The Genre of Foyers in the Contemporary Highrise
A Study of Harry Seidler's Work
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v5i1.59Keywords:
genre, foyer, systemic functional linguistics, multimodal discourse analysis, SeidlerAbstract
The term genre is usually associated with literary and filmic texts; however, this article also considers other communicative events such as foyers as text types. While it might seem quite obvious to note that the fundamental purpose of foyers is to shuttle users back and forth between the entrance and the elevator, it is more intriguing to discern the ways in which this function is achieved. By using the theoretical framework developed within the discipline of systemic functional linguistics and by employing the analytical tool of intertextuality, this article undertakes a comparative semiotic reading of the foyers of Harry Seidler’s corporate and residential highrises in Sydney, Australia, in order to explicate the generic structure of foyers, to elucidate the similarities and differences between his foyers and to foreground the ideological stance that Seidler has consistently taken throughout his oeuvre.L
References
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Safeyaton, A. (2004) A semiotic study of Singapore’s Orchard Road and Marriott Hotel. In K. O’Halloran (ed.) Multi-Modal Discourse Analysis: Systemic Functional Perspectives, 55?79. London: Continuum.
Stenglin, M. (2004) Packaging Curiosities: Towards a Grammar of Three Dimensional Space. Sydney, University of Sydney, Department of Linguistics, unpublished PhD Thesis.
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Sturken, M. and L. Cartwright (2001) Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thwaites, T., Davis, L. and Mules, W. (1994) Tools for Cultural Studies: An Introduction. South Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd.
Van Leeuwen, T. (1999) Speech, Music, Sound. London: Macmillan.
Van Leeuwen, T. (2005) Introducing Social Semiotics. London: Routledge. Wood, N. (1984) Towards a semiotics of the transition to sound. Screen 25 (3): 16?24.
Baldry, A. and Thibault, P. J. (2006) Multimodal Transcription and Text Analysis: A Multimedia Toolkit and Coursebook. Oakville: Equinox.
Barthes, R. (1973) Mythologies. London: Paladin.
Barthes, R (1977) Image Music Text. London: Fontana Press.
Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P. (1967 [1964]) Œuvre Complète de 1929?1934. Huitième edition. Zurich: Les Éditions D’Architecture.
Bennett, T. (1995) The Birth of the Museum. London: Routledge.
Dean, D. (1994) Museum Exhibition: Theory and Practice, London and New York: Routledge.
Eggins, S. (2004) An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics 2nd Edition. New York: Continuum.
Fiske, John (2009 [1987]) Television Culture. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd. Taylor and Francis e-Library.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Hasan, R. (1985) Language, Context and Text: Aspects of Language in a Social-semiotic Perspective. Waurn Ponds: Deakin University Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Martin, R. J. (eds) (1993) Writing Science: Literacy and Discursive Power. London: Falmer Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004) An Introduction to Functional Grammar, 3rd Edition. London: Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Webster, J. (eds) (2009) Continuum Companion to Systemic Functional Linguistics. London: Continuum.
Hjemslev, L. (1954) La stratification du langage. Word 10: 163?188.
Juvan, M. (2008) History and Poetics of Intertextuality. West Lafayette, IN. Purdue University Press.
Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (2006 (1996]) Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, 2nd Edition. London; New York: Routledge.
Lacey, Stephen (2004) Top of the town. Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald, 15?16 May: 4?5.
Lacey, N. (1998) Image and Representation. New York: St Martin’s Press.
Malinowksi, B. (2002 [1935]) Malinowski Collected Works Volume VIII Coral Gardens and Their Magic: A Study of the Methods of Tilling the Soil and of Agricultural Rites in the Trobriand Islands. London: Routledge.
Martin, J. R. (1992) English Text: System and Structure. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Martin, J. R. (1997) Analysing genre: Functional parameters. In F. Christie, and J. R. Martin (eds) Genre and Institutions, 3?39. London: Cassell.
Martin, J. R. and Rose, D. (2007) Working with Discourse: Meaning beyond the Clause, 2nd Edition. London: Continuum.
