The Meaning of Architecture: Critics vs Public

The meaning of architecture: Critics vs the Public: Essay Word Count: 3037

ABSTRACT This paper explores how a building not only produces cultural, social and political meaning through its architecture, but also through the process of its design and construction. It is observed that there can be a disconnection between the meaning of architectural symbols and the public’s understanding of them. This is evident in Enric Miralles’ Post-Modern Scottish Parliament (1999-2004) in Edinburgh, Scotland. A Scottish Parliament building was required after a devolved Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. The building’s architecture was intended to represent the ideals and aspirations of Scottish nationhood. It was a controversial project which, although praised by architects and critics for symbolising Scottish national identity and democracy, has not been well received by the Scottish public. The discontent resulted from contextual social issues and the public’s inability to understand the abstract architectural symbolism that attempts to represent Scottish identity. Semiotic theory outlined in Geoffrey Broadbent’s “A Plain Man’s Guide to the Theory of Signs in Architecture” (1977), is used to analyse the intended and consequential meaning of the Scottish Parliament building. The paper begins by outlining the political context and symbolic importance of a Scottish Parliament building for Scottish people. The architect’s intended meaning is then explored. This is followed an exploration of the origins and meaning of the controversy surrounding the realisation of Miralles’ Scottish Parliament building, by referring to to The Words Between the Spaces (2002) by Thomas Markus and Deborah Cameron. It is argued that although the abstract symbols embedded in the physical architecture may be successful in representing Scottish identity to some, they have not been successfully communicated or understood by the Scottish public. Therefore these abstract symbols can be seen as elitist and undemocratic, undermining the very purpose of the architecture and Parliament. Although considered architecturally unsophisticated, it is suggested that architecture aims to appeal to their users and the general public as they are the most important audience, as it forms part of their everyday environment. It is also proposed that the social context and process of a building’s realisation has the potential to create greater meaning for the public than the architecture itself.