Architecture, Justice, Historiography: A Framework for the Study of Architecture History Based on Justice

As various as meanings and concepts in architectural history, there are different approaches to the historiography of architecture. "Justice" is one of these concepts. Justice is sublime in Islamic and Iranian thought. Although its non-historical links with architecture and related sciences have been the subject of numerous studies, it has rarely been researched in the history of Iranian or Islamic art and architecture. The purpose of this article is to provide an explanation and a framework for architecture historiography by questioning justice, i.e., how to tell if the architectural works and practice of a historical period were just. The answer to such a question requires a design for a theoretical framework or research approach. The method applied is through a logical strategy or reasoning. For this purpose, four main questions about the key concepts, the main question, the answering method, and the findings of the research should be answered. Historical research on the relationship between justice and architecture can proceed in two ways: based on a presupposed definition or theory of the two, or based on the historical context. In the first case, it is necessary to study the historical data of a given period according to the definition/theory provided, and in the second case, it is necessary to study the historical concept of ​​both (justice and architecture) with the help of the methodology of conceptual history. In the next step, a connection should be established between the two concepts and the main questions should be proposed. If we consider the basic concept of justice as the distribution of affairs, and the basic concept of architecture, as the creation of place, the main question of the research is whether the distribution of affairs regarding place-making at a certain historical period has been fair. According to the extent and normative meaning of justice, topics such as the origin of its definition, its various meanings and criteria, and the feasibility of the critical study of past architectural works based on justice will be discussed and an extensive study of contextual documents and collective mentality will be performed.