Reinterpreting the Concept of Emptiness as Central Courtyards in Contemporary Iranian Architecture

Abstract

Contemporary architecture of Iran has witnessed a transition from modern architecture toward its traditional origin. The idea of empty space is a dominant concept in traditional architecture and has been reinterpreted in different ways. Actually, the concept of emptiness is a philosophical term ingrained in Iranian culture that has been discussed from various perspectives. This research investigates the emergence of emptiness in the form of central courtyards in Iran. Because this article is an attempt to examine the concept of emptiness in contemporary Iranian architecture, three famous architects of recent years have been selectedReza Daneshmir, Alireza Taghaboni, and Pouya Khazaeliwho are all prize-winners of the Memar Award, the most well-known architectural competition in Iran based on authentic Iranian ideas. As part of a phenomenological research method, interviews were arranged with each architect, and their projects visited. During the analysis process, the recursive abstraction method was used to achieve the main idea of each architect toward the concept of emptiness. Accordingly, 10 projects of the aforementioned architects were examined to ascertain the architects' new interpretation of the traditional idea of emptiness in Iranian architecture.