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The exact definition of organicism may seem ambiguous and multifaceted. The way it is utilized, organicism acts more like a philosophy in which characteristics of living organisms are appropriated.¹ Organicist paradigm is biomimetic or; expected to draw from or imitate nature in some manner. The degree or manner in which imitation of nature presents itself may vary from the aesthetic, to the conceptual, to the practical, including the various gray areas between them. With this in mind; the application of organicism in architecture can manifest itself through literal and abstract imitation of natural form or through translations of concepts or natural processes such as growth or assimilation.

I’m interested in how the aspects of response and change have translated themselves to the architectural practice and given birth to what is referred to as Responsive Architecture. The field of Responsive Architecture consists of architecture which measures the surrounding environment in some way, usually through the use of sensors, in order to alter shape; form or character in some way.² It is a process in which information from the people entering the space is obtained and is then used to create a reaction to that input. Responsive architecture is not intrinsically organicist. I believe both practices may overlap to varying degrees, depending on the project, but I wonder if a clearly defined threshold exists where the organicist character completely disappears. In addition to that, I want to examine if there is limit of practical application possible through the marriage of responsive architecture and organicism.

In order to make this analysis, I will examine various projects which combine organicism and responsive architecture in different interpretations. Perhaps one of the earliest examples of responsive architecture is the US Pavilion at Expo 67 by Buckminster Fuller and Shoji Sadao. The pavilion consisted of a geodesic dome structure which was 200ft tall and 250ft in diameter. The sheer magnitude of the project made it reminiscent of a celestial body. The structure was composed of open tetrahedral cells which supported acrylic panels. Motorized triangular shades were attached to approximately 1/3 of the interior surface and utilized mechanical sensors to provide shade in the dome as needed. This system had the effect of reducing the amount of fossil fuels needed to cool the structure. The system takes a conceptual approach on biomimicry in the sense that it seeked to imitate the process of homeostasis which our bodies perform in order to maintain a stable core temperature needed for survival.³ Fuller originally proposed an even more complex and ambitious enclosure system, “predicting that just some cells are to sense light, sound, or heat, so future geodesic domes would have markedly differentiated cells or “pores”.⁴ Fuller envisioned a system which could “articulate as sensitively as a human’s skin”.⁵ Fuller was able to devise a system which combined both responsive architecture and organicist concepts in order to create a dynamic and ecologically friendly system. Although the full ambitions were not realized and the sensors were eventually removed, this structure served as a breaking point, which inspired others.  In the practice to strive for other ambitious climate control projects, Norman Foster’s tower in London or Adaptive Fritting by J. Norman from the Adaptive Building Initiative is a prime example.⁶

 

Next, let’s take a look at a project of responsive architecture which takes another approach on organicism. The Hylozoic Ground series by Phillip Beesly of the University of Waterloo consists of a series of installations which seek to emulate near-living architecture. Hylozoicism is the ancient perception of life arising out of material and this series is a simulation of the idea that material has life. Difficult to describe with merely the use of words, Beesly calls it an “immersive sculpture environment organized as a textile matrix supporting responsive actions, dynamic material echanges and living technologies-“.⁷  It is an artificial living system which allows for human interaction to trigger “breathing, caressing, swallowing motions”.⁸  A distributed array of motion sensors triggers primitive response devices composed of thousands of digitally fabricated parts which are combined to form different various modules which are part of a larger system akin to an artificial organism. Most of the components are manufactured out of self supporting materials such as acrylic and silicone and specialized snap fit acrylic joints are predominantly used to join the mechanisms required by the Hylozoic mechwork. Materials, sizes and thicknesses are adjusted to the specific needs of each component’s function. One is immersed in an intricate lattice of small transpacrent acrylic meshworks covered in an array of mechanical fronds, filters and whiskers which react in particular ways via the use of sensors and computer chips.The latest instalation in the series, Radiant Soil also incorporates a variety of liquid cells integrated throughout in glass flasks. These solutions contribute to create a metabolic system in constant flux which filters the air.⁹ The project seeks to emphasize on the creation of an atmosphere rather than a spatial arrangement.

