Intertextuality in Contemporary Architectural Practice: Citation, Analogy, and the Fabrication of Referentiality in the Hypertextual Environment

Abstract

The contemporary cultural context is shaped by hyperlinks as a tool for establishing references that form our interpretations of notions, concepts, and phenomena into a cohesive narrative. This paper aims to examine the practice of visual citing in the architectural discipline as a methodology that takes the principle of intertextuality from the discourse of literary art and introduces it into the design process. Furthermore, the work intends to conceptualize a framework of stylistic functions that references serve in the design process relative to aesthetic qualities valued within different cultural and social conditions. Concerning examples of the analogical method in postmodern stylistic expression, the paper tries to translate the principles inherently found in the architectural discipline into the context of contemporary practice. In the process, the question of anonymous reference sources is posed due to the lack of a unifying method for their notation. Finally, by comparing the notions of hypertext and intertext, the intention is to understand the semiological relations established between the works of independent authors and the causes of the disparity between references used in the design process and those subsequently created.