Meaning and Aesthetics in Architecture

Every thing we encounter has for us more or less meaning. It is what we infer as a particular understanding of the thing. But we also provide meaning by how we live and by what we produce. In architecture we experience this duality as deriving impressions from it and as giving expressions to it. This implies that meaning in architecture, like in all other fields, is process and result. Decision making is involved with judgments based on theoretical and practical issues. The activities are driven by the design factors of purpose, context and realization.

This text proceeds from explaining philosophical foundations of meaning to interpreting physical designs of architecture. At the center of discussion is design thinking which has rational and emotional components, making it profoundly aesthetic. The concept of design narratives is developed as the dialog between the content and the form of projects. The text is profusely supported by illustrations in color and by extensive references. Meaning and Aesthetics in Architecture is a book for all who are interested to understand our built environments.

Contents Preface 1 Introduction 2 From Things toward Meaning 2.1 Things and things in themselves 2.2 Objects and concepts 2.3 Understanding and judgment 2.4 Observable and relational properties 2.5 Function and complexity 3 Our World of Signs 3.1 Signs and communication 3.2 Iconic, symbolic and indexical signs 3.3 Semantics, pragmatics and syntactics 3.4 Interpretation and metaphor 3.5 Unity of content and form 4 The Aesthetics of Experience 4.1 Emotions and feelings 4.2 Aspects of beauty 4.3 Aesthetics and the aesthetic 4.4 Objects and 'their' aesthetic 5 Type, Style and Ornament 5.1 Concepts and resemblances 5.2 Type and objectivity 5.3 Style and subjectivity 5.4 Configuration and ornamentation 6 Cause and Effect in Design 6.1 Cause, effect, change and event 6.2 World and mind in causation World-to-world causation World-to-mind causation Mind-to-world causation Mind-to-mind causation 6.3 Powers of preference 6.4 Purpose, context and realization Programming for purpose Realization in context 7 Language, Meaning and Design Narratives 7.1 Language and thought 7.2 Language of and language about architecture 7.3 'Measurements' of meaning 7.4 Design narratives From form to content and from content to form A Stair in the Roth Residence, Weil am Rhein The Philharmonic Hall, Berlin The Biomedical Sciences Research Center,University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 8 Meaning as Zeitgeist 8.1 Virtuality and reality 8.2 Complexity and inclusion 8.3 Sustainability and outlook Notes and Bibliographical References Illustration Credits and Information Index

Book Details

• Author: Kurt Brandle
• Publisher: Brandle Publishing LLC
• eBook ISBN: 9780984727148, 9780984727124, 0984727124
• Print ISBN: 9780984727155, 0984727159