On semiotics of infrastructure and concept of architecture: How can the mytho-poetic nucleus of a nation penetrate its contemporary culture through hermeneutical analyses?

Seyed Javad Tahghighi Jahromi¹ Hemn Amani²

1) Master of Architecture Graduate, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University (SBU), Tehran, Tehran, Iran - Email:
2) Lecturer in Architecture, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Technical and Vocational University (TVU), Tehran, Tehran, Iran – Email:

IOI Code : AAAA-AAHBBD
Publication : Second International Conference on Civil Engineering, Architecture, Development and Reconstruction of Urban Infrastructure(icduconf.com)
Abstract :
    University is not merely an object in the sphere of space. It is a level of knowledge and awareness; it is a level of mental form that goes beyond the dimensions of space and its existential essence is the events that occur beyond its time. This can be seen side by side with the concept of the Tree of Life in the relief on the Taq-e Bostan, which was later used in the semiotics, semantics, and phenomenology of Shiraz University; as we all know today, the Tree of Life, regardless of its physical sphere, is the embodiment of what man has always sought: eternity and immortality. The belief in the tree as a symbol of transcendence, peak, and authority became more objective from the Sumerian civilization onwards and was used as a symbol in the formation of the concept of many buildings and ideas of mythological man. Thus, the belief in the Tree of Life was formed and an academic environment (Shiraz University) was exploited as an identity. The location and placement of the dormitories and the central core of Shiraz University on the highest point of the city, as well as the centrality of this core, are the objectification of such a perspective. In this study, we examine the central core of Shiraz University from a hermeneutic and semiotic standpoint to conclude how, at Shiraz University, architecture functioned as a tool that conceived design as a process that could objectify the ancient ideology and mythical nucleus of a nation in its most important contemporary cultural institutions, regardless of formal experiences and physical form. For this enlightenment, we use the science of interpretation or hermeneutics to decipher the messages, signs, and meanings hidden in the idea of design. In this research, the writing proceeds in such a way that architecture and urban planning appear not in their conventional sense but as historical memories in the role of guardians of the memory and meaning of a society and use the knowledge of semantics to understand ideology, concept, and conjecture about its structure. The approach of this research is reductionist. It does not specifically deal with history, but it leverages history to achieve its purpose and uses only a visual reference to make the main point clearer. The research method in this research is historical interpretation and re-interpretation and uses knowledge such as semiotics, stylistics, archaeology, etc. to achieve final recognition and knowledge.

Keywords : central core of the shiraz university eram campus mythical nucleus of a nation tree of life lotus concept in architecture