THE WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH PREFABRICATED HOUSE-SHAPE : Study on the iconology of form in Japanese contemporary houses

Abstract

'SHOHINKA-JYUTAKU' is recently regarded as one of the most familiar and common house-types in Japanese contemporary society, which is generally prefabricated as a commodity by some housing manufacturers. According to our previous reports, outward shapes of this type directly reflect the general public's desires relative to house form more than other types such as those designed by some architects. The subject of this report is based on an opininon-survey which we call' Image Research of Architecture 1986'. The aim of this reseach is to extract sensual meanings and various linguistic associations corresponding to the shape of commercialized houses. First, through the sum of individual sensual reactions to house-shape, we fixed some stereotypes of house-shape. Then we compared the meanings of each type by examining the associated words. Next, using the relations of each word, some unities of words were extracted. At last, through the analysis of the relationship between stereotypes of house-shape and lingustic unities, we clarified the system of meaning which overlapped house-shape's in our contemporary society.