The examples shown above relate to very different takes on organicism in responsive architecture. Fuller envisioned his project as a translation of a biologic process; The US Pavillion took a more conceptual approach to organicism. The use of biomimicry in this work is employed in a practical (and useful) application rather than a formal one. While the US pavilion may not look very organic, an argument can be made for the fact that the different cells which house the shading panels are integral parts that come together to make a whole. Hylozoic Ground on the other hand takes a sort of formally aesthetic approach. As mentioned previously Hylozoic Ground seeks to create an atmosphere through the use of nature-like forms. The feathers, filters and fronds act like plant in a forest or individual pieces of a living organism. This takes us back to the parts-and-whole discussion of organicism, which seems to be a the central theme or idea which most organicist projects share. One might wonder if aesthetic organicist property may limit function. For example, Domotics; or home automation through the use of sensors, can also be considered responsive architecture. Simple applications include turning lights on and off as people leave and enter a room while more advanced features include functions such as automatic climate control. I believe that domotics lies at the other end of the spectrum and that Incorporating mechanical systems such as these is merely taking a practical approach on the subject of responsive architecture and completely abandoning any paradigms of organicism. The other extreme which would consist of a formally verbatim copy of natural form seems to dissolve the inclusion of practical application.

The Hyposurface by Mark Goulthorpe and dECOi Architects, does a respectable job of combining the aforementioned concepts. The Hyposurface is a display system composed of small units in which the screen surface physically moves. As described on the official website, “The surface behaves like a precisely controlled liquid: waves, patterns, logos, even text emerge and fade continually within its dynamic surface.”¹⁰  The piece itself consists of a multifaceted faceted metal surface that has potential to physically deform as a result of electronic stimulus from either sensors or a pre-programed transformation. The “bed” consists of 896 pneumatic pistons; each one corresponding to a small group of facets. The Hyposurface generates dynamic terrains  are generated as a real-time calculations.While the Hyposurface is a unique take on responsive architecture, in its current state, it is limited to being pre-programmed and does not really employ responsive functions associated with organicism.

Another similar example is the Cosmic Quilt by The Principals. The installation consists of a 8ft x 16ft x 12ft tall interactive quilt-like structure, capable of responding to the presence of a visitor. The prototype installation combines technology, sensors, micro controllers and motors, with traditional craft in the form of quilt making.¹¹ In the event that these two projects were to unite conceptually, one could imagine a surface that reacts and transmits media which pertains to each individual the surface specifically reacts to. Such a product would revolutionize responsive architecture and even communications.

While responsive architecture is not necessarily organicist, I do believe that it draws from organicist principles. It is my impression that there are many grey areas whenever the fields overlap and that it is not necessary to have an ultimatum for choosing function or aesthetic. This being said, a cohesive union of both is a truly difficult task.

References

1: “Organicism,”accessed September 25, 2013, http://christianhubert.com/writings/organicism.html

2: Tristan d’Estree Sterk, “Using Actuated Tensegrity Structures to Produce a Responsive Architecture.” Acessed September 26, 2013, http://fishtnk.com/responsivearchitecture/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/sterkACADIA_03.pdf

3-6: Jonathan Massey, “Buckminster Fuller’s Reflexive Modernism,” Design and Culture 4:3 (November 2012): 325-344.

7-8: Beesley, Philip, Hayley Isaacs, and Pernilla Ohrstedt. Hylozoic Ground: Liminal Responsive Architecture. Riverside Architectural Press, 2010.

