Vers une analyse automatique du discours en histoire de l’architecture

Abstract

This contribution examines the methodological potential of automated discourse analysis in architectural history. Language, a fundamental component of architectural practice, can now be approached through digital methods derived from corpus linguistics and natural language processing. Starting with a historiographical overview of the relationship between architecture and language since the 1960s, the paper shows how figures such as Summerson, Zevi, and Jencks conceptualized architecture as a linguistic system. Yet, despite these early insights, few studies have applied computational methods to the analysis of architectural texts. The pioneering work of Alexander Tzonis in the 1970s on “conceptual systems” in French architectural texts laid the groundwork for the computerized study of architectural discourse. Today, the widespread digitization of sources and major technological advances make it possible to assemble large textual corpora suitable for automated discourse analysis. Approaches developed in the digital humanities – such as textometry, topic modeling, argument analysis, and the use of large language models – have proven particularly fruitful. They have opened up a promising interdisciplinary field, offering new ways to trace the evolution of deontic discourse and theoretical conceptions of architecture, as well as the formulation of aesthetic judgments and the documentation of the reception of architectural works.