A fractal-based multi-layered analysis: The architecture of Eldem and Doshi

Sedad Hakkı Eldem from Turkey and Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi from India are regarded as among the most influential contemporary architects in their countries. Their approach was reinterpreting regional architecture as inspirations to formulate their own architecture. However, commentaries on the works of these architects are mostly qualitative and illustrative. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine the selected works of these architects in relations with the selected regional architecture as the context and influences in a more quantitative and mathematical manner using fractal dimension analysis as measurement of visual complexity. This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter 1 presents the research problem and objective, as well as the significance and the scope of the study. Chapter 2 presents the literature reviews on Regionalism, the history of early contemporary architecture in Turkey and India, Sedad Eldem and Balkrishna Doshi, and their selected works. Chapter 3 discusses the drawings as the research materials, as well as the fractal dimension analysis as the research method. Chapter 4 presents the mathematical results and interpretive discussions. The findings and commentaries are summarized in Chapter 5. The results from the fractal dimension analysis indicate similarities in terms of visual complexities between the works of the architects and the regional architecture. Thus, it can be concluded that visual complexity contributed significantly in contextualizing the works of the architects into the spatial and cultural settings. Furthermore, this study also demonstrates the potentials of fractal dimension analysis as a quantitative and mathematical approach in architectural research.