Absurdity in Human Architecture between Healing and Illness

Despite the evolution of architecture throughout the ages, it still exhibits a clear contrast between order and chaos, where ideas and forms intertwine to produce a diversity of outcomes between creativity and failure, healing and illness. This contrast highlights the presence of absurdity in contemporary architectural projects, serving as a rhetorical tool that challenges architectural conventions and expands the boundaries of human reason by presenting innovative solutions. Accordingly, the research problem is represented by the lack of a comprehensive understanding of the role of absurdity in shaping human architecture. The aim of the research was to reveal the role of aesthetic, functional, and structural absurdity in shaping architectural outputs, particularly in Rifat Chadirji’s projects. The research employed a descriptive-analytical approach, constructing a knowledge framework that was subsequently supplemented by a comprehensive theoretical framework. This framework was formulated into three main categories: "Orientations of Absurd Architecture," "Characteristics of Absurd Architectural Texts," and "Organization of Absurd Architecture." These were applied to selected projects to clarify the extent to which these indicators were achieved and to reach conclusions that demonstrated architects' inclination towards "irrational design, absurd forms, multidimensional contradiction, & massive scale" in pursuit of absurdity more than spatial separation to preserve the urban fabric.