Wege in die Stadt oder das Lesen der Stadt als Zeichen

Abstract

The town, its streets and buildings are analysed from a dynamic point of view, which is a multiple one. It may consider the factors which led to the birth, growth and complexification of the town (the morphogenetic perspective). In this case the »meaning« of the town is reduced to basic environmental and social factors (forces, attractors). In the heart of a town relevant concentrations of urban meanings occur and are made visible in the architecture of the cathedral, the town-hall and so on. These demonstrate personal and political intentions (the cultural perspective). These constellations and forces are exemplified by the semiotic analysis of the Hanseatic City of Bremen. In a final part the destruction of a historical quarter is analysed as a negative semiosis, which has strange side effects. One can observe a later renaissance of destroyed sign-structures and conflictual interpretations of more recent urban developments. In general it can be shown that beyond individual sign users a town has its own collective »meaning« space. It reflects the affordances that places, buildings, and streets have for human users (their potential for actions, reactions, and interpretations) and contains intended messages exchanged in different periods between social groups in the city.