MAAKuniCCS

Semiotics in all its general sense, stands for the study of role of 'signs' in our human society and how these signs are used, and actually, have been used over time, to either shape or manipulate the society we live in today. Roland Barthes, who was a French philosopher and writer, investigated the field of semiotics and wrote about what these signs actually were and how they communicated ideas to people. He firmly believed that signs that are used to communicate ideas do not just involve words, but instead cover a much broader spectrum, such as the way people carry themselves in public and the ideas the intend to project through their getup (clothes, hairstyles, body language etc.). He therefore settled on the point that signs can also be visual. This (semiotics) exactly, is the tool used by the media industry to communicate certain messages to the public in both a direct and subliminal manner. The various ways in which information is represented under semiotics can include words, images, gestures, textures, sounds etc.

Roland Barthes:

Over time certain objects or subjects have been used by the media to establish a base of meanings behind these chosen objects that have formed our society's shared culture and language. These objects themselves may not mean anything but the way we have implemented their importance and significance in our day to day lives shapes how we perceive the ideas projected by the media through these objects. These objects are called 'signifiers' and can refer to anything from an expression to an outfit. These signifiers are used in various ways to signify one or more ideas, and these ideas are referred to as the 'signified' in the field of semiotics. 

Most of the times, people will all resolve to the same basic idea a sign is intended to project, just as how it is very crucial to agree to have common and proper communication within the members of the society to avoid any misunderstandings or misinterpretations of signs. But sometimes, we tend to extract different, and in some case contradictory, meanings and ideas form the same signs. Due to this reason, signs or signifiers have been separated into two domains, objective and subjective signifiers. Objective signifier are generally very obvious and direct and point to a very specific idea intended to be raised in the minds of the people. On the subjective signifiers can be any that spark your memories and make you either thing of something from your past or perhaps something within your culture or lifestyle, which may not hold true for another person from another background. In this category (subjective signifiers), the various factors affecting the type of information we receive would depend on factors such as life experiences, memories, encounters, lifestyles, education, nationality, ethnicity etc.

To be able to understand and pick out the different obvious and hidden signs within the media depends on ones understanding of the world and their intellectual capacity. Most people do not even realize the amount of signs they are exposed to in their daily lives and how these signs have an important role in shaping the minds of these people. The media takes advantage of this factor and has the power to move peoples thoughts and shape their decisions and extract intended reactions.

It is quite interesting to see how the concept semiotics is used and what it actually tells us about how the world functions, and also how we as a society are very easily manipulated. What is also interesting to note is that signs are not merely words but are a lot more diverse and seep through all parts of our lives.

To further explore the concept of semiotics, an ad for a fashion brand has been taken and has been broken down to analyze what the different signifiers are and what each of them represent both objectively and subjectively.

The brand's name is Sisley and the advert shows two young women leaning forward to a table to sniff in drugs, only here the drugs is actually a product of the brand, a white dress. The text below the brand name reads 'Fashion Junkie', referring to the lifestyle of 'junkies', people who resort to drugs to make it through the day. The very objective idea the ad is trying to project here is that these girls are addicted to fashion so much that it's almost like a drug addiction.

Moreover, the way they have done their make up and how their expressions are adds to the theme of drug addiction. They look week physically, and their expressions are projecting a state of being high under the influence of substance abuse.

The brand is trying to target a specific type of audience. The theme of the surroundings of these women suggests that they are in a nightclub and are regular partygoers. Their dark makeup also suggests that they have bought into this kind of hard and edgy lifestyle and represent themselves very strongly. They come of as young people with strong personalities, the ones you wouldn't want to get into a fight with. The brand is definitely trying to target this king of young and rugged audience and up to an extent support their lifestyle.

It is also interesting to note how the entire image, except for the white text and the white dress, is quite dim and dark. It kind of represents two extremes within one ad. Darkness or guilt with lightness or purity. It looks as though the girls are drenched in the darkness and are seeking the 'light' and the brand is project the role of this lighter side.

by Mirza A. A. Khoyee

The gap between the physical world and the virtual world has shortened more and more from the time the first computer was invented to the present day, where modern computer technology is accessible by all in various portable formats, becoming integral parts of our lives.

