基于文化符号学分析的万寿宫街区色彩视觉再设计

A cultural landscape is the result of a continuous interaction between the surrounding natural landscape and culture. Meanings, symbols, and codes of culture are an integral part of it. This paper is a review of publications on current research over the past 20 years. The aim is to analyze the existing research practices, which are based on factual evidence and existing theoretical foundations, using an interdisciplinary approach, in order to come closer to a sufficiently holistic understanding of the coloristic semantics of the cultural landscape. Such a review and analysis of disparate studies allows for the first time the correlation of different types of cultural landscapes (urban, rural, gardens, and parks) and different types of signifier functions performed in them by color—signals, indices, iconic models, conventional signs or symbols, zero, or empty signs. The author analyzes the difference in the semantics of chromatic and achromatic colors and explores the landscape chromodynamics, namely, by creating the first-ever classification of the types and meanings of color foci of various durations—from days to decades. Color loci signs are continuously communicating in the cultural landscape, which is a field of constant “cultural explosion”, where traditional cultural meanings are transmitted and new meanings are generated. The author comes to the conclusion that color symbolism is part of the “landscape-as-text” containing certain information—“messages” of culture to itself. In these messages, color has sacral, temporal, and historical semantics, thus creating an extended semantic frame for the reproduction of cultural codes.

… color from a social semiotic approach, this paper explores and discusses whether the emergence of new color expressions in the urban … colors were widely introduced into urban cultural …

… from urban neighborhood communities in US and European cities. Our spatial semiotic analysis … There are visual codes that relate colors to identity and codes for alphabets as physical …

… in the local reproduction of urban culture. The authors argue … There are visual codes that relate colors to identity and … The archive is the data source for our investigations of the urban …

… These cities, known for their cultural diversity and vibrant urban … The semiotics of SDS was analyzed with respect to the … is deeply intertwined with cultural expression. The collected data …

… practices and dimensions of culture, especially the textual … As a researcher of urban semiotic landscapes, what was … color of signage and street furniture further link the Easton space to …

… To study spatial semiotics of urban vernacular landscapes, … includes white and green Islamic colors and Arabic lettering (… urban life and culture. Much of the appearance of vernacular …

… Ruins, monuments and urban architecture point to an environment where the past … of urban culture must look to understand the power of an urban imagery. (Highmore, 2005, pp. 4–5) …

… cultural heritage signage. Design Studies, 42(3), 112– 130. … Semiotic analysis of heritage signage: Balancing tradition and … designing signage at heritage sites: A semiotic analysis within …

ABSTRACT Peterson, Norway, was a former cellulose factory that is in the process of being transformed into new usage. A landmark at the premises is the “digester,” a high-rise steel structure used to make cellulose before the factory closed in 2012. The digester is now facing an uncertain material future, but this does not keep it from being represented and remembered in different ways. Peterson is also known for its elephant logo, which has been resemiotised from a signboard into a three-dimensional elephant sculpture in blank steel. As we will demonstrate, this and other uses of semiotic resources may be viewed as part of a transformative process that indicates looking forward into a post-industrial society where communication is more important than cellulose production. However, as we will demonstrate, this interpretation does not necessarily match the intention of the sign producer.

… , this study introduces semiotics, … heritage sites [15]. This study draws on universal design principles and applies them to the signage system design at the Ruijin Soviet Cultural Heritage …

This paper investigates the characteristics of the indigenous linguistic landscape and the features of traditional visual language under the conceptual framework of Geo-semiotics, which has been generally overlooked in the literature. As a case study of the indigenous linguistic landscape situated in ancient waterfront towns of China, the ethnographic data was collected through a field-based survey for 3 months by recording hundreds of photographs of top-down and bottom-up signs, conducting semi-structured questionnaires, and in-depth interviews in the heritage precincts. The results show that the Chinese language firmly occupies a dominant position. The use of Chinese semiotic assemblages and historical linguistic objects including handwritten font, traditional Chinese characters, and calligraphic nameplates facilitate the nostalgia visual communication in the context of urbanization. In this light, this paper contributes to preserving the indigenous linguistic landscape and Chinese semiotic artifact in the sociolinguistics approach.

