Symbolism

Definition

Symbolism is the mode of signification in which a sign relates to its object by convention, habit, or rule rather than by resemblance (icon) or causal connection (index). In Peirce's triadic semiotics, the symbol is the most sophisticated sign type — it depends on a community of interpreters and the "growth of signs" through use. In architecture, symbolism names the ways buildings carry meaning that is not inherent in their form but assigned by culture: the church steeple as symbol of sacred aspiration, the glass tower as symbol of corporate transparency. For Jencks, the architectural symbol becomes the "enigmatic signifier" — a form that gestures toward meaning without fixing it, which makes the building "iconic." For Sklair, symbolism is the ideological vehicle of the culture-ideology of consumerism: iconic architecture is "symbolic" in the service of capitalist hegemony. The tension between Peircean (pragmatic, indexical) and Saussurean (structuralist, conventional) accounts of symbolism runs through the wiki.

Key Thinkers

• Charles Sanders Peirce — the symbol as conventional sign; the growth of symbols through community.
• Charles Jencks — the "enigmatic signifier" as architectural symbol.
• Leslie Sklair — symbolism as ideological vehicle of consumerist hegemony.
• Robert Venturi — symbolism as communication; denotative vs connotative symbolism.
• Denise Scott Brown — commercial symbolism and signage.

Related Concepts

• Semiotics — the broader study of signs of which symbolism is one mode.
• Indexicality — the evidential, material sign that complements symbolism.
• Beauty — often conflated with the symbolic dimension of architecture.

Source Support

Sources in the wiki that discuss this concept:

• Peirce for Architects — Peirce's triadic sign system and the symbol.
• venturi-1977-learning-from-las-vegas — denotative vs connotative symbolism; commercial symbolism.