Architecture as an Organism

Anything with the ability to reproduce, react to environmental stimulus and made up of

cells can be regarded as a living organism (Khan Academy, n.d.). In modern times, architects

have considered nature a characteristic to inspire the buildings they design. A major focus has

evolved around finding ways of making buildings react to changes in environment or what is

known biologically as response to environmental stimulus.

From a personal point of view, the concept of reaction to environmental stimulus has

been applied to most buildings. It is possible to design a building that can react to air pressure

changes. Such a building can have the arrangement of the glass panels fixed to resemble the

Pangolin’s scale arrangement in a flexible manner. This way the glasses can move in response to

the forces of air pressure. This is how the Waterloo International Terminus was designed (Fig 1).

The terminus showcases a perfect example of biomimicry. When a train enters the terminus, the

glass panes move in response to the air pressure changes brought about by the train (Khoshtinat,

2015). This terminus forms a perfect example of architecture as a living organism although there

is reduced impact to the ecosystem as it would be with perfect living organism.

Figure 1: Waterloo International Terminus (Khoshtinat, 2015).

 Another example of biomimicry in architecture involves the beetle found in Namib

desert. The beetle has the ability to capture fog in the fast-moving wind in the desert through

angling its body against the direction of the wind. The droplets then roll through the wings to its

mouth for hydration. Architects have mimicked such a feature in designs of buildings such as

those of hydrological centre for Namibia university (Fig 2). The building has a fog-catcher wall

that helps to improve the humidification aspects of the centre (Khoshtinat, 2015).

Figure 2:Hydrological centre for Namibia University (Khoshtinat, 2015)

In conclusion, many functionalities of living organisms can be utilized in the design of

buildings. Most buildings have showed this in terms of responding to stimulus. Thus, there could

be need to go further and show other important features of living organisms in buildings.
 References

Khan Academy. What is life? Retrieved 30 October 2019, from

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-biology-foundations/hs-

biology-and-the-scientific-method/a/what-is-life

Khoshtinat, S. (2015). Algorithms in Nature & Architecture (Biomimetic Architecture). Retrieved

from

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shiva_Khoshtinat/publication/293178740_Biomime

tic_Architecture/links/56b6a14b08ae3c1b79ad4a46/Biomimetic-Architecture.pdf?

origin=publication_detail