9: Beesly, Phillip, “To mimic a living metabolism: Radiant Soil”, accessed September 26,2013, http://thisisalive.com/the-hylozoic-ground-project/

10: “Hyposurface”, accessed September 25, 2013, http://hyposurface.org/

11: Lidija Grozdanic, “Cosmic Quilt- Reactive Architectural Environmnt/ The Principals.” Accessed September 26,2013, http://www.evolo.us/architecture/cosmic-quilt-reactive-architectural-environment-the-principals/

 

 

The Embryological House is a postmodern, organicist style inspired by evolutionary biology and the science of turbulence and made possible by the computer’s ability to generate warped or fluid forms. The Embryological House is suppose to trace the evolution pattern of the human embryo. The prototype of the embryological house is a topological symmetrical pure sphere, which is a curve duplicated 6 times. He experienced a series of six control points attached to this basic geometry and saw that there are potentially unlimited iterations derived from a basic form, or primitive – the sphere. However, each of these endless results would be unique. This project is a hinge point where idea of house typology moves from the modernist model to an organic, flexible, genetic/generic prototype from which an infinite number of iterations can be generated. Having these features, the project is one of the first and most significant examples of mass customization.

 

-Gamze Kahya

 RESEARCH RESOURCES

Lynn, Greg. “Greg Lynn: Embryological Houses,” AD “Contemporary Processes in Architecture” 70,3, London: John Wiley & Son, 2000.

[In this publication, Lynn describes the main intentions of the project in a detailed way.]

Burns,Karen. “ Greg Lynn’s embryological house project: the “Technology” and metaphors of metorsm of Architecture”, 2000.

[This paper offers a close reading of one architectural text engaged in “knowledge transfer”: the use of evolutionary biology discourse as an explanatory account and authority claim supporting Greg Lynn’s Embryological House Project (2000).]

Lynn, Greg. Animate Form. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999.

[This book is a quite descriptive document to understand the conceptual idea behind the Embryological Houses.]

 

Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito

Toyo Ito describes the “erotogenesis of his Sendai Mediatheque to be rooted in the experience of observing languorous plants and piscine movements through the glass wall of a giant aquarium”(Witte, Sendai Mediatheque, 29). As he explained in his words this project is based on the metaphor of Aquarium, its transparency and hence the similarity of the pillar with algae. And taking this idea the building was conceived as a transparent cube through which thin floor plates float suspended on organic-looking seaweed-like “tubes.”Rather than viewing media as a foreign element to nature, Ito embraced new media/computing as forming an integral part of the contemporary urban environment. The tree-like nature of the metal tubes of the Mediatheque are continuous with the natural surroundings of the area, as the design is found on a street lined with trees. These tubes were designed to give the flexibility to the structure to resist to the seismic forces. It achieved a highest performance during the magnitude-9.0 earthquake in March, 11, 2011.

 

-Gamze Kahya

 

RESEARCH RESOURCES

Ito, Toyo. Toyo Ito. London ; New York : Phaidon, 2009.

[This is a book. There is a part in that book where Toyo Ito explains Sendai Mediateque project.]

Farshid Moussavi and Michael Kubo. The function of ornament. Barcelona : Actar ; Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, 2006.

[This book is a graphic guide to ornaments in the twentieth century. It unveils the function of ornament as the agent for specific affects, dismantling the idea that ornament is applied to buildings as a discrete or non-essential entity and this contains Sendai Mediateque as one of the case.]

Ito, Toyo. Sendai Mediateque. Barcelona : Actar, 2003.

[This book documents the structure’s design, construction, and current use of Sendai Mediateque.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53JEfrBD-kg

[This youtube video was recorded from inside the building during the earthquake.]

 

 

Michael Pawlyn is known for his work on biomimicry and how architecture can use it as its guiding principle. Therefore, his research focuses on the “unique, efficient structures of natural organisms and how they may translate through design”. His concept of biomimicry is based on using nature’s ideas for human problems. But his approach is far more than just creating a form for the building. He rather focuses on the biomimicry’s “potential to influence the function” where it can create possibilities for creating resource efficiency. His book, “Biomimicry in Architecture” attempts to open up these issues by focusing on building efficient structures, manufacturing materials, creating zero waste system, managing water, controlling thermal environment and producing energy for buildings.

