Comparative Analysis of the Meaning Crisis and the Quest for Spirituality: A Case Study of Contemporary Residential Architecture in the West and Iran

Abstract

This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of Western and Iranian architectural strategies for overcoming the meaning crisis in contemporary housing. The meaning crisis originates from instrumental reductionism and the negation of spiritual dimensions within Western modernism. This qualitative research, using a comparative approach and an eight-criteria analytical framework, investigates four key residential case studies (including the Vanna Venturi House and the Malagueira Housing Complex from the West; and Khāneh Daroon [Inner House] and Two Houses for Two Friends from Iran). The findings reveal a fundamental divergence in the approach to meaning: Western postmodern strategies focus on critical deconstruction and secular symbolism. For example, Venturi challenges hierarchical order, and Malagueira emphasizes social regionalism, both seeking meaning within lived experience and a secular context. In contrast, contemporary Iranian architectural strategies are grounded in the quest for sacred spirituality and the principles of Islamic–Iranian wisdom. The Iranian examples demonstrate that sustainable meaning lies in spatial thresholds and affective sensory experience by reviving hierarchical thresholds (Khāneh Daroon) and emphasizing the ethics of construction and collective relationship management (Two Houses for Two Friends). Conclusion: While the West seeks meaning through negation and secular irony, Iran achieves it through revival and sacred connection. The future of architecture requires an approach that integrates the authenticity of cultural and spiritual meaning with phenomenological necessities, shifting from static manifestos toward dynamic dialogue.