Organic outdoor Architecture born from Organic Architecture.
Thanks to Wikipedia for help in this definition.
What is Organic Architecture?
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.
The term “organic architecture” was coined by Frank Lloyd Wright (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
All inclusive.
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.
A well-known example of organic architecture is Fallingwater, (Above) 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 cantilevers of colored beige concrete blend with native rock outcroppings and the wooded environment.
According to David Pearson who 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.”
Organic Architecture Today
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, exposed and unsculptured, such as the underground Rådhuset metro station in Stockholm, which appears to occupy a natural cave system.
How does this apply to landscaping? Craftsmen Farms Landscaping embraces Organic Outdoor Architecture. A design theory that takes the idea of Organic architecture, where the line is blurred between inside and outside, and takes it step further blurring the line between the formality of the immediate outside of your home, (beds lawn ect,) and nature that theoretically begins at the edge of your property.
Organic Outdoor Architecture
We at Craftsmen farms would like to think that we coined the term Organic Outdoor Architecture in as much as when it applies to uniting the breathtaking attributes of where we live with natural materials that neither add or detract from the natural surroundings.
Let me give you an example:
In a small town in Massachusetts a 6 year old girl goes to the WW1 Memorial park to see the petting zoo. This is a very special young lady, Sadly she won’t be with us much longer as she is on the transplant list for a kidney, but time is running out. So her loving parents take the time hoping against hope for a miracle, but spend their time doing everything she loves. At the end of the petting zoo there is a small clearing. Here there have grown wildly some very special shrubs. These bushes attract beautiful butterflies. So sleek so free of all the earthly trappings. A path leads from this clearing up a hill where her parents and grandparents lovingly sit and watch for a brief time where this little girl cand be the most important thing she can be. A little girl. The clearing is bordered by bushes, the path is encroached by nature, the chairs are rusting away, but this such a special place it will be engraved in my memory forever. Its architecture, its outdoor, its organic. Its perfection itself. Its that place where her parents can see their sweet little girl become just what she should be.
After she passed, her parents turned this part of the park into a carefully designed butterfly garden. Here kids come and play and we parents watch them, read the history on the plaque, and watch our kids be kids.
Here is the original. The path is more overgrown. But still discernible to the right of the butterfly bench and the picture is taken from about the same perspective as the below picture.
I built the job below in Mount Pocono PA for some grandparents who were raising their granddaughter. I planted the butterfly bushes, created the path up the hill, and found the two vintage chairs at the Salvation Army Thrift store. They can go there and watch their granddaughter be a kid, with hopes and dreams for the future. It is architecture, its outdoor, its organic. It is perfection itself.
This is how this applies to practical landscaping here in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Craftsmen Farms Landscaping embraces Organic Outdoor Architecture. A design theory that takes the idea of Organic architecture, where the line is blurred between inside and outside, and takes it step further blurring the line between the formality of the immediate outside of your home, (beds lawn ect,) and nature that theoretically begins at the edge of your property. Give us a call for a walkthrough of your property and let us come up with a plan to unite your home, and design with the surrounding beauty created by God himself, the greatest artist in the world, and the Great Architect of the Universe.
Satisfaction
I have had a saying for a long time.
Satisfaction is a direct result of expectation.
If we go into this agreement with the same expectations, the satisfaction is guaranteed.
This is why we have extensive discussions with you about the project, we do sketches, drawings, and detailed estimates, to make sure we are on the same page. We want you to be happy with your yard, and your home!
