Assessing Traditionalist and Neo-modern Approaches to Utilizing Iran’s Architectural Heritage: A Case Study of Nader Ardalan and Hadi Mirmiran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD in Architecture, Islamic Azad University, Tehran South Branch, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering, University of Qom, Qom, Iran

Abstract

In recent decades, the question of how to draw upon Iran’s architectural heritage in contemporary practice has been a major concern for scholars and architects. Despite numerous studies, the two dominant approaches—traditionalism, grounded in perennialist thought, and meaning-oriented neo-modernism—still require systematic and comparative analysis. This article examines these approaches through the works of two key figures: Nader Ardalan and Hadi Mirmiran, analyzing how each engages with Iran’s architectural past. Adopting a strategy of logical argumentation and an interpretive orientation, the study employs discourse–thematic analysis to investigate writings, statements, and architectural works across three dimensions: theoretical foundations, modes of drawing upon the past, and spatial and semantic outcomes. Comparative analysis reveals differences and overlaps in worldview, attitudes toward modernity, sources of meaning, approaches to reinterpreting the past, and resulting architectural expressions. Findings indicate that Ardalan, following a traditionalist perspective, considers historical architecture as a repository of sacred and timeless archetypes, applied in relatively direct and geometrical formal strategies. In contrast, Mirmiran, with a dynamic and meaning-oriented approach, reinterprets spatial patterns at a more abstract and conceptually flexible level, emphasizing the creation of meaning over strict formal replication. Ultimately, neither approach alone fully reconciles historical continuity with contemporary needs; however, a synthesis of spatial archetypes and conceptual interpretations, free from rigid formalism or doctrinal traditionalism, provides a more viable framework for contemporary Iranian architecture.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 28 January 2026
  • Revise Date: 09 April 2026
  • Accept Date: 05 May 2026
  • Publish Date: 22 June 2026

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