From Architectural Semiotics to Product Semantics: Cross-Scale Translation of Shanghai Bund Cultural Codes in the HERO E718 Fountain Pen

Abstract

The Shanghai Bund building complex is a material witness to modern Shanghai’s development and Sino-Western cultural exchange. Translating its large-scale architectural language into the small-scale vocabulary of a writing instrument exposes a gap between architectural semiotics and product semantics. Existing studies often emphasize simplified architectural forms while offering limited empirical examination of cross-level code transmission and user perception. Based on Yang Yufu’s theory of design cultural codes, this study combines a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design with a three-layer translation model comprising strategy, meaning, and technology. Literature analysis, image interpretation, and semiotic coding were used to extract morphological, decorative, chromatic-material, and cultural-spiritual codes from Bund architecture. Their encoding in the HERO E718 “River-and-Sea Narrative” fountain pen was then traced, and user perception was assessed with a Likert scale. The overall mean was 3.72; cultural-meaning comprehension (M = 4.05) was significantly higher than code recognition (M = 3.72) and aesthetic preference (M = 3.54), indicating stronger resonance with deeper meanings than recognition of explicit regional forms. Architectural-cultural translation should therefore prioritize semantic conveyance over formal resemblance. The proposed extraction–translation–validation pathway provides an operational framework for Shanghai-style cultural products and architectural derivatives, and empirical support for the creative transformation of regional cultural heritage.