HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is achieved through design approaches that aim to be sympathetic and well-integrated with a site, so buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition. An organicist is an architect in the organic movement.


History

The term "organic architecture" was coined by
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
(1867–1959), though never well-articulated by his cryptic style of writing:
So here I stand before you preaching organic architecture: declaring organic architecture to be the modern ideal and the teaching so much needed if we are to see the whole of life and to now serve the whole of life, holding no traditions essential to the great TRADITION. Nor cherishing any preconceived form fixing upon us either past, present, or future, but instead exalting the simple laws of common sense or of super-sense if you prefer determining form by way of the nature of materials...
Organic architecture is also translated into the all-inclusive nature of Wright's design process. Materials, motifs, and basic ordering principles continue to repeat themselves throughout the building as a whole. The idea of organic architecture refers not only to the buildings' literal relationship to the natural surroundings, but how the buildings' design is carefully thought about as if it were a unified organism. Geometries throughout Wright's buildings build a central mood and theme. Essentially organic architecture is also the literal design of every element of a building: From the windows to the floors, to the individual chairs intended to fill the space. Everything relates to one another, reflecting the symbiotic ordering systems of nature. Other modernist architects in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere held complementarily and often competing views of how architecture could best emulate nature. Key figures in the U.S. included
Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...
,
Claude Bragdon Claude Fayette Bragdon (August 1, 1866 – 1946) was an American architect, writer, and stage designer based in Rochester, New York, up to World War I, then in New York City. The designer of Rochester’s New York Central Railroad terminal ...
,
Eugene Tsui Eugene Tssui ( born Eugene Tsui, September 14, 1954) Eugene Tsui, ''Evolutionary Architecture: Nature as a Basis for Design'' ( John Wiley & Sons, 1999), . is an American architect noted for his use of ecological principles and "biologic" desi ...
and Paul Laffoley while among European modernists Hugo Häring, Hans Scharoun, and
Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as ...
stand out. Following World War II, organic architecture often reflected cybernetic and informatic models of life, as is reflected in the later work of futurist architect
Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing ...
. Architect and planner David Pearson proposed a list of rules towards the design of organic architecture. These rules are known as the '' Gaia Charter'' for organic architecture and design. It reads: "Let the design: * be inspired by nature and be sustainable, healthy, conserving, and diverse. * unfold, like an organism, from the seed within. * exist in the "continuous present" and "begin again and again". * follow the flows and be flexible and adaptable. * satisfy social, physical, and spiritual needs. * "grow out of the site" and be unique. * celebrate the spirit of youth, play, and surprise. * express the rhythm of music and the power of dance."Pearson, David (2001). The Breaking Wave: New Organic Architecture (Stroud: Gaia), p. 72 A well-known example of organic architecture is
Fallingwater Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, about southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. It is built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill ...
, the residence Wright designed for the Kaufmann family in rural Pennsylvania. Wright had many choices to locate a home on this large site but chose to place the home directly over the waterfall and creek creating a close, yet noisy dialog with the rushing water and the steep site. The horizontal striations of stone masonry with daring
cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
s of colored beige concrete blend with native rock outcroppings and the wooded environment. In postwar Europe, the Hungarian Imre Makovecz was one of the most prominent proponents of organic architecture. There are contemporary creations of organic architecture. The definition of 'organic' has dramatically changed during recent times. Avoiding materials of construction that require more embodied energy to build and sustain it, when the building blends naturally and sits seamlessly to its surroundings, reflecting cultural continuity, it is 'organic' and is idealistic. Examples include leaving natural material, such as
bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of be ...
, exposed and unsculptured, such as the underground Rådhuset metro station in
Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
, which appears to occupy a natural cave system.


See also

* Complementary architecture *
Biomorphism Biomorphism models artistic design elements on naturally occurring patterns or shapes reminiscent of nature and living organisms. Taken to its extreme it attempts to force naturally occurring shapes onto functional devices. History Within the c ...
* Metaphoric architecture * Zoomorphic architecture


References


External links

*
Bureau for organic architecture - Udo Heimermann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Organic Architecture Architectural styles 20th-century architectural styles *