PurposeIn the face of urbanisation, there has been prior and current discourse on the gradual thinning out of street identities. Particularly, the diasporic identity of streets such as Petaling Street (Chinatown) has received increasing attention due to diverse development and gentrification plans for the purpose of tourism and urban development. Current and future urban development plans of Kuala Lumpur have led to the need to analyse Petaling Street's identity. Taking this as a point for departure, this paper aims to analyse the contemporary diasporic identity of Petaling street in the face of rapid urbanisation. While there have been studies that addressed Petaling Street's identity, the focus has been from social, cultural and perceptual perspectives which relates to the intangible aspect of place. Taking an alternative stance, this paper studies the contemporary meaning of Petaling Street through the visual communication of facades.Design/methodology/approachAdapting from Odgen–Richard and Parsaee, semiotics, or the study of signs and symbols, is applied as both theoretical and methodological concept to draw meanings. It examines the visual communication of the cultural products that have evolved from the social processes in shaping the street character. Particularly, this paper examines the street identities by studying the contestation of urban sign and symbols of selected street facades.FindingsThe findings reinforced the contestation of identities in Petaling street, with key signifiers of signages, ornament and colour being physical aspects that contest a sense of Chinese-ness. The functional meaning portrayed by the facades due to social, political and economic factors led to the contestations of meaning formed by society that has left the street in a state of irrelevant and unfamiliarity.Practical implicationsIt calls to action for retention of significant urban elements of street facades to prevent further diminution of diasporic meanings which characterise Petaling Street as a whole in the process of urbanisation.Originality/valueIt provides basis to understand the contemporary identity and values of Petaling Street and the shift in meanings that has left the street in a state of irrelevant and unfamiliarity. This can prevent further diminution of diasporic meanings which characterise Petaling Street as a whole in the process of urbanisation.

In the context of cultural confidence and the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), Chinese universities are increasingly pursuing campus cultural branding, yet many existing wayfinding systems lack regional identity. This study aims to develop a sustainable signage strategy for Guangdong Business and Technology University by integrating local ICH symbols like Duan inkstone and Cantonese embroidery into an upgraded wayfinding system. Guided by semiotic theory, we propose a design framework that translates heritage elements through extraction, abstraction, and system-wide application, ensuring both functional navigation and place-based meaning. The framework was evaluated through a questionnaire survey of 250 students and visitors, comparing perceptions of the proposed design with the current system. Results indicate that the ICH-integrated design performs better across key outcomes, with cultural association improving by 91.1% and visual recognizability improving by 29.3%. These findings suggest that modernized semiotic translation of ICH symbols, combined with sustainable materials and fabrication considerations, can strengthen spatial guidance and cultural belonging, offering a practical and transferable approach for campus wayfinding upgrades.

Shijiazhuang (SJZ) started its metro construction rather late as compared to other cities in China, but at present, it has three metro lines in operation. This study critically evaluates the signage of SJZ’s Metro, with a specific focus on embedding regional culture to resonate with the ‘New SJZ, New Style, New Metro’ ethos. Through participatory action research, six local metro users were deeply involved in the design process. Initial cultural probes and interviews assessed the existing signage system. The collected data was analysed through thematic analysis using NVivo 12 and identified regional cultural aspects deemed significant by the users. The study found that while the metro signage system serves its primary functional purpose, there is considerable scope for cultural enrichment. and identified regional cultures were Xibaipo , Xinbai Plaza , Beiguo Commercial Building , Zhengding Ancient City , Zhaozhou Bridge , Hebei Provincial Museum , and SJZ Old Railway Station . These cultures were then extracted and translated to become meaningful visual symbols using a design framework developed based on Morris’s semiotic theory. Specific colours, shapes, pictograms, and fonts for the metro signage system were developed, revised, and finalized with the involvement of the users. The reimagined signage system was found to enhance the user experience by fostering a stronger sense of identity and belonging. It also holds the potential to elevate the city’s image and competitive edge. In demonstrating the interplay between regional cult ure and public transit design, the study contributes to the discourse on cultural representation in urban environments. It posits that a metro system that reflects the city’s heritage can significantly influence civic pride and the city’s cultural narrativ e. Overall, this research provides a framework for infusing regional culture into metro signage system design, with implications for improving urban identity through transportation infrastructure.

