Semiotic reconstruction of Interior Spaces: Case Study of Haveli’s in Gujarat
Humans are capable of constructing meanings and communicating through the form of
artefacts. This is why semiotic considerations are central to design. An entire culture can be
recognised on the basis of its design environment, because that environment embodies human
conceptions and values. However, design is not exclusively about the professionally planned
artefact. This is a fascinating and also a key question for designers, who play a part in
constructing the environment. Design research must look for ways to integrate and understand
people’s choices, attitudes, and expectations. A material product can be conceived as assuming
a pose which resembles a human posture. By virtue of this association the product is said to
express an attitude, an emotion, a style, tradition, etc. Even solid static material objects can
seem to move forward or slink. In this way they acquire characteristics which are not related to
their actual practical function, but ascribe expressive and representational attributes to them.
Products are thus perceived (metaphorically) as active, smiling, joyful, dull, sad or exciting. So
what does this say about Interior spaces? They reflect the worldview of its inhabitants, the
aesthetic choices are ideological and everything about the space speaks to us in a variety of
ways that are waiting to be captured through detailed research, ethnographically, historically
and methodologically.
