CULTURAL HERITAGE AND INNOVATION OF SHANGHAI SUZHOU CREEK BASED ON SEMIOTICS AND NARRATIVE DESIGN

Abstract

This study examines the cultural landscape along Shanghai’s Suzhou Creek as its research object and integrates Peircean semiotic theory with Morris’s triadic model of semiotics, while introducing narrative design as a methodological approach to construct an integrated design framework based on the sequence of “symbol extraction - classification - screening - thematic construction - generation of narrative scenarios”. Through literature review, field investigation, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions, both the tangible and intangible cultural resources of the Suzhou Creek area are systematically examined. Cultural symbols are analyzed and clustered from the perspectives of syntactics, semantics, and pragmatics, leading to the formulation of four narrative themes: “Echoes of War and Memory”, “The Golden Age of Industry”, “Haipai Modernity and Elegance”, and “Transformation and Symbiosis.” Furthermore, the study translates complex regional culture into perceptible and communicable narrative content in the form of virtual characters, events, scenarios, and product scripts, thereby providing structured content support for the design of cultural souvenirs. Based on the narrative themes, cultural souvenir prototypes were designed and subsequently evaluated through a Delphi expert review process. The findings suggest that the proposed framework contributes to addressing the fragmentation of regional cultural symbols and offers a potential design research pathway for the contemporary expression and innovative inheritance of Suzhou Creek culture.

Keywords: Cultural Heritage, Semiotics, Narrative Design, Integrated Design Framework