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Symbiosis – a Response on Contemporary

Organic Architecture

Conference Paper · December 2013

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SYMBIOSIS – A RESPONSE ON CONTEMPORARY ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE
Ksenija Bulatović
Studio Cubex
Prvomajska 3, 11080 Zemun, Serbia, office@cubex.rs

Ksenija Bunjak
Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade
Starine Novaka 3, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia, ksenija.bunjak@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

A novelist from Mozambique, Mia Couto, wrote: “It's not the house where we dwell that's important.
But where the house dwells in us.” (novel A River Called Time). Our time is characterized by the new
discovery of these terms and values that through architecture history stood on the very edge of the
aesthetical norm. We give them greater importance in the contemporary context, define them as a
possible solution for the problems of our age, see them as a salvation, while in the same timeframe
the alienation, the disconnection of relationship man-house becomes more often.

This paper discusses when and why we have stopped feeling the house in us. The authors will analyze
the term house, its contemporary meanings and relation between man and house from the viewpoint
of organic and newly introduced symbiotic architecture. The main research subject is symbiotic
architecture and its response to the contemporary interpretation of organic architecture. One of the
research problems of this paper is whether symbiotic architecture can be seen today as a solution of
present problems such as neglection of man-house relation, ecological problems, man’s alienation
from the nature etc. This research tends to point out problems and limitations within contemporary
interpretations of organic architecture. The aim of this paper is to emphasize original elements of
organic architecture and to compare them with the new symbiotic architecture. The main research
methods are analysis, analogy and especially comparative analysis of the organic and symbiotic
architecture elements. The authors tend to introduce new way of approaching and understanding the
essence of architecture through symbiotic architecture and to indicate the importance of
reestablishment of the relation between man and house through their symbiosis.
KSENIJA BULATOVIĆ
Ksenija Bulatović (born in Belgrade, in 1967) is a Serbian architect. In 1992 she graduated from the
Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade in the class of professor and academician Milan
Lojanica. As teaching fellow she worked at Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. As architect she
worked at Studio Arcbs, Biro A43, Eurosalon Engineering and Delta Invest. In 2005 Ksenija Bulatović
started a successful private practice – architecture office Studio Cubex. She is a member of ULUPUDS
(the Association of Applied Arts Artists and Designers of Serbia) and other professional organizations.
Ksenija Bulatović is awarded architect and the author of numerous and important realizations in the
domain of architecture. She successfully participated at different national and international
competitions and exhibitions.

KSENIJA BUNJAK
Ksenija Bunjak (born in Belgrade, in 1984) is an architect and PhD candidate at Faculty of
Architecture, University of Belgrade. She worked in architecture offices Pich-Aguilera Arquitectos,
Barcelona, Studio Cubex, Belgrade etc. and as a visiting PhD researcher at Institute for Architecture
Technology, School of Architecture, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen. In 2013 she
received prestige German award Green Talent 2013. Ksenija Bunjak is awarded architect and the
author of numerous designs and competition projects. She participated at different national and
international exhibitions and scientific conferences and published a number of papers in the domain of
architecture. Architect dedicated to ecological and climate responsible design, research work and
education. Founder of volunteering organization EAT – Eco Art & Theory.
SYMBIOSIS – A RESPONSE ON CONTEMPORARY ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE
Ksenija Bulatović
Studio Cubex
Prvomajska 3, 11080 Zemun, Serbia, office@cubex.rs

Ksenija Bunjak
Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade
Starine Novaka 3, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia, ksenija.bunjak@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION – DISCUSSING THE HOUSE

