How Organizations Express Identity through Spatial Aesthetics : An Analysis of the Design Language of Jiaxing Sports Center
This study examines the renovation of the Jiaxing Sports Center as a case to explore how spatial aesthetics intervene in organizational identity construction prior to building completion and facilitate its continuous reproduction through institutionalized spatial scripts. Drawing on theories of organizational identity, organizational aesthetics, and the spatial turn, the study adopts an interpretive case study approach combined with visual narrative analysis. Design statements, renderings, and public documents are systematically coded and thematically analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis.The findings indicate that spatial aesthetics reproduces organizational identity through four interrelated dimensions. First, stable visual orders are constructed through form, materiality, color, and lighting. Second, functional zoning and circulation systems are reorganized around competition standards and spectator units, embedding identity in operational practices. Third, implicit normative support is provided through equipment and supporting facilities, reinforcing legitimacy and reliability. Fourth, post-event operations, green strategies, and multi-functional conversion mechanisms extend identity across temporal contexts.Furthermore, the study proposes a tripartite mechanism of symbolization, structuration, and anticipation, illustrating how spatial aesthetics contributes to symbolic construction, institutional embedding, and future-oriented governance. By extending organizational identity analysis to aesthetic–spatial–institutional mechanisms, this study highlights design texts as cognitive artifacts with institutional significance in public architecture governance. It also acknowledges limitations related to single-case generalizability and the lack of post-occupancy investigation.
本文以嘉兴体育中心改造项目为案例,聚焦规划设计阶段的设计文本与视觉材料,探 讨空间审美如何在建筑建成之前介入组织身份建构,并通过制度化空间脚本推动身份的持 续生产。研究基于组织身份、组织美学与空间转向理论,采用解释主义取向的解释性案例 研究与视觉叙事分析方法,对设计说明、效果图及相关公开资料进行分层编码与主题建 构。研究发现,空间审美通过四个相互关联的维度实现身份建构:一是以形态、材质、色 彩与光影建构稳定的视觉秩序;二是以赛事标准与观赛单元重构功能分区与流线体系,将 身份嵌入运行实践;三是通过设备与配套提供隐性规范支撑,强化合法性与可靠性;四是 以赛后运营、绿色策略与多业态转换延展身份的时间性。进一步提出“象征化——结构化—— 前摄性”的三重机制,揭示空间审美在身份象征建构、制度嵌入与未来治理预设中的作 用。研究将组织身份分析拓展至审美—空间—制度层面,凸显规划设计文本作为认知人造物 在公共建筑治理中的制度意义,同时指出单案例与缺乏使用阶段追踪的局限。