What Place is this Time? Semiotics and the Analysis of Historical Reference in Landscape Architecture

Kristof Van Assche, Martijn Duineveld, Harro De Jong and Aart Van Zoest

Journal of Urban Design, 2012, vol. 17, issue 2, 233-254

Abstract: This paper revisits the potential contribution of semiotic analysis to heritage design. A case study analyzes lay interpretations of a number of urban landscape designs, displaying different ways to refer to the invisible (archaeological) past. A total of 12 draft designs were produced referring to the past of three sites on the fringe of the Dutch city of Almere, and the various design options were discussed during in-depth interviews. A semiotic framework made it possible to grasp the structure and process of interpretation of the plans and their embedded historical references. It is demonstrated that categories of place routinely override categories of time in the interpretation of a historical reference and that designs (and therefore references) steeped in design tradition, or, more broadly, artistic tradition, are rarely understood by the potential users. Further, the study shows that the interplay of spatial, temporal and cultural context does not allow for an ideal strategy of historical reference, a design strategy that would work in every setting. Designing with heritage cannot be decoupled from context.

Date: 2012
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13574809.2012.666207 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:cjudxx:v:17:y:2012:i:2:p:233-254

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/cjud20

DOI: 10.1080/13574809.2012.666207

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Urban Design is currently edited by Professor Taner Oc, Professor Michael Southworth, Professor Matthew Carmona and Dr Elisabete Cidre

More articles in Journal of Urban Design from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().