Eco architect. Between semiological structuralist criticism and social hermeneutic

The publication by the publishing house La nave di Teseo of Sull'arte: Scritti dal 1955 al 2016 by Umberto Eco provides an opportunity to reconstruct the initial teachings of the semiotician at the Faculties of Architecture in Florence (1966-1969) and Milan (1969-1971) and his contribution to architectural theory and criticism. This paper analyzes the semi-otic-structural method introduced in architectural design, criticism, and history, as well as its reception. Following the success of this method in the 1970s and 1980s, architectural analysis increasingly aligned with the semiotic-interpretive theses expressed by Eco in The Open Work. The legacy of his thinking can be found today in the relationship between architecture and communication, evident in exhibition design, urban analysis practices, and the logic of digital graphics systems and modeling.