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The Semiotics of a Division

Part 2 Dissertation 2016
Taxiarchoula Sousamli
 University of Lincoln Lincoln | UK
The Buffer Zone in Cyprus has, for some time, lacerated the island. On the north, the Turkish Cypriots, on the south, the Greek Cypriots, both attribute to the Zone varied meanings. This work attempts to explore these meanings and trace the efforts that will allow the smooth re-appropriation of the Zone by all Cypriots. The theoretical approach adopted is that of architectural semiotics, the theory of signification employed in architecture.
Taxiarchoula Sousamli
Tutor(s)
Primali Paranagamage
2016
Deserted buildings within the Buffer Zone in Cyprus. A space forgotten by time and people with nature reclaiming its rights.
The zone is the artificial boundary that divides the north from the south of the island and the Turkish and Greek Cypriots respectively.
The methodology used for the exploration of the meanings that the Buffer Zone holds for each group is that of architectural semiotics, Preziosi’s standpoint in particular. Based on linguistics he suggests as a minimum unit that bears meaning the cell. Fro
The Turkish Cypriot Checkpoint on Ledra Street is a solid structure representing the Turkish Cypriot view that the division is permanent and therefore a durable checkpoint was required.
Greek Cypriots consider the division undesirable and wish to see the island reunited. The flimsiness of the checkpoint’s construction attests to that view.
The Ledra Palace Hotel, within the Buffer Zone, is considered a symbol of efforts towards peaceful coexistence since it has been the centre of many bicommunal activities.
Ledra Street- a part of which lies within the Buffer Zone- is again a marker of unity.
In 2011 Occupy Movement protesters squatted a part of Ledra Street. They occupied buildings within the Buffer Zone and claimed that they lived the solution in the Cyprus Dispute. Here space is re-appropriated and passed on to the citizens to use.
The solution and the subsequent removal of barriers could arise from the citizens that gradually but steadily repossess the no man’s land and give it new meanings and associations.
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