit the reflection on the complexity of architectural space in
the history of architecture, initiated by Vitruvius (soliditas, utilitas, venustas) and developed by Alberti (necessitas,

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August 2, 2016 Semiotics of architecture

commodities, pleasures), thus placing us back in the tradition of architectural treaties. My approach 4 to a
modeling of architectural design is based on two hypotheses, related to a definition of the
architectural spatiality.
1. A theory of architectural design cannot bypass a theoretical definition of the object.
to conceive, the architectural space. Defending the specificity of architectural design is to question
the object to be designed, its nature, its structure, providing a theoretical definition.5
A theory of architectural design must also be a theory of the architectural object to be designed.
the architectural space, to bring together in a general model.
2. The architectural space, posed as a significant structure, is therefore considered from the point of view of meaning. This
the hypothesis of architecture as language involves two postulates: (i) space does not need to be spoken
to signify, it signifies directly; (ii) space signifies something other than itself, something other than its
physical materiality. The architect's activity is thus understood as a semiotic activity, productive
of meanings, but taken in a broad sense, including meaningful practices.
The architectural space, a complex space, is defined as a polysemous and polymorphic structure.
consisting of several registers of meaning correlated to various registers of space.
This is what A. Renier also postulated when he wrote: 'a 'semiotics of space' does not take its
meaning by indicating the space in which it operates, 6 that is to say by specifying the register of space it pertains to.
I have identified five registers of space correlated to distinct levels of meaning, each possessing their own
design operators: they partly overlap with the registers put forward by A. Renier and also intersect with the triad.
d'Alberti.
The urban space concerns the interface between architectural space/urban space, or the relationship between architecture and the city.
edifice/urban fabric. All architecture is urban, this7 space refers to urban ideas, to types
historical city, in the sense of urban forms ... It is8 produced by the implantation operation.
also sometimes takes for urban project name). 9
Critiquing urban morphology, the study discipline of urban form, which he addressed as defragmented.
(physical segmentation), A. Rénier opposes it with a segmental morphology, that is to say deduced from segmentations.
significant, relevant, stemming from local practices. While 10 agreeing with him, one can, however.
he objects that the large cutouts made, in principle, by urban morphology, are also of a nature
historical, thus made relevant by a historical periodization that signifies it.
The space of use relates to the relationships between space and social practices. It refers to uses.
organized according to particular distribution typologies, established by time (for example for
the habitat, relationships between domestic space/type of family). It results from the distribution operation.
It is in this space that A. Renier mainly worked and insisted, with his notions of architectural device. 11
syntactic deconstruction, paradigmatic chain, opposition between segment/fragment... On this point 12
our disagreement was partly methodological: Renier refusing to use the notion of type and
typology for classifying configurations.
The aesthetic-symbolic space deals with the relationships between space and geometry, space and
mathematics (measurement). It refers to the meanings of geometry, to its symbolism, throughout the history of
art. It is given by the operation decomposition.
While acknowledging its existence, Renier deliberately ignored this space to favor a "Type
space not only pertaining to geometric categories (topological, projective, and metric)
that relate to the organization of the solid encompassing the places of social life... 13
The bioclimatic space concerns the relationships between space and atmospheres (space qualified by)
environmental parameters). It refers to meanings such as comfort, well-being (culturally
variables)... It is designed by the installation operation (equipment of the space, but also by device
spatial).
In this regard, Renier's contribution has been fundamental: he was one of the first to introduce the concept
14
debiome (artificial living environment synonymous with atmosphere) and biomatics semiotics (by defining) 15
Architecture as a discipline of controlling the natural environment and creating climates
artificial), concepts today popular with the emergence of the environmental question and the notion
of atmosphere in architectural research. (Unfortunately, Renier was not able to really work on this
register).
The tectonic-plastic space treats the sensitive space (visually grasped). It refers to
meanings related to the history of art, and the history of styles in particular. It is obtained by
the expression operation.
Here too, this register of space was deliberately excluded from his field of study because, he said,
Architecture would no longer be just a discipline of plastic expression... 16
In this definition of spatiality as complex space, the order of presentation of these different registers
is in no way a hierarchy (as in Alberti where the voluptas dominates the other two, commoditas and
necessity). Each register consists of a plan of expression and a plan of content, they are
interdependent on each other and form a system: we will talk about local forms for the space registers and form.
global for their interrelations.