As a speaker at a TED conference, Jinha Lee discusses his work as an interface designer, engineer and product strategist experimenting with the boundaries of the physical and the digital worlds. He talks about how he began to experiment with this idea and explored the possibility of a reality which did not have any such gap or boundary between the two worlds. He has created various devices that augment responses to various stimuli in the real world. He has done so by designing objects that are simple to use and have similarities to other objects of similar functions applicable in the real world such as a pen, for example.

One of his devices, termed 'Beyond', acts as a 'pen' on an electronic surface – a screen. He was inspired by the idea of reaching into the screen and manipulating things within the realm of the virtual world. The device, when presses against the screen, collapses in the real world and extends into the virtual digital world from the surface of the screen. Now the user gets an impression that their physical stylus has extended into the virtual 3 dimensional world and has broken the barrier between the two. The user can now draw and sculpt in the 3D virtual space using the augmented extension of the stylus.

Jinha Lee's 'Beyond' in use:

He then talks about how he further wanted to explore into the idea of how it would feel to experience interaction with 3D virtual objects within the computer by using only bare hands. In collaboration with Microsoft, he studied and experimented with the space available around the computer and resolved a design that created a digital workspace above the keyboard. The idea here is to combine the 2D interactions with the computer such as typing, scrolling, drawing and clicking with the 3D spatial interaction gestures of the real physical world. The design of this 'SpaceTop' computer comprises of a transparent display and depth cameras (that sense the finger movements of the user) that are ereceted above the keyboard of the computer. When using the SpaceTop, users can lift up their hands from the keyboard into the space beneath the transparent screen display, giving them the impression of having their hands inside the virtual world display of the computer. Now, the users can 'reach inside' the 3D space and 'grab' pixels using their bare hands. The user interface software of the SpaceTop is also very real world-like. Documents and files are arranged in horizontal stacks, like in a drawer of files and can easily be accessed and manipulated using bare hands.

Jinha Lee's 'SpaceTop' in use:

Exploring further, he began to think about how we could allow the digital world to reach us instead of us having to reach inside it and interact with it. Experimenting with the the technology of augmented reality (AR), he has implemented this idea onto the market of online shopping. Allowing the system to understand the geometry of the user's body, and the usage of a head-mounted or see-through display, the system is able to project the chosen item onto the body of the user in the real world through the virtual digital world.

by Mirza A. A. Khoyee

INTRODUCTION:

Both fashion and architecture revolve around the idea of housing within them, the 'human factor'. Due to this the meaning of fashion and architecture differs from person to person. This has lead architects and fashion designers to create different and distinct, and sometimes conflicting and controversial forms, patterns and designs at both conceptual and practical levels. Therefore, it is no surprise that the two fields of design have common connections between them and, especially evident in more recent years, share strategies and techniques in terms of design processes, aesthetic and visual directions of approach to design, and contemporary and technological fabrication and production techniques. Architects and fashion designers both, have explored similar concepts of design and have represented their interpretations in their work. The similarities in their shared concepts have also resulted in the similarities in certain aspects between their works. 

GEOMETRY:

Professionals of both fields have studied and experimented with geometrical patterns and forms and how they adapt to the human body (fashion), or vice-versa (architecture). Elisa Stroyzk, a German former MA design student form London's Central St. Martins College has fabricated a 'wooden textile' with wood veneer geometric (triangular) offcuts that are laser-cut and glued to a fabric base by hand. This product explores the ability of the triangular grid pattern to move in a flexible manner like fabric, and be molded into different three-dimensional shapes creating astonishing effects blurring the lines between textiles and hard architectural materials. When asked about what inspires her, Stroyzk said, “Material itself and our presumptions about it. I like to switch properties and meanings and pose questions like: Can a hard material be liquid or soft? I look at everyday objects around us and try to rethink their function or imagine hybrids between them.” (Etherington, 2009) Stroyzk's new innovative textile has been applied by her in design as the 'Miss Maple' pendant lamp that changes this material to a sculptural object.

Elisa Stroyzk's 'Wooden Textile':

Elisa Stroyzk's 'Miss Maple' Pendant Lamp:

Furthermore, Icelandic fashion designer Sruli Recht, in collaboration with Stroyzk, in his Autumn/Winter 2013 menswear collection, featured clothes designed with this wooden fabric. The triangular grid of the garments morphed geometrically to the form of the model's body creating dynamic sculptural effects, but at the same time having the ability to move with it.

