Introduction
Space and place are among the most discussed concepts in
architecture. Particularly, these concepts were noticed more
in the modern architecture than it was in the past by architects
and attempts have been made to present a new image of it.
Moreover, the perception of fundamental concepts and basic
characteristics of these two elements would have been useful
in architectural processes and creating the architectural products.
In fact, if the purpose of architecture is creating a space
or a place for dwelling and living (as Heidegger and Norberg-
Schulzhad said), then the questions are: what do space
and place mean exactly? How could these concepts be created
in architecture? Nowadays, identity and sense of belonging are
among the fundamental issues in architecture and urban
design, especially in cities and regions with a historical background,
it has become very important. These are such topics
which have been related directly to space and place concepts,
thus, highlighting the necessity of discussion about these concepts.
There are a lot of different methods for recognizing and
analyzing these concepts in architecture. So, this article has
attempted to present an approach based on semiology
knowledge. Then, the capability of the semiology approach
in analyzing the concepts of space and place in architecture
has been investigated and its abilities and characteristics have
been achieved.
Space and place concepts in architecture
Although we use the word ‘space’ very commonly in our daily
life, the concept of space is quite complicated and makes it difficult
to define [1]. However, attempts to offer a definition for
space are assigned to Plato and Aristotle [2]. Heidegger [3] did
not consider space as something which stands in front of the
humans, rather than in his view, space is neither an external
nor an inner experience. Space is not something predetermined
and fixed; In fact, it is the personal location which defines the
space [4]. Moreover, the perception of space is only possible
in the presence of the perceptible objects therefore space is the
relation among objects [5]. Space, based on its English lexical
concepts, can be classified into three types of geographical
space, living space and (interior or central) architectural space
[4]. Bruno Zevi [6] considered space as the basis of architecture
which architecture obtains its characteristics based on it. Table 1
presents the characteristics of space and place in architecture.
While space is an open and abstract area, place is not considered
as a subjective and abstract concept [7], it rather is a
location or a part of space which obtains its particular identity
through the factors inside it [4] and has a meaning and value.
Place is the base of a direct connection with the world and the
human life spot and it means beyond the position and origin
[7]. Therefore, it is full of meaning, physical reality and human
experiences and is considered as ‘‘the center of sensible value’’
[8]. Heidegger [3] discussed that the places make it possible for
a space to exist hence be built, like a constructed place establishes
and links the spaces. The mission of architecture is to
activate the potential content of environment by converting
somewhere to a place, thus the final goal of architecture is creating
and also protecting a place [9]. Table 1 indicates the characteristics
of a place from the point of view of some scholars.
In fact, place can be considered as the synthesis of space organization
and the built form, and Paolo Portoghesi defined it as
the ‘‘system of places’’ [9].