406933

Instagramable Architecture The role of architecture as cities brand element in the age of information technologies & social networks

Article

Last updated: 01 Feb 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

-

Abstract

This article tackles the idea in cities branding in general within the development of information technologies and the domination of the internet as the medium for contemporary human activities. The article investigates the definitions of branding and its elements in literature and the role of architecture as both tangible and intangible branding element of prominent symbolic values. It touches the presence of the imagery qualities of architecture as markers of cities and with the rise of social networks, specifically image-based ones like Instagram and Facebook, this hypothesis is tested via a structured questionnaire that involves the perception of respondents on how architecture stand as a dominant brand for cities. The main findings that this research concludes are that the notion of city branding is no longer a spontaneous environmental behavioral act but should be a well-designed one. With its importance, the current branding practices of city managers and stakeholders has to be altered to work with the new dynamics of branding depending mainly on users' direct feedback and influence via different internet-oriented means. Second that the cities' symbolic elements, on the top of them architecture, play a prominent role in defining the city brand due to its inherited visual and experiential magnitudes. Lastly, the fast pace of the development of information technologies, and the social media platforms, that allows a direct response from city users has the great effect on shaping such symbolic elements and these platforms will be playing a dominant role in the future of shaping our cities as the physicality of the city has to be internet shareable or ‘instagramable' if it will be part of the whole image of the city.

DOI

10.21608/erjsh.2019.406933

Authors

First Name

Kareem

Last Name

Hammouda

MiddleName

Nabil

Affiliation

The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Cairo, Egypt.

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Yasser

Last Name

Mansour

MiddleName

Mohammed

Affiliation

Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Egypt.

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Shaimaa

Last Name

Kamel

MiddleName

Mohammed

Affiliation

Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Egypt.

Email

shaimaa_kamel@eng.asu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

39

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

34898

Issue Date

2019-01-01

Receive Date

2025-01-23

Publish Date

2019-01-01

Page Start

143

Page End

152

Print ISSN

3009-6049

Online ISSN

3009-6022

Link

https://erjsh.journals.ekb.eg/article_406933.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=406933

Order

406,933

Type

Research articles

Type Code

2,276

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Engineering Research Journal (Shoubra)

Publication Link

https://erjsh.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Instagramable Architecture The role of architecture as cities brand element in the age of information technologies & social networks

Details

Type

Article

Created At

01 Feb 2025