Kultūra ir politika Singapūro kraštovaizdžio architektūroje ; Culture and politics in singapore's landscape architecture

Abstract

Master Thesis is focused on the culture and politics in Singapore's landscape architecture. The aim of the work is to analyze how Singapore's landscape architecture is presented in the photographs on the official website of the Singapore Tourism Board. Tasks of the work: to present the framework of semiotic and cultural geography theories; to discuss the political and ideological context in which Singapore's landscape architecture is being shaped; to form the analytical tool by using the examples of the methodology of semiotic analysis and the principles of cultural geography; to carry out a detailed analysis of the landscape architecture depicted in the photographs; to provide analytical results that will detail the representation of the culture and politics through the landscape architecture. With the help of synthesis of two sets of cultural research tools (semiotics and cultural geography), a unique instrument of analysis has been developed, which has proven that landscape architecture in Singapore can be regarded as representational material emphasizing the specific cultural and political aspects of the country, as it is formed on the basis of the strategic measures being implemented by the government. The analysis has shown how landscape architectural objects work by transmitting encoded systems of meanings that not only provide information about the location, but also culturally and politically mobilize the society using these objects. The Master thesis and the created semiotic analysis tool for landscape architecture could be useful to researchers in architecture and communication, who are planning to carry out a semiotic analysis of landscape architecture, as well as for scholars of Transcultural studies of Asia interested in Singapore cultural research.