Some of his inspiring projects are Sahara Forest Project that he collaborated with Charlie Paton and Bill Watts to propose a combination of two innovative technologies such as “Concentrated Solar Power” and “Seawater Greenhouse” to produce renewable energy, water and food in an area of hot desert.

 

— Nilay Akbas

 

RESEARCH RESOURCES

 

Pawlyn, Michael. Biomimicry in Architecture. London:RIBA publishing. 2011.

[His book focuses on the Biomimicry’s role on architecture by explaining the steps of building construction specificly focus on materials systems and construction methods.

 

Weston, Richard. 2012. “Nature in architecture.” The Architectural Review 232, (1380) (02): 95-96. http://search.proquest.com/docview/929052062?accountid=14214 (accessed September 5, 2013).

Interview with Michael Pawlyn introduces his ideology on nature and biomimicry. He explains sustainable architecture through ongoing projects by focusing on its regenerative and restorative approach in construction industry.

 

Yeang, K. and Pawlyn, M. (2009), “Seawater Greenhouses and the Sahara Forest Project.” Architectural Design 79: 122–123. doi: 10.1002/ad.930

The article focuses on the Sahara Forest Project and the use of innovative technologies that are inspired by nature and as an end result the outcomes of the project.

BioDigital Architecture: Digitally-Growing Structure, Space, Surface, & Components Dennis Dollens research is focused on biodesign and bioarchitectures role as a part of nature.  His projects are based on software that enables to embed nature’s intelligence (nature’s function) to buildings/building components by translating the organic and “regenerative processes” of natural world. His studies on “biodigital” take biological principles (naturally occurring) to create a computer algorithms which is used to generate architectural forms. One of the experiments he worked with this technique is the structural integrity of branching trees that started by developing variety of digital models of branching system. This study is followed by series of scripts that could generate models of branching; later these scripts and digital models were used to designing a branching building that eliminates the structural deficiencies of cantilevered systems. It resulted with an active form, more flexible system that can be used in regions where earthquake is a major structural problem. Also, it has the potential of being a self-shaded system that can environmentally move and be a truss system. Further studies of the branching system resulted with the branch matrix that can functions as sensor nodes with leaf-cluster systems for air filtration & ventilation, sound baffling and heat-light control.”

 

— Nilay Akbas

 

RESEARCH RESOURCES

 

Dollens, Denis. Digital-Botanic Architecture: D-B-A. Sante Fe: SITES Books. 2005

Focuses on his research on biodesign and bioarchitectures and ways nature in translated
into the design world.

 

Dennis Dollens. “Architecture as Nature: A Biodigital Hypothesis.” Leonardo 42, no. 5 (2009): 412-420. http://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed September 6, 2013).

Research on “biodigital – software that enables to design and bring nature’s
intelligence to buildings and building components which can actively work with
the building to provide better design solutions.

 

Dollens, Dennis (06/30/2010). “Architecture, eTrees, & Nature Architettura, eTrees, & Natura”. Disegnare con (1828-5961), 3 (5), p. 43. <http://s3.amazonaws.com/mcneel/misc/docs/DBA2-72dpi.pdf>

This source is based on his research experiment on the structural integrity of
branching trees. It explains the process of digital modeling and creation of
mathematical computer algorithms which are used later on to design branching
building.

