Iconic Architectural Structures - Essay Example

By understanding the denotation and connotation attached to iconic architecture, the role of the same can be understood. In the particular case of the World Trade Center, it is observed that the meaning or significance of the architecture has been changing over time with the time period almost divided as before and after the September 2001 attacks or more popularly known as 9/11. It is further observed that the new architectures are increasingly instrumental in defining the places which can be attributed more to the increased influence of myths and the political ideologies than the more subtle semiotics and the simpler symbolism.

This dissertation work titled 'Will the new iconic architectural structures carry the same intrinsic meaning in defining the cities' is carried out to study and understand the various aspects of building iconic architectures and the different meanings attributed to the visual structures. The various monuments or architectures built in the different time periods have attained an iconic status and always remain to occupy a special place in the history of the place and time. These structures have been conveying a myriad of simple to complex meanings.

The theories proposed by various cultural theorists and urbanists like Gaston Bachelard in his 'Poetics of Space' (Ockman, 2001), Roland Barthes's theory of 'language of Signs' (Barthes, n.d.), Pirece's 'Threefold approach in understanding the complete meaning of any iconic architecture' (Chandler, 2005)