Toward a Philosophical Understanding of Hegelian Historicism in Architecture

Davari, Zahra; Soroush, Mohammadmehdi

doi:10.22034/ijumes.2025.2078243.1346

Toward a Philosophical Understanding of Hegelian Historicism in Architecture

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Zahra Davari ¹

Mohammadmehdi Soroush ²

¹ Ph.D. Candidate in Architecture, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Ha.C., Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

² Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Ha.C., Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

10.22034/ijumes.2025.2078243.1346

Abstract

This paper explores the meaning of historicism in architecture from Hegel’s point of view. In Hegel’s holistic view, in history’s existence up to the “History sprit” in different times leads to be titlesd as “History act”. In this way of thinking about history, history is continuous and historical developments and events take place with dialectical logic. Accordingly, the understanding of architecture is possible solely through the comprehension of historical continuity and its relation to the manifestations of the World Spirit. In fact, the architecture of each era reflects a specific mode of human awareness of the self and the world, embodied in space, form, and meaning; thus, it can be considered one of the concrete aspects of the dialectical course of history. This qualitative research is based on interpretative-analytical paradigm. The results of this research show that Hegelian historicism in architecture can be considered from general and specialized views. From a general point of view, Hegelian historicism in a simple and brief expression means that all human activities, as well as architecture, are defined based on their own history. But in particular, Hegelian historicism in architecture, as an applicable methodology derived from the theory Hegel’s Zeitgeist theory. This methodology can be used to study issues related to the context and historical facilities of the period of creation of architectural works from different points of view.

Graphical Abstract

Toward a Philosophical Understanding of Hegelian Historicism in Architecture

Highlights

The paper analyzes historicism in architecture through Hegel’s holistic view, where history unfolds via the History Spirit and History Act, driven by dialectical logic
Architecture is understood only through historical continuity and its relation to the manifestations of the World Spirit, with each era’s architecture reflecting a unique mode of self and world-awareness manifested in space, form, and meaning
Architecture is viewed as a concrete manifestation of the dialectical course of history, linking architectural expression to broader historical development
The study adopts an interpretative-analytical paradigm and presents both general and specialized insights into Hegelian historicism in architecture
Methodologically, Hegel’s Zeitgeist theory is applied to examine architectural works, enabling analysis from multiple perspectives within their historical contexts and facilities

Keywords

Architecture

art

Hegel

historicism

history act

Zeitgeist theory

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