 

 

Venice is suffering from many major issues that include population displacement, escalating living costs, and a dwindling availability of affordable local housing.  This is directly a result of the influx between the permanent residents of Venice and the seasonal tourism, and how this is affecting the struggle “to acquire valuable resources of space and commodities”.  In this example the use of slime mold as a self-sustaining organism is applied to the urban fabric of Venice. Due to this flooding of tourism and the tides, the project utilizes the rooftops to create links between Venice’s isolated communities.  The adaptive lifestyle of slime mold changes based on available resources, and can be applied to the similar in Venice, however the result would hopefully be “fruiting bodies emerge to ensure the reproduction of the next generation.”  From there the project attempts to create a prefabricated system that replicates the membranes of the slime mold, leaving Venice with a easily changing self sustaining system that could possibly pull them out of there current adversity.  I would like to take this concept and explore how it can be utilized in other cities.  Could this be a start to the idea of how the scientific aspects of nature can be incorporated to create a system that still maintains the essence of what architecture is and can do (link people and communities).

— Stefan Castellucci

 

RESEARCH RESOURCES

Gissen, David. A More Monumental, Non-Naturalistic Environment. 51-53

 

Lima, Antonietta Iolanda. Soleri: architecture as human ecology. New York, N.Y.: Monacelli Press, 2003

 

Ruy, David. Randomness and Irreducible Complexity. Tarp Architecture Manual 10, “Coding Parameters”

 

“Biomimicry 3.8.” Biomimicry 3.8. http://biomimicry.net (accessed September 15, 2013).

Torre David

Torre David in Caracas, Venezuela exemplifies socially organic architecture in its non-descriptive form of human occupation.  Opposite of this occurrence is the Modernist approach of social housing through formal organicism.  While a settlement such as Toulouse le Mirail by Candilis-Josic-Woods conforms human settlement to their utopian idealism and social organicism based off of the biomimetic “stem,” Torre David is an instance where informal occupation is characterized on an individual basis, tailored to the needs of the inhabitant.  Aesthetically, Torre David stands as proof of individual tastes as various occupations produce unlikely spacial configurations in a wide variety of color palettes.  To quote Urban-Think-Tank; “When the modern city does not adapt to the people, the people will adapt to the city.”

Max Harden

RESEARCH RESOURCES

Fry, Adam. “Torre David: vertical slum? | Pulsamerica: Impartial, Direct, Independent | The Impartial Latin American News Link.” Pulsamerica: Latin American News, Politics and Economics . http://www.pulsamerica.co.uk/2012/10/25/torre-david-vertical-slum/ (accessed September 16, 2013)

Adam Fry gives an introduction into the irony of the informal community occupied within the physical framework of a failed economic system.  This article also begins to explain the organizational patterns and roles taken on by the community inhabitants.

Torre David Trailer. 2012. http://vimeo.com/49094660.

The video Trailer to “Torre David,” by Urban Think Tank, presents an insider look into the informal configurations within this vertical community.  Evident in this video are different programmable uses and individual patterns of habitation.

After doing the reading by David Ruy, Randomness and Irreducible Complexity, and David Gissen’s, A More Monumental, Non-Naturalistic Environment. I wanted to look into how architecture and the idea of environment can start to find a possible solution/happy medium between the scientific aspects and the emotional experiential aspects.  Through the use of Ruy’s suggestion to understand the randomness in natural sequences, and how we can begin to decipher them, how can we harness the essence of how they are formed and function?  However it is important to only allow these natural sequences to inform architecture.  The example that I began to explore is called Slime Mold (Physarum Polycephalum), “which is a biological organism that also has many ambiguities: it categorizes as a protist, it is a single cell organism but it contains multiple nucleuses, it shows complex behaviors despite its simple structure.”  Slime Mold’s natural sequencing can be harnessed to create architecture that can functions not only as biology as a metaphor, but rather a collection of active systems.  Through the derived network logic from Slime Mold, “The nodes created become the place of birth of a new kind of architecture: non-planned, self-growing and self-sustaining, these ‘living organisms’”.

 

 

— Stefan Castellucci

 

RESEARCH RESOURCES

 

Dodington, Edward. How to Design With the Animal:Constructing Post Humanist Environments. Houston : Proquest LLC, 2009.

 

Gissen, David. A More Monumental, Non-Naturalistic Environment. 51-53Ruy, David.