This study focuses on the issue of visual sustainability of colors in commercial historical districts, taking the historical area of Xueshi Street–Wuzoufang Street in Suzhou, China as a case study. It explores how to balance modern commercial development with the protection of historical culture. Due to the impact of commercialization and the introduction of various immature protection policies, historical districts often face the dilemma of coexisting “color conflict” and “color poverty”. Traditional color protection methods are either overly subjective or excessively quantitative, making it difficult to balance scientific rigor and adaptability. Therefore, this study provides a detailed literature review, compares and selects current quantitative color research methods, and proposes a comprehensive color analysis framework based on ViT (Vision Transformer), the CIEDE2000 color difference model, and K-means clustering (V-C-K framework). Using this framework, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the color-harmony situation in the studied area, aiming to accurately identify color issues in the district and provide optimization strategies. The experimental results show that the commercial colors of the Xueshi Street–Wuzoufang Street historical district exhibit a clear phenomenon of polarization: some areas have colors that are overly bright, leading to visual conflict, while others have colors that are too dull, lacking vitality and energy; furthermore, some areas display a mix of both conditions. Based on this situation, we then compared the extracted negative colors to the prohibited colors in the mainstream Munsell color system’s urban-color management guidelines. We found that colors with “high lightness and high saturation”, which are strictly limited by traditional color criteria, are not necessarily disharmonious, while “low lightness and low saturation” colors that are not restricted may not guarantee harmony either and could exacerbate the area’s “dilapidated feeling”. In other words, traditional color-protection standards often emphasize the safety of “low saturation and low lightness” colors unilaterally, ignoring that they can also cause dullness and discordance in certain environments. Under the ΔE (color difference value) threshold framework, color recognition is relatively more sensitive, balancing the inclusivity of “vibrant” colors and the caution against “dull” colors. Based on the above experimental results, this study proposes the following recommendations: (1) use the ΔE00 threshold to control the commercial colors in the district, ensuring that the colors align with the historical atmosphere while possessing commercial vitality; (2) in protection practices, comprehensively utilize the ViT, CIEDE2000, and K-means quantitative methods (i.e., the V-C-K framework) to reduce subjective errors; (3) based on the above quantitative framework, while referencing the reasonable parts of existing protection guidelines, combine cooperative collaboration, cultural group color preference surveys, policy incentives, and continuous monitoring and feedback to construct an operable plan for the entire “recognition–analysis–control” process.

… colors. This study evaluates commercial color impacts in Suzhou’s Shiquan Street historic district using … For example, this study developed a color scheme specifically for Shiquan Street, …

… colors in … rebranding of urban spaces on the basis of proposed architectural and design concept offers a wealth of tools for the integrated sustainable development of existing city districts…

The article presents the theoretical framework and the operational concepts of a research, finalized to explore and verify the prerequisites of an approach to urban color that, while recognizing to color the flexible as well as transient capacity to respond to the successive and multiple demands that characterize the urban space, sees a possible way of coexisting between the needs of continuity and renewal. Searching to understand the modalities and possibilities through which colour can intervene in the processes of transformation of the city to support both the needs of resignification and reappropriation and those of conservation and enhancement of the vital identity of each single place, the research looked on one side to the experiences gained within the colour plans and Lenclos' geography of colour and on the other side to the different and diversified experiences developed within the idea and practice of placemaking, aimed at the recognition and enhancement of the collective and plural creative dimension that colour seems effectively able to interpret. The term “ color loci placemaking ” was introduced to summarize this mode/possibility of understanding and approaching urban color, characterized especially by the attention for the specificity of each single place and the human factor underpinning place-experience.

… various heritage protection, conservation, renewal, and regeneration projects. This chapter correlates urban regeneration and building colours from visual and perceptual perspectives. …

… ideology was formed in early time, and since then the reverence for life has resulted in the development of color cognition to the ideology of color symbols as totem worship. In the Xia …