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In relation to Alberti and his triad, my registers of usage space and bioclimatic space align with his.
the notion of decommodification, those of aesthetic-symbolic space and tectonic-plastic space overlap with that of
Pleasure, regarding urban space, isolated here as an autonomous register, is present throughout Alberti's treatise.
I, however, exclude in my approach its register of necessity which pertains to the construction and the
materials: it pertains to natural phenomena that, in my opinion, fall under a technical logic and not
semiotics (analogy with the distinction between phonetics/phonology).
By moving away from a definition of architecture reduced to its plastic and aesthetic registers with which it
often debated, Renier primarily wanted to emphasize the use and meaningful practices, not only
on the encompassing solid of space, as he calls it, but on the encompassed space: 'The design
architecture is concerned with the delimitation of space resulting from a segmentation of the extent, but
also through a complementary qualification of this space to constitute it as a social living area and a
"instrument of use"; thus17according to him: "Architecture would no longer be merely a discipline
of plastic expression but also a discipline of controlling the natural environment and creating
18 he refers to as biome is thus this space whose physical characteristics are
artificial climates. What
constitutive of an aerial, thermal, acoustic, luminous environment... ultimately producing the feeling of comfort.
Moreover, for him, the inhabitant, more than just a simple user, is also and always an active player in the space. 19

3) Contribution to a generative approach to design: the opposition between generation and genesis.
Third contribution to the theory of architectural design: the capture of the architectural object by its
generation, that is to say by its mode of production. It opposes both, as mentioned, to an approach
purely taxonomic (reduction to a system), but also to a genetic approach (process
historical).
By generativity, we mean a theoretical, achronic approach to the process of project production.
It is not the history of the project's creation that is sought, nor the time taken or spent on its design, nor a
explanation of its realization by its external conditions, or by taking into account the relationships of the architect
with the other actors - considerations usually taken into account in a historical approach to studying the project
–, not a story (ideological) of architectural discourse considered as a march towards progress, it is rather
the logical organization of space that is aimed at: a generative grammar of space.
In this generative approach, A. Renier's conceptual effort has been constant: since 1982, his introductory text
At the Albi conference, "Space, representation and semiotics of architecture," he illustrates: he proposes a
interpretation of the generative journey of meaning, where 20 the different levels are distinguished,
fundamental/narrative/discursive, of the content plan, which, when joining the expression plan (textualization),
gives birth to the plan of the architectural manifestation.
While also paying attention to its levels of depth, I tried, on my side, to build this
grammar through three main procedures that account, for each register, for this generativity.
1. Combinatorial, or transition from simple to complex: for example, the double articulation of language.
architectural on the register of the plastic space that I have sketched, in architectural elements / segments
tectonics / distinctive plastic traits; or with Durand also highlighted 21 this
articulation on the register of composition in 'number and situation of the main parts / number and
situation of secondary parties / layout of walls and placement of columns.
2. The conversion, or passage from the general to the particular, from virtual structures to real structures: by
example of the updating of a general distributive ideal type into a specific distributive type, an occurrence
particular history, on the record of the usage space. I tried to reconstruct these virtual structures.
In the case of the worship space where I identified three main invariant general structures (1. three spaces
elementary, 2. a double narrative sequence, 3. a narrative journey). They constitute, according to my
hypothesis, the ideal type that is found applied under particular modalities (by conversion) in
all places of worship, from all religions, as historical occurrences. 22
3. Iconization, or the transition from the abstract to the concrete, through gradual specification and semantic enrichment.
space, moving towards more precision and definition of its form: architectural drawing, for example,
with its progressive specifications, its leaps in scale, going from sketches to detailed plans… renders
account of this iconization procedure in representation, across all registers.
It is these procedures, still to be developed, that structure the generativity of the registers, that I tried to
update in my research on architectural design: they reflect the idea of generativity of
the spatiality related to the concept of the generative path of the project. 23