 

Randomness and Irreducible Complexity. Tarp Architecture Manual 10, “Coding Parameters”

 

 

Morphosis

2006

The Madrid Social Housing Complex is the contemporary answer to the issues associated with the Modernist approach.  Monolithic forms dominated the Modernist aesthetic and subjected residents to variations of a formalized social utopia.  These highly impersonal structures often left the population segmented instead of producing the collective community originally intended.  The Madrid Housing Complex attempts to address these issues by offering a system greatly reliant upon the theme of porosity, imbedded within the organicist framework as a biomimetic system.  The framework formalizes the idea of the permeable membrane as loosely connected units allow for passage throughout, individualized sense of ownership, and inclusion of internal landscapes.  This sense of passage throughout a connected membrane enhances the chance for social interaction and establishment of community within.

 

Max Harden

 

RESEARCH RESOURCES

“Circuit City – Morphosis in Madrid | Icon 054 | December 2007.” 2013. Icon Magazine. Accessed September 16. http://www.iconeye.com/read-previous-issues/icon-054-|-december-2007/circuit-city-morphosis-in-madrid-|-icon-054-|-december-2007.

This article in Icon Magazine brings to life the social aspects of Morphosis’ contemporary social housing complex in Madrid.  Porosity allows for a maximized social environment that balances individuality and the necessity of community.

“Madrid Housing | Morphopedia | Morphosis Architects.” Morphopedia – The Online Encyclopedia of Morphosis. http://morphopedia.com/projects/madrid-housing (accessed September 16, 2013).

This Description by Morphosis Architects offers a short comprehensive characterization of the housing project in Madrid.  Apparent is the reliance on porosity to overcome modernist mistakes of institutionalized form.

Similar to the Orquideorama Gardens, the new Telecommunication Agency Headquarters, designed by Mario Cucinella Architects, uses a singular form to tie its human occupants to the surrounding environment while functionally making use of environmental forces.  Biomimicry was applied in the Gardens to emulate the surrounding forest.  At the ARPT Headquarters, the dunes were mimicked instead.  The advantage of this form, aside from allowing it to create less visual impact on the surrounding landscape, is that it creates “sustainable, bio-climatic” cooling.  The convex, aerodynamic North face pushes away hot winds during the day, and the concave South face funnels and collects the cooler night breezes from the other direction.  By linking these natural principles with the human principles of program, historical reference (the pointed Islamic arch was a factor in the shape), modern technology, and symbolism (being a visible representation of importance), the ARPT Headquarters uses biomimicry as a strategy for all design factors.

–Wesley Ratliff

 

RESEARCH RESOURCES

 

Bojovic, Marija. July 7, 2013. “Sustainable Synergy of Form, Energy, and Tradition: ARPT Headquarters.” eVolo.  Accessed September 4^th, 2013. http://www.evolo.us/architecture/sustainable-synergy-of-form-energy-and-tradition-arpt-headquarters/

 

Evolo published a short article on the ARPT Headquarters explaining the basics behind the competition and the winning design.  It gives a general sense of the goals of the architects and the clients, and shows renderings to further demonstrate the organic form.

 

June 29, 2013. “ARPT Headquarters by Mario Cucinella Architects.” Dezeen Magazine. Accessed September 5^th2013. http://www.dezeen.com/2013/06/29/arpt-headquarters-by-mario-cucinella-architects/

 

Dezeen Magazine shows much the same as Evolo in terms of imagery and information.  It is slightly more detailed and gives more insight into the purposes of the form aside from the organic function.  It also contains a useful diagrammatic section.

 

Mario Cucinella Architects. Accessed September 6^th, 2013. http://www.mcarchitects.it/

 

This is the website for MCA Architects, the designers of the ARPT Headquarters.  Aside from showing more detail on the building itself, we can also learn about the firm itself, their goals, and their other projects that may be similar.