Intersemiotic Analyses of Relation between Form and Space

Nowadays “Design” is considered as an independent discipline which is neither a science, nor an art, but an interdiscipline with strong relations with both art and science. Therefore, this new understanding demands reidentifying all design sub-disciplines. “Space” as one of this sub-disciplines, has a pivotal role in shaping form in both design and architecture. While concrete understanding of Space is of vital importance in the field of design, architecture and interior design, yet there are not ample scientific analyses about the relation between form and space. This understanding depends on having efficient scientific critique methods. Nowadays, new criticisms are used to analyze and read different kinds of text and shows acceptable results. “Intertextualism” and “Intersemiotics” are two of them. Julia Kristva and her associates in Tel Quel group popularized the intertextualism since 1960s and nowadays, there are many different schools under this approach. Beginning form literature criticism, intertextualism is utilized in different fields of art, for reading different kinds of text. Usinfg intertextualism in different art forms evoked the need to undertsand the interaction between different semiotic systems in a text. Not just in arts (arts except literature), even Roland Barthes determined five parallel code systems in a literary text. According to intersemiotics, we are faced to a text, not a messeage and every text is shaped by interaction between different code systems. There are many parallel cod systems that convey the meaning. The interaction between cod systems generates a new cod system. Hence, Intersemiotics is a new effective branch of intertextualism which, despite its capability, has not been developed in design and architectural studies yet. The so-called space is a text by many different intersemiotic cod systems, thus, the aim of this research is studying the relation between form and space through intersemiotics analyses. In order to achive this goal, at first in literature review, the literature of intertextualism and intersemitics have been studied. Then, the terminology and diverse identifications and concepts of form and space have been reviewed. Based on literature review, there are two type of approach toward relation between form and space: the architectural approach and the designerly approach. Based on the first one, space dominates form, Space as a whole shapes form, as a detail. In contrary, the designerly approach is on the opinion that space is shaped by the relation between forms. This research is based on the second one. In the second phase, according to excavated concepts, factors and designerly strategy, the cod systems that are ambient in form were identified, then the intersemiotic relations between forms in the space were analyzed. According to conclusions there are four (visual) code systems which are efficient in understanding the space: physical dimension codes, visual codes, significant codes and hidden dimension codes. Each of them have its sub-codes. According to these codes the spatial relations of form with other forms are classified into two classes: the relation with forms of other products and the relation with form of architectural framework. Finally according to the codes, a framework has been developed.