HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE -III

SEMESTER. IV
 ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE
• Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture
• which promotes harmony between human habitation and the
natural world
• through design approaches
• so sympathetic and well integrated with its site
• that building, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a
unified, interrelated composition.
• The term organic
architecture was coined
by Frank Lloyd Wright
(1867–1959)
• An American architect,
interior designer, writer
and educator, who
designed more than 1000
structures
• Believed in designing
structures which were in
harmony with humanity
and its environment
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
• 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 • An architect and author based in the
United Kingdom
surprise. • Books- The New Natural House Book
• Express the rhythm of music and the and New Organic Architecture
power of dance." • Founder of the Ecological Design
Association
• Eric Corey Freed takes a more seminal approach
in making his description:
• Using Nature as our basis for design, a
building or design must grow, as Nature grows,
from the inside out.
• Most architects design their buildings as a shell and
force their way inside.
• Nature grows from the idea of a seed and reaches
out to its surroundings.
• A building thus, is analogous to an organism and
mirrors the beauty and complexity of Nature." • Architect (California, New Mexico,
Arizona),
• A recognized pioneer in the
tradition of Organic Architecture
• Falling water is the name of a
very special house that is built
over a waterfall.
• Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s
most famous architect, designed
the house for his clients, the
Kaufmann family in rural
Pennsylvania.
• Falling water was built between
1936 and 1939.
• It instantly became famous, and
today it is a National Historic
Landmark.

• Falling water was revolutionary for its

day in that instead of pushing nature
aside, Wright incorporated it into the
heart of the home.
• 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 cantilevers of colored beige concrete blend
with native rock outcroppings and the wooded
environment.
• Organic architecture is also translated into the all inclusive nature of Frank Lloyd
Wright’s design process.
• He wrote a letter to Edgar Kaufmann saying he was so stirred by the setting that
he wanted to create a building that would be an accompaniment to the music of
the stream.
 • Wright used only 4 materials to build Falling water— sandstone,
reinforced concrete, steel and glass.
• Wright used a lot of clear glass to allow the outside to flow freely into the inside.
• At certain times of day, the glass becomes very reflective and reminds some
people of the mirror-like surfaces of a calm pool of water.
• At night, the glass seems to disappear.
• 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.
 Notable Organic Architects

 Alvar Aalto  John Lautner

 Anton Alberts  Imre Makovecz
 Laurie Baker  Howard Roark
 Claude Bragdon  Eero Saarinen
 Nari Gandhi  Hans Scharoun
 Antoni Gaudi  Gustav Stickley
 Bruce Goff  Louis Sullivan
 Neville Gruzman  Rudolf Steiner
 Hugo Häring  Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959)
 Hundertwasser  Bruno Zevi
 Kendrick Bangs Kellogg  Simon Dale