Addressing the issue that evaluations of historic districts often rely heavily on qualitative analysis and lack quantitative support, this study constructs a comprehensive quantitative assessment system integrating the SOR model with image semantic segmentation technology. Taking Cuojie Street in Hefei as a case study, the DeepLab-V3+ algorithm is employed to analyze street-view images, extracting eight physical spatial features—including green view ratio and enclosure ratio—as environmental stimulus variables (S). Combined with the Semantic Difference (SD) method, we quantified the public's psychological perceptions (Organism O) and behavioral responses (Reaction R). Multiple regression analysis indicates: (1) Cultural visual distinctiveness and color diversity are core factors positively driving the perception of historical atmosphere; (2) Enclosure ratio exhibits a significant trade-off effect: while it strengthens cultural identity, excessively high levels lead to a decline in physical comfort; (3) Green view ratio and walkable space play a decisive role in the perception of environmental comfort. Based on this quantitative analysis, this paper proposes micro-renewal strategies such as visual anchoring and color correction, flexible interface design, three-dimensional greening, and refined operation and maintenance. This study precisely maps subjective psychological perceptions to objective physical pixels, providing a scientific reference for evidence-based renewal and sustainable development of similar districts.

… renewal on the Bund: “Contextual Harmony,” “Symbolic Pastiche,… The Symbolic Pastiche typology aims to reconstruct a … components, materiality, and color palettes of historic buildings. …

… visual element, color is one of the important symbols that reflect the … all colors that can be perceived in urban space. In a narrow sense, urban color emphasizes the readability of urban …

This contribution arises from the interest (on the themes of semiotics and communication of architecture, even in its deep meanings) derived from studies and comparisons with Renato De Fusco, Maria Luisa Scalvini, Pio Luigi Brusasco, Pier Tosoni, Alberto Borghini. A question has been confirmed: what can be the meanings of architecture, especially in the visual field? What are its own contents, and what are “other” contents? Around this subject a research team with scholars of the Politecnico di Torino (called “Alpha Group”) was constituted; which has now resumed in a convergent manner to investigate and experiment semiotic in architecture; paying attention to languages of vision. The approach of the chosen method is inspired (in a comparative experiment) to the Nouvelle Rhetorique, the Groupe μ of Liege (with Greimas, Hielmslev, Perelman) internationally known for the definition of an applied rhetoric model—a classic of the human sciences—dedicated to interdisciplinary research, which crosses the aesthetic approach with semiotics, theory of linguistics and visual communication. The first conclusion tends to reinforce the in-depth analysis of the method, and the enhancement of interdisciplinary comparisons, first of all the one with semiotic.

As an essential medium for the cultural narrative of architectural space, studying the cognitive transformation mechanisms of traditional ethnic decorative patterns is critical for their effective preservation and innovative application. This research focuses on typical decorative motifs found in She ethnic architectural heritage, systematically classifying them into five categories—animal, plant, human figure, totem, and geometric—based on symbolic themes, formal structure, and cultural function. Correspondingly, 20 sets of standardized black-and-white line drawing stimuli were developed for experimental use. Methodologically, this study utilized the EyeLink 1000 eye-tracking system to acquire real-time gaze metrics, including fixation duration and saccadic amplitude, as well as pupil dilation responses from participants engaged in a controlled pattern observation task. Immediately after observation, participants completed a semantic differential assessment using a five-point Likert scale. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal–Wallis tests, and Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc comparisons (α = 0.05). Attention allocation was further examined through heatmaps and gaze trajectory visualizations to provide comprehensive insight into visual engagement. Two principal findings were identified: first, male participants showed a predominant focus on holistic structural composition and cultural symbol representation, whereas female participants exhibited a processing bias towards fine details; second, concrete symbols imbued with historical significance elicited more pronounced emotional responses, while abstract geometric patterns necessitated formal reconstruction to enhance cognitive accessibility. These findings offer empirical support for gender-inclusive architectural design strategies and inform practical approaches for safeguarding cultural heritage within contemporary architectural environments. Consequently, modern reinterpretation of traditional decorative patterns should balance cultural narrative fidelity with functional adaptation, achieving inclusive expression through contextual reconstruction and interactive design strategies. Future research directions include expanding participant demographics to encompass cross-cultural cohorts and incorporating multimodal neuroimaging techniques to elucidate the underlying cognitive and affective mechanisms, thereby advancing the sustainable transmission and innovation of ethnic cultural heritage.

