e-Περιοδικό Επιστήμης & Τεχνολογίας

e-Journal of Science & Technology, (e-JST)

THE NECESSITY OF EXPLORING ADVERTISING IN THE CONTEMPORARY CITY: AS STRUCTURAL COMPONENT OF URBAN SPACE

Sofia Strati

Graphic Arts & Art Studies Department, T.E.I. of Athens.

The correlation of structured and open space elements has been forming and is forming still the picture of urban environment, which projects its values and determines its significance.

In the last decades, the addition of a multitude of messages, mainly of trade character, being designed without foreplanning, has caused rapid alteration of this correlation.

Amongst them, Advertising acquires main role and becomes the mark-symbol of values, that are being imprinted at the contemporary city’s profile, causing quality alteration to its character.

Advertising in contemporary city constitutes a transformation, that is being plotted with urban structure, spatial management and amply urban ecology. Thereby:

Its design concerns the re-negotiation of the relationship between Advertising and Architectural Design. It is about reforming and transforming any kind of “conciliation” between them, that has a distinctive spatial and aesthetic effect of this synergy, at the particular moment in history and under the particular cultural circumstances.

Graphic arts, a form of applied arts and communication, coexists with Architectural Design as intercommunication between symbols and images.

Amongst the manifestations of communication in the public area of the contemporary city, the dominant one is Advertising.

The range of Advertising’s impact, its  interspatial character, its timelessness and the “superfluous” of its information -studied in excess in reasearch and dissertation- we suggest that should be re-concidered, as factors of spatial perception that appoints Advertising in the city possible and effective bridge of approach to a cultural ideal.

The proposed research might concentrate into organised Advertising show only, that can be thus foresighted, studied and comprised to the context of an ample architectural design of the contemporary city, considered as a structural component that affects the character, the profile and generally the environment and their aesthetic quality.

 Finally, this result of the messages’ intervention contributes to the imprint of disorder in the overall image of the city, so that if we wanted to approach the subject we should question the conditions and the possible rules under the apparent “accidentally” order of Advertising.

 Keywords: advertising, contemporary city, graphic arts, architectural design, communication, public area, environment, image of the city, culture, urban space.

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