2025/03/18 by Alebouyeh, Zahra, Rahimzadeh, Mohammadreza, Zare, Leila +1
Arts and Humanities · Engineering · Materials Science · #Architectural Studies #Architecture and Cultural Influences #Architecture, Modernity, and Design #Diachronic Linguistics #FOS: Languages and literature #Linguistics #Quasicrystal Structures and Properties #Understanding Iranian Architecture #systematic historical study of architecture
paper · doi:10.71879/soij.2025.1202340
openalex publication_date 2025/03/18 · openalex created_date 2025/11/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
Iranian architectural studies, despite numerous researches, still face a lack of a systematic approach. Many previous studies have predominantly been described, focusing mostly on the physical features of buildings, while the study of architecture requires an analytical and theoretical approach. Theory, as a tool for understanding and analyzing architecture, enables a deeper examination of cultural developments, meanings, and structures. It can serve as a means to move beyond the descriptive level of studies towards structural and semantic analyses. One of the approaches that gained attention in architectural theories during the second half of the twentieth century was linguistics. Architecture and language are similar due to their comparatively structures, and this has led some architects and theorists to use linguistic approaches for 'understanding architecture' or finding 'design solutions'. In this regard, diachronic linguistics, which studies the evolution of languages over time, can provide a useful framework for understanding architectural developments. This article examines the application of diachronic linguistics in 'historical study of architecture'. Although 'historical study of architecture' is not separate from 'architectural historiography,' the two types of studies differ in their methods and objectives. Studies have been conducted in the field of the historiography of Iranian architecture, but there has been less research on the various methods in 'historical study of architecture'. It is crucial to approach the historical study of architecture, or 'systematic historical study of architecture', with scientific, holistic methods and an interpretive and analytical approach. This research, utilizing linguistic approaches, seeks to introduce a theoretical framework for understanding Iranian architecture through comparative research between the methods used in diachronic linguistics and the studies of 'historical architecture' conducted or possible to be conducted. This article, while emphasizing the importance of theory in architectural studies, aims to clarify the overlooked areas in the understanding of Iranian architecture.