从结构到解构的符号——论罗兰·巴特《符号帝国》中的“空”与“无”

《符号帝国》是罗兰·巴特在解构主义时期用符号学的视点完成的一本关于日本社会文化生活的著作.在对日本社会文化符号的考察中,巴特跨越了早期受索绪尔影响而形成的“科学化”、“体系化”的结构主义符号学观点,感受到了符号的一种“空”和“无”的特点.符号的能指和所指断裂,能指不再对应单一或终极的所指,符号的意义也被无限的推延.在这种对符号新的思考和认识中,巴特也最终完成了向解构主义的转向.     

The international reception of The Family of Man

This paper examines the role of The Family of Man in American cultural diplomacy. The exhibition was circulated around the world by the United States Information Agency (USIA), a government unit charged with distributing information about the culture and civic institutions of the US. The reception of the exhibition by the international viewing public is discussed. The discussion is informed, in part, by photographs documenting visitors to the exhibition.     

An Architecture of Exception: Transgressing the Everyday – Superflex's Flooded McDonald's

In Flooded McDonald's, a film by Danish artists' collective Superflex, the familiar sight of the fast-food restaurant is replaced by ‘a slowly emerging apocalyptical composition’, as the interior floods, objects are displaced and the retail space fills with water. Jonathan Mosley describes how this destabilised and other disaster-invoked visions of architecture – structures and spaces breaking down – enable us to use our imagination to test the parameters of the everyday.     

The Deep Structure of the Picturesque

The late Paul Coates was one of the first students at the Architectural Association (AA) in London to submit an international computation-based diploma, in 1969. Responsible for introducing a series of computational techniques, Coates was also the founder of the MSc in Computing and Design at the University of East London, and in 2002 the Centre for Evolutionary Computing in Architecture (CECA). In this unpublished article from 2008, which has been prepared and rewritten for publication by Christian Derix , Coates recounts his pursuit of ‘the particle physics of architecture’ - geometric rules that inform both unplanned and planned human occupation of space.     

Michael Fried's Modernist Theory of Photography

This essay critically analyses Michael Fried's book Why Photography Matters as Art as Never Before. It examines the relevance of Fried's categories of absorption and theatricality to contemporary photography and his assumption that photography is an inherently modernist art. In his book Fried explains the shift to large-scale colour photographs in the 1980s as signalling a return to problems of beholding, which dominated painting since the 1750s and 1760s. In contrast, this essay argues that this shift reveals the importance of the legacy of conceptualism and minimalism to recent photography and, in particular, the role of the conceptual ‘document’ within contemporary artistic practices.     

Serving,Owning, Authoring

Service provider or creative – which is the architect's primary role? And what legal, economic and ethical implications does each aspect carry? Architect and theorist David Ruy examines evolving business models in the architectural profession, from forays into property management to a focus on intellectual property rights, and considers the complexities of copyright law in the digital era.     

Etude electrochimique de la diffusion de l'oxygene sec,ou en solution aqueuse,a travers des films macromoleculaires de peinture

A common way to protect metal against corrosion is to avoid or to diminish the diffusion of atmospheric oxygen onto the oxidable metal by means of a macromolecular layer of paint. In the automobile industry, the first layers are deposited by electrophoresis. An electrochemical cell has been implemented in order to measure directly the diffusion of oxygen throughout these films. With this cell, the permeability to oxygen of these films has been determined against different parameters: constitution and age of the film, temperature, humidity. The diffusion activation energy of oxygen has also been determined in the case of wet and dry films.     

The Elliot Marbles

Abstract

Though not as well known as the Elgin Marbles,¹ the Elliot Marbles, also latterly called the Amaravati Marbles, are likewise in the safe custody of the British Museum, London.     

CONTINUUM: A Self-Engineering Creature-Culture

An interdisciplinary design research collaborative led by Alisa Andrasek, CONTINUUM emerged from a series of design research seminars at Columbia University's graduate school of architecture. Working collaboratively with Robert Aish, Andresek's workshops explored the potential of the new Bentley Systems' GenerativeComponents design software, which at the time was in beta testing. CONTINUUM was formed to extend the possibilities of such collaborations and has expanded its network, occupying an interesting and unique territory of intersecting interests between academia, corporate practice and the companies that create design tools. Traditionally understood as antagonistic, commercial and progressive interests and intentions find common ground in their shared need for research into advanced design software that will enable the retooling of architectural practice. Here, Pia Ednie-Brown, with illustrations by Alisa Andrasek, examines the unique ways in which CONTINUUM enfolds diverse professional and academic practices. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.