Symbolism in

Architecture

Every work of architecture is symbolic.

There is a powerful need for symbolism, and that means

that the architecture must have something that appeals to
human heart.
-Kenzo Tange

Anjali Tiwary
Roll No.14001492
1-B
First Year B. Arch
Sushant School of Art and
Architecture

Introduction:
Symbols carry varied meaning in different settings. In architecture, symbolism exists
at each level. However we tend to connect it mainly to historical and religious
structures as the imagery appears to be highly explicit and profound in them.
Symbolism can be defined as the systematic use of recurrent symbols or images in a
work to create an added level of meaning. Symbols give meaning to an object, plant
or animal.
The term Symbolic architecture was first coined by Charles Jencks in the 1980s to
describe architecture with a strong degree of personification or with allusions to
cultural ideas, historical references, and other pre-Modernist themes, or in which there
were visual jokes, puns, and mnemonic motifs. To provide some intuition, a first
definition of a symbolic architecture is an architecture that utilizes symbol
manipulations in a fixed manner to represent its processing.
Every structure has an inherent symbolism. The courtyard at the center of a regular
house (Brahmasthan), over and above its practical purposes is the symbol of
connection between men and God or the men and the elements of soul at the center
of our being and the ultimate principle pervading the universe all of which are
believed to exists but relatively unknown.
When we are attempting to understand the work of architecture or monuments and
the context (culture, life, living standard etc), understanding of symbolism and how it
affected the people is essential. One may only gawk at these great monuments
without understanding otherwise. This paper is an endeavor to highlight some
significant facets of symbolism as expressed in some well known examples from
ancient Egypt. Ancient Egypt was symbolically oriented to a degree rarely equaled by
other cultures.

Symbolism in Egyptian Architecture

Great Pyramids of Gaza
When we look at these pyramids we see layer upon layers of symbolism. For us these
symbolic of mans ancient triumph, but to the ancient Egyptian, they symbolize the very fabric
of creation, the pyramid shaped mound from which life arose. These carry great meaning to
ancient Egyptian.