The architecture of city identities: A multimodal study of Barcelona and Boston

(N=95/100): City identity is a distinct form of collective identity based on the perceived uniqueness and meanings of place rather than group category and membership. A city’s identity is constructed over time through architecture, which involves three sign systems—material, visual and rhetorical— and multiple institutional actors to communicate who the city is and its distinctiveness. We compare Barcelona and Boston to examine the identity and meaning created and communicated by different groups of professionals, such as architects, city planners, international guide book writers and local cultural critics, who perform semiotic work of constructing city identity.