PRESTIGIOUS ENVIRONMENTS: SEMIOTIC ENCODING OF PRESTIGE IN THE PROMOTIONAL VISUALS OF CAIRENE GATED COMMUNITIES

Abstract

Abstract While many studies assert that Prestige, Status, Exclusivity, among others, are themes distinguishing Cairene GCs from their global counterparts, and many others analyze GCs’ ads, further theoretical articulation is needed for both efforts. This thesis, therefore, aims at articulating the concept of Prestige, exploring the role of architecture in signifying Prestige, and presenting an analytical framework for analyzing GCs’ ads. It adopts a two-part methodology: the literature analysis, and the empirical study. The first part articulates the concept of Prestige in sociology, explores the connection between architecture and Prestige, and reviews semiotic tools for visual analysis. The second part involves a thematic analysis of 283 billboard campaigns followed by a social semiotic analysis of selected case studies. The thematic analysis showed a trend towards symbolic representations over explicit representations of the architectural product. Such trend was more prevalent in ads of projects targeting higher social tiers, which also tended to adopt more diverse semiotic resources and Prestige signifiers. These two analyses demonstrated that interpretations of architecture depended mainly on the associations created by text and visual symbols. This thesis concludes that Prestige is an overarching concept organizing the relation between sub-concepts such as lifestyle, taste, and exclusivity. Most importantly, it requestions the potential to advance the architecture of GCs beyond the stylistic aspects, given the essentiality of Prestige-signifying connotations and advertising messages in characterizing the GCs, defining the audience, and endowing meaning to architecture.