Sruli Recht's Autumn/Winter 2013 Menswear Collection:

Similar triangular grid patterns are also very present in form-making in large scale architecture. The design of the UAE Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010, designed by architectural firm, Foster + Partners, uses the triangular grid to create curved three-dimensional forms, inspired by the topographical characteristics of the UAE, i.e., the undulating curves of the desert sand-dunes. The firm described the project by saying, “The landscape and climate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are an elemental part of Emirati culture. The form of the UAE Pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai Expo naturally drew inspiration from the vast rolling sand dunes that are a common feature of all seven emirates. The changing light and colours of the desert were further evoked in the building's reflective skin of gold-coloured stainless steel.” (Foster + Partners, 2010) They further added, “The complex shell forms, whose slopes rose to a peak of 20 metres, were cloaked in stainless-steel cladding configured on a 2-metre triangulated grid.” (Foster + Partners, 2010) 

Foster + Partners' UAE Pavilion, Shanghai Expo 2010:

DRAPING:

Similarities exist between the design processes in fashion and architecture from the initial process of sketching to the final processes of manufacturing, fabrication and production. Since both architecture and fashion involve form-making, it is very likely that professionals from both fields would look into each other's works, techniques and methodologies of fabrication and construction. Architectural and urban design firm, Heatherwick Studio, has designed a Buddhist Temple, whose form has been inspired by and experimenting with fabric draping. The design process involved experimentation with different fabrics until finally deciding to use a rubberized foam fabric and looking at different examples of draping both in and out of the context of the project to get a better understanding of how a singular silhouette can hold together multiple spaces and functions within a building together. The studio described the project by saying, “After modelling with clay led us to produce awkward, ugly shapes, we wondered if fabric, with its sophisticated draping forms, might give us the combination of cohesion and flexibility we were looking for. Thinking of the stiff silk robes worn by our client, the Buddhist priest, we tried to achieve the kinds of folds that you see in cloth depicted in Old Master paintings. After experimentation, we found a rubberised foam material that could crease and undulate, as well as rationally defining spaces like escape stairs and monks’ cells, and allowed this material to manipulate itself into a temple. (The priest later said that the building reminded him of the soft cushion which the Buddha sits on.)” (Heatherwick Studio) The form was then scanned using a three-dimensional scanner at a local hospital, and was then further worked on using CAD and 3D modelling software. 

Heatherwick Studio's 'Temple':

TEXTURE:

The studio's award-winning UK Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010, the Seed Cathedral, is a representation of exploration of texture on a large architectural scale. Inspired by the movement of grass in the 1985 film Witness, the entire facade of the building consists of optic acrylic hairs that extrude from within the building to the outside and give the building a silvery organic furry look. The studio intended this to become not only the texture of the buildings' facade, but also the form of the building itself. The optic rods would transmit daylight into the pavilion and emit artificial light out of it at night, and would sway softly in the breeze. The studio described the project, saying, “Predicting that many of the Expo’s pavilions might follow architectural trends in form-making, we chose instead to concentrate on exploring texture. We were thinking of the opening sequence of the 1985 film Witness, in which the camera pans across a field of grass swirled into patterns by the wind. On this windy riverside site, we wanted to make the building’s façade behave like this grass... It also seemed that if you magnified the texture of a building enough, the texture would actually become its form. We were excited by the idea of making the outside of the building so indefinite that you cannot draw a line between building and sky because they merge into each other.” (Heatherwick Studio) The further added, “By day, the pavilion’s interior is lit by the sunlight that comes in along the length of each rod and lights up the seed ends. You can track the daily movement of the sun and pick out the shadows of passing clouds and birds and, when you move around, the light moves with you, glowing most strongly from the hairs that point directly towards you. By night, light sources inside each rod illuminate not only the seed ends inside the structure, but the tips of the hairs outside it, covering the pavilion in tiny points of light that dance and tingle in the breeze.” (Heatherwick Studio) 

Heatherwick Studio's Seed Cathedral, Shanghai Expo 2010:

Exploration with texture is also evident in the field of fashion. Up and coming Dutch fashion designer Iris Van Harpen in collaboration with product designer Jolan Van Der Wiel, focusing on exploration with texture, created three dresses experimenting with the idea of magnetism. Iron filings were mixed with synthetic resin material. Van Der Wiel experimented with the material to achieve a desirable flexible outcome. The material was then applied on fabric cloth bases that were sketched out by Van Harpen, into the desired shapes of the dresses. The material was pulled up from the surface of the fabric with the help of magnets hovering above to create intricate textures and patterns and variations in colour. Van Der Wiel said, “The technique still uses magnetism but with a new material that's much more flexible and tactile, like a hairy skin that's soft to touch. The material moves with the body much better than what we've used previously.” (Howarth, 2013) Van Harpen added, “The first dress we made was shaped like the moon, With the second, I wanted the material to grow around the body more organically.” (Howarth, 2013)

Dresses by Iris Van Harpen + Jolan Van Der Wiel:

CONCLUSION:

Therefore it is evident that both fashion and architecture share common approaches to design and construction and can easily influence and learn from each other. Contemporary and modern technological means of approach have allowed these types of cross disciplinary applications and methodologies between the two fields and the opening of new doors for collaboration through newer techniques in the near and foreseeable future.

REFERENCE LIST:

1. Etherington, R. (2009) Wooden Carpet by Elisa Stroyzk. Available at:

http://www.dezeen.com/2009/05/06/wooden-carpet-by-elisa-stroyzk/ (Accessed 21 October 2013)

2. Foster + Partners (2010) UAE Pavilion Shanghai Expo 2010 | Projects | Foster + Partners.Available at:

http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/uae-pavilion-shanghai-expo-2010/(Accessed 23

October 2013)

3. Heatherwick Studio. Temple « Heatherwick Studio. Available at:

http://www.heatherwick.com/temple/(Accessed 22 October 2013)

4. Heatherwick Studio. UK Pavilion « Heatherwick Studio.Available at:

http://www.heatherwick.com/uk-pavilion/(Accessed 22 October 2013)

5. Howarth, D. (2013)Magnetic dresses by Iris van Herpen and Jólan van der Wiel. Available at:

http://www.dezeen.com/2013/07/30/magnetic-grown-dresses-by-iris-van-herpen-and-jolan-van-

by Mirza A. A. Khoyee

Fashion Forward Dubai (FFWD) is currently the number one event platform that helps in connecting designers with the right investors to lead to explorations of collaborative setups between them. Designers' collections are presented to a wide range of audience in the form of a number of fashion shows so that their works receive the right attention to help them flourish as high end brands and labels. FFWD came together after the study and understanding of the talent and potential that exists in the regional fashion scene.

The Middle East is one of the major markets of business for the fashion and luxury brands industry. A great number of major international fashion brands saw increase in their sales in the ME region in the past few years, despite the presence of the global recession. Therefore it is quite clear that the region contains within it great potential for growth in the fashion business scene. However, almost all regional retail store businesses focus on international brands who have already gained international recognition in terms of their design work and production. This has resulted in the negligence of the local and regional designers as they find it hard to get their designs to the market and survive in this cut-throat industry.

The fashion scene in Dubai has seen significant growth in the last few years and has also attained global attention. Therefore, it is important to focus on enhancing and promoting the local design talent and raise their standard to that of the international market. For an individual designer, achieving this task might seem impossible. Awareness of the impact of fashion needs to be increased at various levels of education and not just for design students, thereby creating a general understanding of what fashion is, and what fashion does, in terms of everyday life and business. The local design market needs to be promoted so that global buyers get attracted to look at the designs of the region and consider them as standard fashion collections designed per season. Local designers also need to be provided with proper infrastructure to expand and explore their business opportunities. They should also be provided with a chance to showcase their designs to a wider audience and market.

Fashion Forward Dubai is the idea that aims to solve these very issues. Last season's inaugural show gained enough recognition to turn it into the premier fashion event of the region. The season two event will run from October 15, 2013 to October 18, 2013 and will be highlighted as a glamorous Eid fashion community event, thus creating a lot of the much needed buzz.

This year's show will be attended by well known and reputable personalities such as members from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), famous designers, trend setters, and marketers, and will hold various workshops and panel discussions termed 'd3 fashion talks'. These discussions will include relevant topics about the fashion business in the current region, such as e-commerce and setting up a fashion brand.

Experts believe that it will be a very educational and engaging event and expect great positive response from the stakeholders of the local scene, including designers, buyers and retail groups. The event also hopes to attract a lot of the international fashion design, marketing and retailing community and hopes for them to share their experiences of FFWD season 2 all over the world.