4) Contribution to the understanding of the project synthesis: syncretism of registers, meta-operator and
architectural isotopy.
This latest contribution concerns the issue of synthesizing the registers that constitutes the project.
as a global form and the understanding of this syncretic mechanism. Once the inventory of registers is established,
The issue of their synthesis and its modalities does indeed arise. This is something that A. Renier had also understood well.
when he wrote: "A semiotics of architecture is the place of a syncretism of external semiotics
24the dispositif
differentiated (visual, plastic, scenic, sound, etc.) , or again "A semiotics of
The architectural 'constructed' results from the syncretism of a plastic semiotics and a biomimetic semiotics. 25
reducing this synthesis to two main registers.
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Limitation of the registers of the architectural form, but also lack of clarification of the modalities of realization.
From this syncretism, these are the remarks that can be made to Renier on this question. I have attempted to respond to it.
taking into account, on one hand, all the registers, and introducing, on the other hand, the notion of meta-
referential synthesis operators, to explain this syncretic process.
With these meta-operators, the issue of referentiality in the project is raised, the role of
the reference in architectural design as a federating and unifying principle: they act as
architectural desitopias structuring and unifying the overall form. These meta-operators are primarily
of two kinds, they have a double origin. They are chosen:
in the reference field of the history of architecture, in the stock of its historical models: we
the call part, reason, configuration...
be outside the reference framework of the history of architecture, in the universe of nature, of the arts, of
Industry, machinery...: this meta-operator, more current, more contemporary, is called concept. 26
The use of the term concept, now in vogue, widely used in the field of architects, often has for
the aim is a desire for innovation and a break with existing patterns of architecture, to create new ones
new. Le Corbusier, for example, by breaking away from the motifs and the parts of academic architecture,
invent, using the concepts of /machine/ and /modern art/, a new architectural language: the 'Five
points of modern architecture. Two other positions should be noted: the refusal of reference and synthesis.
impossible.
1. Some architects reject any reference (in the field or outside the field of
the architecture) with the quest for an essence of architecture in itself (self-reference), geometry by
for example: this is Eisenman's position, which seeks, with the rejection of any reference, an architecture, he says,
self-referential, of non-meaning. However, it can still be considered a borderline case.
use of a concept: /pure geometry/, /non-reference/.
For other architects, the synthesis of records is now considered impossible to achieve.
unachievable because the records are too contradictory, heterogeneous, incompatible with each other: their logics
incompatibles make any unity, any synthesis impossible. The project must then, according to them, reflect this
bursting, translating this dissociation of registers, and revealing it by making it visible, for it corresponds to
the explosion of our contemporary world that must not be hidden: it is the position of architects
deconstructivists like B. Tschumi, for example. But, here too, one can see the appeal to another
the /shattered society/, the /fragmented world/.
Synthesis meta-operators can be general in nature, that is to say related to an architectural movement.
that they contribute to defining, and/or specific to a particular project. Several meta-operators can be
mobilized in the same project, similarly the two modalities (party and concept) can also be used for
the same project27... Functioning as architectural desisotopies, they aim to create, with the registers
selected, a unit of meaning, to achieve the semantic coherence of the project, the coherence of the form
global architecture. One can also have a pluri-isotopy (superposition of different isotopies that then requires)
connectors...). In general, they act through iterativity, through semantic recurrence, on all the
registers: the same content, the same theme, the same idea (partiouconcept) 'traverses' all registers
by declining each time in a different way to produce and reinforce the effect of the overall unitary meaning sought,
in terms of expression as well as in terms of content of each register. They therefore act transversally to
records to merge them (semantically), by repeating the same content, producing coherence
(semantic) sought after in the work. They intervene both in the organization of the plan (distribution and
composition), as in elevation, for the arrangement of the façade (expression and composition). This concept and this
The isotopic mechanisms outlined here still need to be further explored.
Thus Alberti, for example, mobilizes two isotopies used for the spatial synthesis of his architecture.
as referential meta-operators of its architecture: a concept drawn from outside the field of architecture
/the building-body/, and a motif, drawn from the field of the history of architecture, in Antiquity, /the orders
classics/. They both relate to the culture and ideology of the Renaissance. These two isotopies traverse
the three registers: necessitas (analogy between the edifice and the anatomy of the human body), commoditas (metaphor of
biological functioning of the edifice), voluptas (harmony and perfection of the ideal proportions of the human body
but also from the animal body, the horse - as a model of measurement for the building to define its beauty). Aside from these
two general isotopies, these two general meta-operators, Alberti also borrows for projects
particulars, other motifs of ancient architecture: the motif /triumphal arch/ for its churches (temple of
Malatesta in Rimini; Sant’Andrea in Mantua), the motif of the Colosseum / superposition of arcade + order / for his palace
Rucellai in Florence...
These are some of the possible contributions of semiotics to a theory of design.
architectural, quickly presented, and drawn from my personal research experience. One can see what they
are owed to A. Renier, with whom I collaborated for a long time, through the noted convergences and divergences of our
respective works.

