An experimental approach to the understanding of architecture through concept-pairs

Today, the buildings that have become the product of the obsession with fleeting trends, instantaneity, fast fashion, and the lack of a sense of place have turned architecture into a consumer object, causing a concern for the future of architecture. Architecture has become self-referential and self-motivated. In this century, architecture moves towards a situation that only reveals ideas through measurable, tangible, visible concepts, thereby motivating only one side of architecture and encouraging one-sided thinking. The thesis aims a new way of thinking through complementary concepts to develop an experimental approach to architectural understanding, keeping away from one-sided thinking. This experimentality directs the understanding of architecture to the "interaction field" which is defined as open, blurring and dynamic, by removing it from the field that is defined as closed and strictly defined. The proposed new way of thinking suggests that a new understanding is developed based on concept-pairs by criticizing the idea of understanding architecture through individual concepts. At this point, the thesis defines the potential relationships between concepts by establishing the causality of concept-pairs, specifically based on both the philosophy of Plato as one of Western Ancient Ideas and the philosophy of Yin-Yang as one of Eastern Ancient Ideas. It exemplifies the potential relationships through complementary concepts-pairs such as rational-intuitive, focus-whole in harmony and accumulation-content. The argument of the thesis is based on developing a new point of view on architecture by thinking through concept-pairs rather than attaching importance to the concept-pairs presented. The complementary concepts would eventually lead to a diverse form of architectural thinking. As a result, this new experimental approach to architectural understanding sets a new conception of architecture by establishing a balance between concepts considered independently. Thus, the pairs that are proposed and have also potential to be proposed would create new "planes" for the understanding of architecture.