建物の外観は社会的サインです。外観を見てそれがなんの建物か分かるようにするのは、まちの公衆道徳です。そのために必要なサインを出さなくてはなりません。多くの場合、建物の外観がその役目を持っていますね。
逆に中身のわからない建物がまちに１つあったとします。窓を通して中の様子をうかがうこともできないとしたら、まちの人々は次第に不安感を感じるようになるでしょう。悪くすれば、人々に一種の恐怖感を与えることもあるかもしれません。
そんな意味で建物が外観で中身を表現するのは、マナーの一つと言えるでしょう。
icon in urban fabric
A building has to have its relevant appearance. House needs to look residential place and theatre needs to look cultural place. This necessity comes from several reasons but social morals might be one of them. If there is an unknown construction like a blackbox in the town, people will try to look for key which tells what it is. Then nothing is found, people tend to feel displeasure or sometimes get scared. Appearance of building is important and should show the function as common sense. On the other hand we have other ways how to know what that building is. They are window and signs on board. We can know what is happenning inside by looking through the window. In the sense both window and signboard might be indicator of the identity which will show who she or he is. Now all these factors, appearnace, window and signboard, are got together and how about thinking of them as a icon in urban fabric. So a building is a icon. A city is an assemblage of many kinds of icon. This view could give a hint to step in next stage.