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. (2008) English at work: Engineering English. Paper given at ISFC2008 Winter Institute, Enabling Researchers and Teachers, July 2008, Macquarie University, Sydney.
McMurtrie, R. J. (2008) Reading Architectonic Texts: A Social Semiotic Exploration of Transitional Spaces in the Contemporary Highrise Apartment Complex. Unpublished Honours Thesis. The University of New South Wales. School of Languages and Linguistics.
McMurtrie, R. J. (2010) Bobbing for power: An exploration into the modality of hair. Visual Communication 9 (4): 1?26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1470357210382182
McMurtrie, R. J. (under review) The meaning of [exiting]: towards a grammaticalization of architecture.
McMurtrie, R. J. (in press) Binding contours: Feeling space dynamically.
O’Halloran, K. L. (ed.) (2004) Multimodal Discourse Analysis: Systemic Functional Perspectives. London: Continuum.
O’Toole, M. (1994) The Language of Displayed Art. London: Leicester University Press.
O’Toole, M. (2004) Opera Ludentes: the Sydney Opera House at work and play. In K. O’Halloran (ed.) Multimodal Discourse Analysis: Systemic Functional Perspectives, 11?27. London: Continuum.
Painter, C. (1988) The concept of genre. Paper commissioned by Queensland Department of Immigrant Education.
Pang, K. M. A. (2004) Making history in From Colony to Nation: A multimodal analysis of a museum exhibition in Singapore. In K. O’Halloran (ed.) Multimodal Discourse Analysis: Systemic Functional Perspectives, 28?54. London: Continuum.
Pun, B. O. K. (2005) Intersemiosis in Film: A Metafunctional and Multimodal Exploration of Colour and Sound in the Films of Wong Kar-wai. Sydney, University of New South Wales, Department of Chinese Studies and Department of Linguistics, unpublished PhD Thesis.
Ravelli, L. (2000) Beyond shopping: Constructing the Sydney Olympics in three-dimensional text. Text 20 (4): 489?515. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/text.1.2000.20.4.489
Ravelli, L. (2005) Shopping with ranks. In R. Hasan, C. Matthiessen and J. Webster (eds) Continuing Discourse on Language: A Functional Perspective, 165?166. London: Equinox.
Ravelli, L. (2006) Museum Texts: Communication Frameworks. London, New York: Routledge.
Ravelli, L. (2008) Analysing space: Adapting and extending multi-modal frameworks. In L. Unsworth (ed.) Multimodal Semiotics – Functional Analysis in Contexts of Education, 1?33. London: Continuum.
Ravelli, L. and Stenglin, M. (2008) Feeling space: interpersonal communication and spatial semiotics. In G. Antos and E. Ventola (eds) Interpersonal Communication Handbook of Applied Linguistics, Volume 2, 355?398. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Safeyaton, A. (2004) A semiotic study of Singapore’s Orchard Road and Marriott Hotel. In K. O’Halloran (ed.) Multi-Modal Discourse Analysis: Systemic Functional Perspectives, 55?79. London: Continuum.
Stenglin, M. (2004) Packaging Curiosities: Towards a Grammar of Three Dimensional Space. Sydney, University of Sydney, Department of Linguistics, unpublished PhD Thesis.
Stenglin, M. (2009) Space odyssey: A guided tour through the semiosis of three-dimensional space. Visual Communication 8 (1): 35?64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1470357208099147
Sturken, M. and L. Cartwright (2001) Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thwaites, T., Davis, L. and Mules, W. (1994) Tools for Cultural Studies: An Introduction. South Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd.
Van Leeuwen, T. (1999) Speech, Music, Sound. London: Macmillan.
Van Leeuwen, T. (2005) Introducing Social Semiotics. London: Routledge. Wood, N. (1984) Towards a semiotics of the transition to sound. Screen 25 (3): 16?24.
Published
2011-12-16
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
McMurtrie, R. (2011). The Genre of Foyers in the Contemporary Highrise: A Study of Harry Seidler’s Work. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 5(1), 59-91. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v5i1.59
