Temperamental Architecture: Creating an Architectural Approach Based on the Tetrad (The Four Elements, Temperaments, or Humors)

This paper provides a new system of understanding the relationship of man and the built environment. This new system is adopted from Iranian traditional medicine, which is based on philosophy of physics and traditional wisdom. In wisdom and medicine alike, anything manifested in the material world—such as humans, artifacts, and everything in their surrounding environment—has qualities known as temperaments or humors. Since these qualities are present in humans as well as the built and natural environment, they can be employed in a holistic approach to understand and explain the relationship of humans and the surrounding environment in a theoretical system of architecture. It will be named "Temperamental Architecture." In this paper, by means of logical reasoning, applicability of this approach and its issues are assessed. The paper is composed of four main parts. The first part provides an introduction and background information. The second part discusses architectural topics in traditional medicine, and how to adopt the system for architectural purposes. The third part is a brief description of philosophy of physics and the tetrad (the four elements, temperaments, or humors). Finally, the presence of the four elements in architecture is explained.