Exploring the barthesian myth: fashion, the T-shirt and architecture

Abstract

This dissertation explores the relationships between fashion, the T-shirt and architecture. The exploration is conducted with particular reference to the French philosopher Roland Barthes’s notion of ‘myth’. The main inquiry of the dissertation asks how the everyday object of the T-shirt may prompt novel ways of thinking architecture. The dissertation argues that the T-shirt mediates very complex issues of everyday life, which may prompt specific perspectives on architecture. The dissertation commences with an introduction to the idea of semiology and how it relates to Barthes’s notion of myth. Barthes introduces myth as a ‘system of signification’ that undermines the overemphasis of denotation and the undervaluation of connotations. Such a signification is pursued in the discussion of the present dissertation. Barthes’s notion of myth is elaborated in respect to the myth of fashion and then specifically in terms of the T-shirt. The dissertation goes on to celebrate the relationship between fashion, the T-shirt and architecture. Drawing upon the previous analyses of the myth of fashion and the T-shirt, the dissertation underscores three aspects for discussion. The first aspect, ‘Fashion, the T-shirt and architecture as written’, focuses on the significance of language in circulating myth. Such a significance is articulated by analysing the ‘rhetorical connotation’ of fashion writings and the ‘BIG T-shirt’. The second aspect, ‘Fashion, the T-shirt and architecture as photographed’, emphasizes the politics of images in circulating myth. The discussion highlights the ‘theater of meaning’ in relation to the idea of ‘mediatecture’ and the ‘UNIQLO T-shirt’. Lastly, the third aspect, ‘Fashion, the T-shirt and architecture as worn’, concentrates on myth in terms of social consumption. The idea of ‘wearing architecture’ is discussed with respect to fashion artworks and the ‘Archigram T-shirt’. This dissertation is an original treatise trying to systematically investigate the relationships between fashion, the T-shirt and architecture. The dissertation will chart a new dimension of contemporary architectural thinking and prompt possibilities in renegotiating the interdisciplinary discursiveness between the human body, mass culture and architecture.