DRAMATURGY OF THE CITY: SEMANTICS OF THRESHOLDS AND LIMINALITY OF SPACE

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study urban space through the prism of the dramatic organization of a work of art and the phenomenon of liminality, as well as to identify threshold points in the structure of the urban route and analyze their role in forming the scenario of spatial experience of the architectural environment. Methodology. The study is based on an interdisciplinary approach that combines methods of architectural theory, semiotic analysis, cultural studies and art history. Structural and compositional analysis of spatial sequences of the urban environment, comparison of models of dramatic composition in literature, theater and cinema, as well as interpretation of the concept of liminality formulated in Arnold van Gennep’s studies of rites of passage, were used. Additionally, an applied analysis of specific spatial scenarios in the urban environment was applied. This allows us to consider the urban route as a sequence of spatial states and transitions between them. Results. The possibility of interpreting the urban environment as a spatial-dramatic system that unfolds in time through a sequence of threshold transitions is substantiated. It is shown that the structure of the urban route can be correlated with the model of a dramatic arc, which includes exposition, plot, development of the action, climax, decline of the action and conclusion. It is established that threshold spaces function at the physical, semantic and psychological levels, forming the rhythm of human movement and changing the modes of perception of the urban environment. Scientific novelty. The interpretation of threshold spaces as structural elements of the dramaturgy of the urban environment is proposed. It is shown that architectural elements of the transition can be considered not only as morphological components of the city, but also as semantic markers of changes in spatial and socio-cultural contexts. Practical relevance. The results of the study can be used in theoretical studies of architecture and urban planning, as well as in the practice of designing urban spaces to form expressive spatial routes and holistic scenarios of perception of the architectural environment.