Multimodal Semiotics and Collaborative Design

can be considered as the material foundation for experiential and interpersonal meta-functions,
such as the orange pathway that crosses and divides the space all through the sim in order to
provide visual guidance for visitors (figures 8.9 and 8.10).
The progression of PAL’s design from its early designs in 2008 and 2009 to the current version in
2012 shows that most significant changes occurred in relation to experiential meta-functions,
mainly the paths of movement and affordances / constraints of the designed places for navigation.
The initial design of PAL in March 2008 (figure 8.11) reflects what Curiza describes as "walk
through sound/music design” in which the visitor “entered the lab in one end and had to walk
through each dome which was kind of part of/connected to each other.” The design forced the
visitors to move in a designated route and traverse various listening areas in a sequentially ordered
closed space. Curiza states the problem with the first PAL was that “very few [visitors] had a clue
about what it was and what they should do.”
Figure 8.11. PAL’s ‘walk through sound design’ concept in March 2008 (image by Curiza)
Figure 8.12. PAL’s design in Jan 2009, after domes were separated and users enter from the center
(image by Curiza)
On the experiential semiotic level, ‘walking through sound’ refers to the flow of movement through
multimodal presentation of content, primarily music, but also dynamic information about the
music streams and other graphics. The use of music with visual and spatial modalities such as
colors and shapes aims to provide a semiotic coherence. With the following version designed in
2009 (figure 12) 9 , the four listening areas were separated and a central meeting area was designed
for positioning the entry point. The textual composition of various design elements was
reorganized to emphasize the experiential meta-functions on practicality and exploration, while the
9
In fact, first changes in the ‘walk through sound’ concept was made for PAL official opening night in September 2008,
where Curiza and Xavier decided to separate the four domes (listening areas) and place the entry point to the center. The
version in figure 12 is from January 2009 version, where Curiza says they “kept that design and made it cooler”
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