What is Organic Architecture?

It is a response to our place as humans in a natural world. You, as a real living individual and your relationship to nature, are all that matters in Organic Architecture. It is not a style; rather, it is a philosophy that honors true patterns of nature and culture, pays close attention to sustainability and respects us, as humans, in a natural world.

This means, in essence, that you, as an individual, connect to a natural world that has no bounds. And this connection can take many forms that derive both from nature and from the cultural psyche of which you are a part. This connection can also be viewed as something that brings the substantive realities around us in touch with the imagined realities that are very human. It recognises that you, as a human, find yourself at a crux between the natural world that has no bounds and the imagined world that also has no bounds.

What happens in the design process is something that is very unique. You are one of a kind. With the Organic Architecture philosophy, it would not be taboo to mix styles such as Modernism and Neo-Classical and to add something unique that has never been seen before. In fact, it would be preferable in the right circumstances. If this is what you are, then this is what should happen in your organic design. Likewise, it would be wrong, with the Organic Architect, to insist upon doing this same thing for someone else who does not share those personal traits in their life or relate to nature in the same way.

Organic Architecture is always unique with each and every client. One building does not look like another building. What is loved by one client would not work for the next. Bruce Goff, one of the great architects of the Organic Philosophy, was known to have been at a social event with many of his clients. As the event proceeded, it was learned that the clients only politely appreciated the designs that Bruce had done for others but they truly loved their own.

This is the Organic Philosophy: It creates something unique around your own life. It connects to other life. The architecture, in essence, creates harmony with you in your culture and with you in nature.