Architectural Signage as Visual Governance: Managing Visual Clutter and Institutional Identity in Educational Hospital Environments

Architectural signage in educational hospital environments is often thought of in terms of identification, information and way finding. However, less attention has been paid to the collective visual condition that is generated when multiple signage elements interact with architectural surfaces and surrounding environmental elements. The objective of this study is to analyze and compare the visual and architectural condition of signage in Hasanuddin University Teaching Hospital (RSP Unhas) and RSUP Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo in Makassar, Indonesia. The research was carried out using a descriptive-interpretative qualitative method, through systematic field observation, photographic documentation, inventory of signs and cross-case comparison. The analysis was conducted on five dimensions; signage accumulation, visual hierarchy, façade legibility, architectural esthetics and institutional identity. The inventory identified four documented signage elements for RSP Unhas and five for RSUP Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo. The findings suggest that visual accumulation or visual clutter is not a function of signage quantity alone. Visual condition is determined by concentration, distribution, repetition, scale, placement, visual prominence, architectural relationships, materiality, and surrounding environmental elements, not visual appearance. The institutional identity sign is a major visual element at the main entrances of both hospitals, however, the variations in placement and context of the environment create different relationships to vegetation, circulation areas, site infrastructure, and architectural elements. The study contributes a visual governance perspective that shifts the analysis from individual signage to collective visual organization in the architectural environment. The findings suggest planning of signage should be combined with architecture, landscape, circulation and institutional identity.