When we mention the term house, majority would imagine, not the stereotypical, but rather an
archetypical idea of the house. They could then add synonyms such as home, shelter,
accommodation, dwelling, habitation etc. Others, with professions close to this term, could go a step
forward and say that a house can be a building, a single house, a skyscraper, a traditional or
contemporary one, rural, urban, residential, business, renascence, modern, postmodern, cyber etc.
Never the less, it is the fact that from a linguistic point of view we use the term house more than we
are aware: house of cards as a symbol of something unstable, temporary; astrology house as a
symbol of a belief that our life is cosmically predestined; editorial house; snail house as a symbol of
security etc.
The Oxford dictionary basically defines the term house:

noun 1. a building for human habitation, especially one that consists of a ground floor and
one or more upper storeys; the people living in a house; a household; a noble, royal, or
wealthy family or lineage, a dynasty; chiefly Scottish a dwelling that is one of several in a
building; a building in which animals live or in which things are kept; 2. a building in which
people meet for a particular activity; a firm or institution; a restaurant or inn; a theatre; 3.
a religious community that occupies a particular building; a residential building for pupils
at a boarding school; British ~ each of a number of groups into which pupils at a day
school are divided for games or competition; British formal ~ a college of a university; 4. a
legislative or deliberative assembly; the ~ (in the UK) the House of Commons or Lords; (in
the US) the House of Representatives; used in formal debates that mimic the procedures
of a legislative assembly; 5. a style of electronic dance music typically having sparse,
repetitive vocals and a fast beat; 6. Astrology ~ a twelfth division of the celestial sphere,
based on the positions of the ascendant and midheaven at a given time and place, and
determined by any of a number of methods; 7. British ~ old-fashioned term for Bingo
adjective 1. (of an animal or plant) kept in, frequenting, or infesting buildings; 2. relating
to a firm, institution, or society; (of a band or group) resident or regularly performing in a
club or other venue
verb 1. provide with shelter or accommodation; 2. provide space for; contain or
accommodate