Introduction: There is a large gap in the studies and literature dealing with the concept of denotations and connotations in Islamic architecture, whether in terms of a purely geometric or artistic and aesthetic aspect. However, studies addressing these works from the ideological point of view and inferring values are scarce. This gap is a direct result of the problematic method of reading the Islamic artistic plane and its visual reading tools. Purpose of the study: We aimed is to reduce the gap between many European and Muslim researchers in understanding the symbolic connotations of various elements and the aesthetics of abstract vision in the apparent form focusing on the “spiritual component”, and relate to the conscience of the Muslim and his mind without the need for stereotypical visual representation. Methodology: By adopting semiotics as a tool for modern criticism in reading and implicit analysis of the Islamic architectural text, we linked it with the fixed ideological component present in every place and at any time — the spiritual content. Approach: In the course of the study, we interpreted analytical and implicit reading of some Islamic architectural elements and their symbolic connotations. Results: We discuss three design trends that recently appeared in the Islamic world: the direct copying of traditional elements, the contemporary trend, and distinguishing and innovating new design elements based on traditional symbolic connotations. Novelty: Contemporary buildings have lost their identity and value and have turned into soulless creatures. Therefore, it is necessary to highlight the need for returning to cultural and architectural artistic heritage and benefiting from it in finding new and contemporary design solutions using modern digital technical means.

ABSTRACT  Architectural lighting provides optimum visibility for tasks but illuminations convey meanings as well. Though many studies analyze technical dimensions of lighting, research on the meaning is rare. Therefore, this article discusses semiotics as a methodology for lighting design within the design process and critically reflects the appearance of light and architecture. The semiotic discourse starts with terminology and presents models of architectural signs. The history of architectural semiotics serves as a background for the transfer to lighting and leads to an understanding of recent debates. The relevance of semiotics for lighting design is shown in three aspects: Firstly, the influence on the lighting design process; secondly, how physical characteristics of light intensity, distribution, and spectrum are interpreted as signs; and, thirdly, the evaluation of different lighting design tasks like daylight, lamp and luminaire design, interior and exterior lighting, as well as media façades. A critique of architectural and lighting semiotics reveals the methodological limitations of the linguistic concept. It can be concluded that semiotics provides a useful instrument to identify the meaning, which helps to improve the quality of lighting design. The semiotic matrix offers a differentiated view of relationships based on the aspects of sign, object, and interpretant with relation to light characteristics, illuminated buildings, and architectural lighting in general.

The aim of this article is twofold: to make semioticians interested in visual semiotics better acquainted with the very elaborate aspects of color theory, from which they could take models to develop other aspects of visual semiotics, and to make color theorists more familiar with general semiotics, a paradigm that can encompass and organize the whole study of color. General semiotic notions are described and illustrated with examples taken from the domain of color, and an account of some of the advances of color theory is given within the framework of semiotic categories. Aspects such as color semantics, color grammar, color harmony, color combinations, and others, are reviewed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 23: 390–401, 1998

… architects nor engineers in my family tree, although I remember paying a lot of attention to wallpaper colors … I’ve been once, without consulting a map, as long as I navigated there the …

Urban space is composed of various dimensions and contexts that generate urban forms. The spatial distributions of urban elements have different layers of connotative indications associated with Society's shared knowledge. The implying semiotics affect space configuration that could lead either to generate a compact or sprawl urban fabric. However, it is essential to know how the semiotic elements affect space configuration. The research aims to locate semiotic elements that have a role in space configuration. The research methodology depends on finding the semiotic values through a practical survey combined with a GIS tool to locate the correlations between the most valuable signs using the chi-square method. Also, to build a model for assessing the cognitive semiotic elements. The model gives a clue to explain how the spatial configuration is affected by the existence of semiotic values and shifts its values accordingly.

