Architecture as Language: A Semiotic and Anthropological Reading of Fernand Pouillon’s Work
Architecture as Language: A Semiotic and Anthropological Reading of Fernand Pouillon’s Work

Summary/Abstract: This article explores Fernand Pouillon’s architectural production through the combined lenses of spatial semiotics and cultural anthropology. It argues that Pouillon’s deliberate use of Mediterranean forms, vernacular techniques, and locally sourced materials constitutes a coherent language of space, one rooted in historical memory, sensory experience, and the continuity of cultural transmission. Rather than viewing architecture as purely functional or stylistically innovative, the article emphasizes Pouillon’s concern with meaning, intelligibility, and permanence. Drawing on semiotic theory and architectural phenomenology, the analysis integrates a close reading of Pouillon’s built works with a literary interpretation of his novel Les Pierres sauvages, revealing how both forms of expression articulate a shared worldview. The findings suggest that Pouillon’s architecture performs a communicative and symbolic function, reactivating a cultural syntax that resonates with place, tradition, and collective identity. In an era marked by rapid urbanization and architectural abstraction, Pouillon offers an alternative model grounded in memory, materiality, and human experience.

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