ABSTRACT
The triadic semiotic structure of the Object of Architecture (ObA) is outlined according to the dynamic sign structure of C. S. Peirce, setting the Opus of Architecture (OpA) as Representamen, the Object of Architecture (ObA) as Object, and the Field of Architecture (FoA) as Interpretant. The work of architecture unfolds in time. The temporal dimension, which is intrinsically architectural, is not only present in the way architecture is created, conceived and produced – time is an architectural dimension which is illustrated in its most fundamental form, as a model of how architecture behaves, in the link between Peirce and Saussure. The very complexity of architecture, however, that despite all discussions, meetings, negotiations that precede and are included in the production of architecture, one never arrives at 'the correct' solution. The term 'archeme' will be used to signify the smallest meaningful piece of architecture. With a picture from chemistry we could call it a schematic representation of the architectural 'molecule'.