Notes
1 Two texts played a foundational role: R. Barthes, Elements of Semiotics, Communications, 4, Seuil, 1964;
and A. J. Greimas, Structural Semantics, Larousse, 1966.

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E. Lengerau writes about research in architecture: 'But it is essential to analyze it to understand that
the majority of this developed knowledge, while belonging to the human and social sciences, does not
does not always succeed - sometimes not at all - in grasping the central question which is the question
spatial, Foreword, The anthropological space, The Notebooks of architectural and urban research, 20/21
March 2007, Paris, Monum, Editions du Patrimoine.
The term architecture primarily rests on the constructed object... defined essentially by its material,
its shape, and (sometimes) its colors. The dominant visual-tactile aspect (plasticity of the object) is immediately established as
first ».It is to this rudimentary definition of space that the author opposes that of atmosphere" The idea
The atmosphere marks a turning point in relation to the notion of space... the atmosphere is capable of replacing
the space in the operational plan…", G. Chelkoff, "Perceive and conceive architecture", in Ambiances in debates,
Collective, At the Crossroads, 2004. See also the definition by J.F. Augoyard, "Ambiance," The Notebooks of the
research, in the same place.
4 F. Choay, The Rule and the Model, Paris, Seuil, 1980
5 This is indeed what semiotic theory has also postulated: 'Semiotic theory must be more than a
theory of the utterance - as is the case with generative grammar - and more than a semiotics of enunciation,
she must reconcile what seems inconcilable at first glance by integrating them into a semiotic theory
general "A. J. Greimas, J. Courtés, Semiotics, reasoned dictionary of language theory, volume 1, Paris,
Hachette, 1979, p. 346.
6 A. J. Greimas, J. Courtés, Semiotics, reasoned dictionary of language theory, volume 2, Paris, Hachette,
1986, p.31.
I am setting aside rural architecture here, of course.
8 The urban space can also, in turn, take on different registers of form and meaning: Albert Levy,
Urban Forms and Meanings: Revisiting Urban Morphology
9 A. Levy, V. Spigai (eds), The plan and architecture of the city, The plan and architecture of the city, Venice, Cluva,
1989, the authors define a methodology for an urban project alternative to the clean slate, taking into account
the history and the meaning of the place in the design.
10 A. Renier, "Space, representation and semiotics of architecture", in Space and representation, Thinking
space, Paris, Ed. de la Villette, 1982, p. 21.
11 In A. J. Greimas, J. Courtés, Semiotics, reasoned dictionary of language theory, volume 2, Paris,
Hachette, 1986, p.16.
12 A. Renier, "The architectural space and its place configurations", Bulletin AFS, 3, June 2003, p. 45-49. This
conceptual terminology is found in his teaching, among his doctoral students in Tunis (A. A. Ennabli, F.
Mezghani, Bulletin AFS, ibidem.)
13 In A. J. Greimas, J. Courtés, Semiotics, reasoned dictionary of language theory, volume 2, Paris,
Hachette, 1986, p. 31.
14Ibidem. On this issue, see also, for example, the work of CERMA in Nantes or CRESSON in
Grenoble.
15Same, p. 29.
16Same, p. 30
17Same, p. 17
18Same, p. 30
19 A. Renier, "The architectural space and its configurations of places", Bulletin AFS, 3, June 2003, p. 45-49; see
for example, his analysis of the Grande Arche de la Défense and the usage configurations he finds.
20 A. J. Greimas, J. Courtès, Semiotics, Reasoned Dictionary of Language Theory, vol. 1 and 2, Paris
Hachette, 1979, 1986.
21 J.N.L. Durand, Summary of Architecture Lessons, Paris, Firmin Didot, 1819.
22 A. Levy, The Machines of Belief I, Forms and Functions of Religious Spatiality
Anthropos/Economica, Paris, 2003. (The second volume, La Madeleine and the Pantheon, Power of Space,
power of the image, is in preparation, end of 2007
23 On the notion of generative pathways, A. J. Greimas, J. Courtés, ibidem.
24Same. p.17
Same.p.31
26 On this party/concept opposition, see also R. Prost, Architectural Design. An Investigation
methodological, Paris, L'harmattan, 1992.
27 See for example my analysis of the BNF by D. Perrault: A Levy, 'The architectural party as an operator'
"syncretic of the project," in P. Pellegrino (ed.), The space in the image and in the text, Urbino Conference (1998),
Urbino, Quattroventi, 2000. I show how the isotopy chosen by the architect works, the concept of
/vide/, as a referential meta-operator.

