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cause here, expression rarely emerges directly from the struc-
tural form itself, but instead as a rule from the overarching
spatial situation, one to which human actors contribute as
well. We grasp the expressive character of a situation, its at-
mosphere, instantaneously, without reflection; contributing
to this experience are the individual characters of built and
spatial forms.
In many cases, form character cannot clearly be distin-
guished from atmosphere: in expressive terms, there is much
overlap between the upwardly striving character of a pointed
arch, for example, and the rising and uplifting atmosphere of
a Gothic church interior. Both are composed of various ex-
pressive qualities. Contributing to form character, for exam-
ple, are not just formal features, but also qualities like > mate-
riality and > colour. The atmosphere of the total situation, by
contrast, encompasses additional communicative functions
such as > orientation or > spatial gesture. Atmosphere, in par-
ticular, but also form character, are shaped by general sensory
impressions with their synaesthetic extensions, as well as by
qualities of mood and > appeals. Other meanings, such as
those conveyed by > images or > symbols, may be effective in
expressive terms as additional components of form character
or atmosphere.
In contrast to semiotic meanings, which can be conveyed
independently of concrete situations and interpreted objec-
tively, identified in iconographic terms or classified typologi-
cally, immediate expressive qualities remain at times quite
diffuse, and are less amenable to examination. As indissoluble
components of built forms and architectural situations, how-
ever, they influence us inescapably, and have a more direct
influence on our concrete experiences of architecture than
those meanings we attribute to objects through conscious
acts, or must read out of them. Expressive qualities, in turn,
may themselves function as > signs: a sober, rational design
can be an expression of sobriety, and at the same time a sign
of modernity.