Space odyssey

Towards a social semiotic model of three-dimensional space

Bibliographic Data

ID12700512
AuthorsMaree Stenglin (The University of Sydney, corresponding author), Maree Kristen Stenglin (The University of Sydney)
Year2009
Volume8
Issue1
Pages35-64
Publication date2009-01-28
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueVisual Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1470-3572 • E-ISSN: 1741-3214
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1470357208099147
OpenAlexW2098765444
LanguageEN
Citations received30
References cited9

The aim of this article is to articulate a set of principles that can be applied to both the analysis and design of three-dimensional spaces. To achieve this aim, the article discusses the way three-dimensional spaces can be organized as a semiotic resource — a mode, which, like other modes, is multifunctional. The discussion begins by introducing a powerful social semiotic tool, Halliday's metafunctional theory (1978), which has previously been used to theorize numerous semiotic resources in western cultures: language, visual images, speech, music, sound and movement. It then `opens up' a grammar of three-dimensional space using Halliday's notion of three communicative functions. The research presented in this article is illustrated with a museum example, the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Sydney. However, it is equally relevant to natural spaces as well as built spaces across a broad range of other fields: homes, schools, workplaces, retail sites, hospitals and virtual spaces

Grammar · Linguistics · Resource (disambiguation · Semiotics · Set (abstract data type · Social semiotics · Sociology · Computer Science · Cultural Identity and Representation · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Multilingual Education and Policy

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