All of these steps have been considered to attract enough attention to the works of the local designers, whose catwalk shows will be orchestrated during the 4 days of the event. 22 designers (13 returning, 9 new), all of which include some of the region's crème de la crème when it comes to the fashion design industry, will be showcasing their work at FFWD. These designers too, believe strongly in the efforts put into this seasons FFWD event, and consider it the right way of approaching the goal of making Dubai a major fashion hub and trend setter.

Judging by the amount of buzz and popularity created for this event, and the amount of money spent in its marketing, the revenue made and also most importantly, by the degree of talent pouring out from the region and exposed through this event, one can clearly understand the importance of its role in helping Dubai reach its goal of becoming the regional fashion and design hub by the year 2020. it has given the freedom and opportunities to these designers that they previously didn't have and had worked on helping them make their stance in the international fashion market one season at a time.  

by Mirza A. A. Khoyee

The Bishop Edward King Chapel was designed by the firm Niall McLaughlin Architects as a community gathering and congregational center and church for the community at the Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, 10 miles away from central Oxford. The college is a training and research facility for the Church of England and believes in together and the sense of a community and contains residential and non-residential arrangements for its students and staff.

The architects were required to adhere to the needs of the different communities on the campus which included students and nuns. The site of this chapel is on a hill behind the college campus buildings and contains on and around it natural elements such as trees that have been protected by legislating and preservation bodies. Furthermore, the campus building itself has a significant heritage importance as it was designed by George Edmund Street who extensively practiced the Victorian Gothic Revival style in the nineteenth century (mid 1800s). Therefore it was important for the architects to consider these factors and respect their presence on site. The idea here was for the building to compliment the characteristics of its surroundings humbly, but at the same time have its own character in terms of a contemporary structure.

The architects aimed for the ability of the design to be able to enhance the spirituality and religiosity of its users. They drew inspiration from the roman word 'nave' which refers to the central space in the church and further correlated the word to 'navis' meaning ship, and the still center of a rotating wheel. The design represents two spaces, one being a central still place on the ground for the gathering of people for congregation, and an overhead timber structure representing a ship floating or flying in air for the gathering of sound from below and light entering from the surrounding clerestory windows, reaching heights of spirituality and divinity.

The simplicity in the form of the outer shell of the design to harmonize with its natural surroundings, yet expression of complexity in the surface textures complementing the complexity of design of the campus building of Victorian Gothic Revival style wasn't expressed any better than the usage of natural stones in terms of their subtle earthy colour choices and their dramatic placements to create textures along the silhouette of the building.

The internal design of the chapel resonates with the history of its site and surrounding buildings in terms of architecture. Timber arch frames that rise from around and above the central 'nave' of the chapel, represent a contemporary interpretation of giant internal decorative arches of the churches of the Gothic Revival style.

The design is very appropriate to the users as it aids at enhancing the experience of holiness, connectivity and peace.

by Mirza A. A. Khoyee

Philosophy on Architecture

Known as a contemporary philosopher and writer, Alain De Botton has always given high regard to the importance of philosophy and critical thinking and analysis in our day to day lives. He as also been awarded a position as an honorary fellow of the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) for his philosophical analysis and contributions to the field of architecture.

Alain De Botton's view on architecture in his book 'Architecture of Happiness', is quite a conceptual and philosophical one in regards to the role of architecture and design in our day to day lives. He argues that the quality and characteristics of the objects that make up our surroundings can cause happiness or misery in our lives and effect our mental state. Our state of mind and how we perceive the world around us can change drastically based on where we are. Architecture and design too is one of those surrounding factors and can either downgrade or enhance our lives based on whether it is beautiful or ugly.

He further argues on the topic by asking the question, 'What is a beautiful building?' He then attempts at finding the answer by studying the shift in architectural styles and the concepts and ideals they symbolize. Perhaps it is not as much the physical attributes of a design that makes us call it beautiful, as that of the ideas and personalities the object of design represents and speaks to us about.

One can therefore say that it is because we judge design so much, we tend to personify inanimate objects and by doing that we give these objects morals and values based on how they look and feel. We conclude on a design as a beautiful design when we are able to relate to it and find the attributes we tend to achieve in our own lives, with those of the inanimate objects of design we have personified. That's when design speaks to us on our own frequency and makes us content with it.