Full Story: Design Does Not Communicate Meaning — A Quiet Reflection

If meaning is always interpreted, what does it really mean for design to communicate? This episode explores the philosophy of interpretation, the nature of signs, and the silence that exists in every space we inhabit.
Drawing on the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer, the semiotics of Umberto Eco, and the kinesics research of Ray Birdwhistell, this reflection considers how design does not deliver meaning but hosts it.

Birdwhistell, R. L. (1952). Introduction to Kinesics: An Annotation System for Analysis of Body Motion and Gesture. Washington, DC: Department of State, Foreign Service Institute.
Birdwhistell, R. L. (1970). Kinesics and Context: Essays on Body Motion Communication. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Eco, U. (1962/1989). The Open Work (A. Cancogni, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1962)
Eco, U. (1976). A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-158...
Gadamer, H.-G. (1960/2004). Truth and Method (2nd rev. ed., J. Weinsheimer & D. G. Marshall, Trans.). London: Continuum. (Original work published 1960)
Caesar, M. (1999). Umberto Eco: Philosophy, Semiotics and the Work of Fiction. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Eberhard, D. M., Simons, G. F., & Fennig, C. D. (Eds.). (2025). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (28th ed.). Dallas, TX: SIL International. https://www.ethnologue.com/
Jolly, S. (2000). Understanding body language: Birdwhistell's theory of kinesics. Semiotica, 131(3/4), 311–344.
Malpas, J. (2003). Hans-Georg Gadamer. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ga...
Özkan, D. G., & Akalin, A. (2019). Phenomenology and Space in Architecture: Experience, Sensation, and Meaning. International Journal of Architectural Engineering Technology, 6(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.15377/2409-9821.20...
Seamon, D. (2017). Architecture, Phenomenology, and Environmental Experience. In D. Seamon (Ed.), Environmental and Architectural Phenomenology Newsletter. Kansas State University.
Weinsheimer, J. (1985). Gadamer's Hermeneutics: A Reading of "Truth and Method". New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

This episode is intended for adults who value calmness, reflection, and intellectual trust.

This episode draws on published research and personal reflection. AI-assisted tools were used in the creation of the script and visuals. Intended for general educational purposes.