… layer of semiotics in the language of architecture that is still under-represented in the visual studies of architectural … The architecture–language analogical mapping can be developed to …

… Today, semiotics is a transdisciplinary field of research of relevance to a wide spectrum of … ), architectural theory (buildings and urban design as signs), cartography (the signs of/in maps)…

Purpose The impact of colour is acknowledged within the marketing field. However, research on colour communication is limited, with most prior studies focusing on pre-defined meanings or colour associations. The purpose of this paper is to reveal insights into colour meaning and propose an alternative view to understanding colour communication. Design/methodology/approach The study takes a conceptual approach and proposes Peircean semiotics to understand colour communication. The proposed framework is applied to analyse a set of colour meanings detected by prior colour research. Findings The study elucidates the underlying mechanism of how colour is read and interpreted in various marketing activities, and how meaning is conveyed. This study addresses this mechanism by identifying colour semantics and colour as a symbolic, iconic and indexical sign. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to the scholarly knowledge of colour in marketing. It enriches the understanding of how consumers interpret representations of single visual signs expressed in contexts such as products, brands and brand packaging to make informed product decisions. Practical implications By understanding consumer interpretation as a stage in the communication process, marketers can develop more informed marketing activities to communicate the intended meanings. This may well strengthen the brand identity and contribute to the perceived brand value. Originality/value By elaborating on how colours convey meanings and the mechanism that explains such meanings, this study demonstrates that colour meaning is far more than mere association. The study contributes to the current knowledge of colour by facilitating a deeper understanding of how consumers interpret representations of single visual cues expressed in various contexts.

According to the language of post-modern architecture which Charles Jencks proposed in the 1980s, form has been very crucial for architectural language expression. However, many suggestions also imply that the material which is deployed for building is also significant in the linguistic expression of architecture. Based on this consideration, the material use of architecture will also contain semiotic implications, whether for architects or for social consensus. How the material talks and what it says are two questions that need to be clarified. To answer these two questions, some empirical works in architecture will be examined to reveal the messages which could be delivered in architectural materials. Before this, semiotic debates in architecture will be reviewed. Then, two empirical works, one in the West and one in the East, will be considered particularly for their material deployments on the surface (façade). Since the architectural surface is the most tangible part of architecture in terms of material use, the surfaces of both projects will be discussed in detail with their implications and the atmospheres which the materials formulated and created. This paper will conclude with a consideration of the possible implications from these architectural projects and also the different expressions of material use, which will help us to rethink the expression of the material use of architectural surface.

… chromatic intensity visually asserted Western commercial dominance, drowning out smaller vernacular shop signs and reorienting the district’… Its semiotic design reflected the respective …

ABSTRACT This paper presents the implementation of a tool that can be used to characterise chromatic attributes of an urban area. The challenge is to provide statistical and quantitative answers to these questions: how is colour organised, how does it develop its own structure in the city? How can colour appear as an indicator of homogeneity and spatial coherence? We use a K-means statistical clustering technique to produce chromatic types of building façades. Once the chromatic categories are defined, the question of spatial coherence is investigated using the Shannon entropy value as an indicator. Our method was tested through an application to 18 urban fragments of the city of Liège (Belgium). The research highlights the differences between compact urban areas (historic centre, nineteenth century developments) and new urban configurations (city entrances, commercial and peri-urban zones).

Abstract This article presents a general outline of a theoretical and methodological framework for analyzing textscapes. Textscapes are signifying perceptual surfaces that form the interface with the meaning universe of a semiotic eco-system (of, for instance, the life-world of a social actor such as a person, a social group, a community, etc.). In this sense, textscape descriptions and comparisons are of central importance for a semiotics of cultures understood as a text- or discourse-based approach to the description of meaning systems that possess a constitutive and normative status for a semiotic eco-system. The description of such meaning configurations composing the doxa (visions, beliefs, values and norms, know-how, etc.) of a social actor has to rely on a structured approach for dealing adequately with textscapes as the principal data to be studied. Research tasks include the identification of relevant textscapes, the techniques for collecting and conserving them, the analysis of corpora of textscapes or the experimentation with textscapes. In order to illustrate our purpose, we will study two examples of textscapes in a broad sense, understood as signifying 3D-surfaces of the lifeworld of social actors: a typical European open market in Vienna and a middle-class European kitchen. A third example in Hong Kong studies a modern urban communicational textscape.

… in which they are resemanticized in terms of local culture. The objective of this research is to examine the influence of cultural configurations on the visual discourse of brands in Bogotá’…

… renewal in Bologna's cultural district Manifattura delle Arti. … everyday life), and the semiotic resources that it mobilizes for the … /cultural studies and CDA/social semiotic perspectives yields …

… culture to subcultures, eg gay and lesbian cultures, and their derived visual codes? On a theoretical and methodological level, it is worth asking if social semiotics … to keep the chromatic …