Evaluating the possibility of using “ZEITGEIST” historiography as a method for studying the history of Iranian contemporary architecture

Abstract

One of the main approaches in creation of historical narrative of architecture is the“ Zeitgeist” approach. This approach is to expose a general interpretation about the phenomenons of history. The importance of the problem derives from here that the most current researches of the history of Iranian contemporary architecture are descriptive and a general preview based on surveying different backgrounds of architectural events would not exist in them. The aim of research is to create a framework for systematic studies of the history of Iranian contemporary architecture, impressed by“ Zeitgeist” method. The research with concentration on logical argumentation, is to derive a pattern from the writings of “ Zeitgeist” historians and to evaluate how to use it in historiography of Iranian contemporary architecture. The results show that the structure of this method is essentially holistic and comparative, and the historical narrative is composed of three steps: description, explanation and justification.