A few words about: Albert Levy

Albert LEVY, a graduate in Architecture, a doctor in Urban Studies, CNRS researcher, Theory Laboratory
Urban Mutations UMR/CNRS 7136, French Institute of Urban Planning, University Paris VIII: works on the
urban morphology, the urban project, architectural design, taught at the School of Architecture of
the University of Geneva, at the School of Architecture Paris-la-Villette and at the French Institute of Urban Planning.

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Some publications related to semiotics:

LEVY A. (1994) "Purism versus Brutalism: the functioning of plastic discourse in Le Corbusier", in
PELLEGRINO, P. (ed.) Architectural Figures and Urban Forms. Paris, Anthropos, pp. 469-492
LEVY A. (1996) "For a socio-semiotics of space. Issues and research orientations", in
OSTROWETSKY, S. (ed.) Sociologists in the City. Paris, l'Harmattan, pp. 161-177.
LEVY A. (1996) "Colette's moves: residential mobility and social mobility. Socio-analysis
semiotics of a residential itinerary," in WITTNER, L., WELZER, L. (eds.) The facts of the home. (Proceedings of the conference,
CREA/Lyon 2 ASTER/ANTPE, Lyon, 1991) Paris, Aléas, pp. 203-226.
LEVY A. (1997) "A semiotic modelization of the architectural conception", in RAUCH, I., CARR, G. (eds.)
Semiotics around the World: Synthesis in Diversity. (Proceedings of the Fifth Congress of the International
Association for Semiotic Studies, Berkeley, 1994) Berlin/New York, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 545-548.
LEVY A. (1998) "E.L. Boullée and the speaking architecture": a semiotics of architectural expression, in The
Man and the City, Spaces, Forms, Meanings. Russia, Ekaterinburg, Architecton Publishing House, pp. 201-221
Luis Prieto, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and the lessons of phonology
LEVY A. (1999) "The chalet, a place of Swiss memory", in DESARNAULDS, S. (ed.) The chalet in all its states.
The construction of the Swiss imaginary. Geneva, Georg Chénoises Editions, pp. 85-121.
LEVY A. (2000) "The architectural party as a syncretic operator of the project", in PELLEGRINO, P. (ed.)
The space in the image and in the text. (Proceedings of the conference of the Association of Semiotics of Space,
Urbino, 1998), Quatroventi, Urbino, University of Urbino, pp. 115-131.
LEVY A. (2003) The Machines of Belief. 1 Forms and Functions of Religious Spatiality, Paris
Economic/Anthropos, 245 p; The machines of belief. II Power of space, power of the image.
Madeleine and the Pantheon, Paris Economica/Anthropos (to be published 2008).
LEVY A. (2005) "Urban forms and meanings. Revisiting urban morphology"
urban forms, 122, pp. 25-48.
LEVY A. (2006) "A medium place: the Church of the Madeleine"
LEVY A. (2007) "The architectural landscape in E. L. Boullée, or architecture as an allegory of nature", in
SANSON, P. (ed.) The urban landscape, representation, meaning, communication. (Proceedings of the Blois conference,
1999) Paris, L'Harmattan.

To cite this document

Albert Levy "Semiotics of Architecture", Semiotic Acts [Online]. 2008, no. 111. Available at:
http://epublications.unilim.fr/revues/as/2993 (accessed on 08/02/2016)

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