An Analysis of Contemporary Iranian Architectural and Urban Planning Trends’ Interpretations of Disorders in Tehran’s Urban Appearance from an Epistemological Perspective

Problem statement: 

The disorders of Tehran’s urban appearance are a point of consensus among groups concerned with urban facades. However, an examination of urban specialists’ opinions on the matter reveals a lack of consensus regarding the ideal urban appearance.What epistemological foundations underpin the architectural and urbanism trends in Iran concerning the issue of disorder in Tehran’s urban appearance, and which of these foundations is more suitable for managing urban appearance?

Research objective:

This study aims to analyze the philosophical origins of the actions of Iranian architectural and urbanism trends concerning the disorder of Tehran’s urban appearance.

To answer the research question, a qualitative method was employed in two stages based on logical reasoning. Initially, historical library studies were conducted to determine the temporal origin of the phenomenon of urban disarray. Subsequently, based on the classification of intellectual trends in Iranian architecture and urban planninga phenomenological description was made of the views of urban specialists on the causes of Tehran’s urban appearances’ chaos, and these views were compared to their intellectual characteristics, presented as a series of dichotomies. Finally, by examining the philosophical foundations by determining the epistemology of these dichotomies, the research question was addressed.

There is no consensus on understanding the word “Disorder” among architecture and urbanism Trends. Tending to either side of the dichotomy of form and its attributes or content is rooted in our epistemology, where the philosophical explanation of the relationship between the objective and the subjective is crucial. The kind of relationship between objectivity and subjectivity leads to two distinct outcomes in urban appearance. In the case of separation, urban appearance is perceived as an external matter, dominated by geometry and inclined towards Deterministic order, hence managed by specialists. The comprehensive plan for Tehran is a product of this approach. Conversely, in the case of the intertwining of the object and the subject urban appearance becomes perceptional, and beautifying it is neither external nor formal, thus cannot be delegated to specialists. This approach appears to be philosophically more defensible than others. The order derived from this perspective corresponds with the agency and dynamic existence of humans, characterized as inferential, minimal, and fluid.