Tourism by Design: Signature Architecture and Tourism

Abstract

Iconic signature architecture is contradictory to the regional aesthetic in the urban landscape, purposely deviating from the local aesthetic, while at the same time giving a unique visual identifier, thus enhancing the sense of place. The best examples are major tourism attractions and are immediately recognized throughout the world. This research note explores the very visual architecture tourism, “architourism” phenomenon of the early 2000s, and why it may again become relevant. This exploratory study used an online survey to investigate architecture tourists, their types, motivations, and information sourcing. The respondent architecture tourists exist along a continuum from core to accidental, and were primarily driven by building aesthetics. An interest may be provided for future study into the phenomenon of architourism by using this research as a foundation.