Architecture as Communication: A Medium Like No Other

Media theory has long overlooked the built environment and its communicative capacity: how built structures and spaces convey meaning through material embodiment and symbolization. Architecture as Communication advances the idea that built environments function as media of communication. Using practice theory in conjunction with the concept of style, this book is anchored in three historical determinants: the quest for perfect proportion in buildings, the belief in architectural determinism, and the ongoing efforts within other media to influence how those who experience built environments understand them. Ross Eaman explores how houses, schools, places of worship, factories, office buildings, stores, malls, opera houses, plazas, and parks have meaning for people as subjective life-worlds. Architecture as Communication proposes media theory that articulates the social construction of meaning as a unique way of understanding the built environment - one in which the users and observers of structures and spaces participate along with architects and designers. Architecture, according to Eaman, encompasses the multiplicity of communication as human interaction, preparing people for what they are about to encounter, signalling how they should act, and selectively enabling them to perform their expected role. Using examples across many historical periods and cultures, Architecture as Communication argues that we judge our built environments by the values they communicate.

Ross A. Eaman is adjunct research professor at Carleton University.