We can see that the term house has the broadest meaning, encompassing various spheres of
human life. Therefore, we cannot address it from a viewpoint of a single profession, a single position,
or a single subjective experience.
 It is common knowledge that through the history traditional architecture followed the
requirements of the local environment and was created in accordance with them. This primarily
relates to the local materials and different responses to the climate conditions, but we should not
forget the influence of culture, religion, society… Traditional architecture should not be simplified and
seen only as a style. It is more than that, it is an authentic and local philosophy of living. After his
journey to Africa in 1961, Louis Kahn wrote: “I saw many huts that the natives made. They were all
alike, and they all worked. There were no architects there. I came back with the impression of how
clever was the man who solved the problems of sun, rain, wind” (Dahl 2008, pp. 33). House cannot
be addressed only form the viewpoint of climate and optimization of individual climate needs. Context
with its various factors have always played an important role in the architectural design and traditional
architecture knew how to respond to its requests.
Still, the official architecture histories and theories were dedicated to the studies of house-
monuments, exploring the different, rare, individual, new, something that in its own time pushed the
limits of the aesthetical norm. What is often put aside is the fact that through history the work of
architects represented only the small part of building activities and that the built environment was a
product of vernacular architecture, we can up to some point use the term folklore architecture here.
For a long time, this type of building activity could not be found on the pages of the official
architecture histories. Rapoport states that the real meaning of the architecture history lies in the
research of its context and mentions environment of the Acropolis in Athens, Egyptian temples, Gothic
cathedrals etc. (Rapoport 1969). Growing interest for the wider built environment awakes in the
middle of 20th century, while today a large number of researches are oriented towards vernacular and
traditional architecture, rediscovering elements of ecology, sustainability (elements of sociological,
economical, cultural, contextual sustainability). These elements were once known. In their own time,
consciously or not, they were initiators of vernacular architecture. Why do we rediscover them today,
define them as ‘new’, ‘reveal’ and propagate ‘contemporary ecological architecture’ as a possible
solution for the global problems? Did we reach the point where we officially recognize aesthetical and
essential importance of these elements? Or do we just re-cross known tracks? In the movie Cloud
Atlas by Tom Tykwer from 2012 there is a sentence: “We cross and re-cross our old tracks like figure
skaters” (Tykwer 2012). We need to ask ourselves: is this really true?
Jan Mukařovský, Czech structuralist, believed that any object or event (event in nature or human
activity) can be a carrier of the aesthetical function. There are no objects or events that are by their
essence carriers of aesthetical function regardless to the time, place or the evaluator, and the others
that are, again because of their nature, necessarily excluded from the scope of the aesthetical
function. The limits of aesthetical area are not given by the very reality, and therefore they are
variable. The same event that was a privileged carrier of aesthetical function in one time or country
can be incapable for this function in other time and vice versa (Mukařovský 1987). Therefore we can
assume that the crisis of our society has led to the establishment of the new aesthetical norms, within
which the ‘ecological elements’ will be assigned with the new aesthetical function. This will create new
aesthetical values connected to the ‘ecological architecture’ and ‘organic architecture’ (if organic
architecture is seen as a form of ecological architecture).
Place is a process that requires a cultural interpretation and that brings people into certain specific
interconnections (Sutton 2011). The purpose of each cultural place is to provide a safe and continuous
life of its users. Culture uses the environment and its basic functions in order to meet the physiological
and spiritual needs of the people. One of the ways how this can be done is through the house as a
place of residence (Mann 1985). Schultz believes that the creation of habitats and places to live is
preceded by the identification of an individual with his environment and surroundings and
understanding their meaning. By identifying with the environment, we identify with the place and only
then we can define the house in it.
The movie “24 City” from 2008 by Zhangke Jia shows us that the house can no longer be
considered as a physical and emotional shelter. If we have been doing everything right in the past,
how is then possible that we have reached this stage? From one side, we rediscover terms and values
that all through architecture history were standing on the margin of the aesthetical norm, we give
them bigger importance in the contemporary context, define them as a possible solution for the
problems of our age, as a salvation; and from the other side, in the same timeframe the alienation,
the breakup of man-house relationship becomes more often.
A novelist from Mozambique, Mia Couto, wrote: “It’s not the house where we dwell
that’s important. But where the house dwells in us” (novel A river called time). Looking into our
house, we look into our own sole. When and why we have stopped feeling the house in us?
 By simple observing the children’s house drawings we can easily categorize them as naive,
unoriginal, typical and similar in many ways. We can therefore think that they represent stereotypes,
iconic ideas of the house. Still, we have to notice the fact that modern urban child always draws a
house with chimney and smoke, although it never attended the very act of the fire making. This
suggests that similarities in children’s representations of the houses are far more than just
stereotypes. We can ask ourselves are they maybe subconscious, generally accepted cultural symbols
and norms?
Carl Gustav Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and founder of the analytic psychology, defined this as
collective unconscious. He also defines the term archetype. According to Jung, archetypes are general
images that have always existed and can explain the appearance of certain ever-existed and
widespread forms in psyche. If we apply the theory of the collective unconscious and the archetypes
to the children’s drawing, we can understand that children without previously gained experience and
knowledge, led by the unconscious, perceive reality completely intuitive, and thereby through their
drawings offer the archetypical representation of the house – archetype of the home with all of its
important elements. Child’s house drawing is an anthropocentric vision of the world where man is a
central fact of the universe. Most of the drawings represent the typical idea of a family (mother,
father, daughter, son and a dog). There is a smoke from the chimney suggesting the presence inside
of the house. Also, there is often a path that leads a draftsman – a creator into the house. Therefore,
ME as a whole psychological being in a specific moment, together with all conscious and unconscious
actions is evident. Child unconsciously connects man and house as his creation. This directly implies
that neither the house nor any other building activity would have existed without man. Child
intuitively, unconsciously feels the house inside the man, inside itself. When the breakup man-house
occurs then? What stops today collective-unconscious to become personal-conscious?
This is a time of ongoing changes – economical, social, political, cultural etc. Still, it seems that
today our postmodern time is in the biggest crises, constantly striking the limits of the accepted
contemporary rules and waiting for the fundamental change, an event or an object that will come into
the conflict with the existing aesthetical norms. Last decades rediscovered terms such as bioclimatic
architecture, ecological architecture, sustainable architecture etc. and gave them a new meaning.
‘Responsible’ architecture designing, ‘environmental designing’, etc. became central motives of
contemporary architectural discourse. There is a growing trend of architectural designs, texts, books
and conferences that propagate ‘green’ architecture as the only right in our society. Without doubt
those principles existed in the past, but they stayed under the official limits of aesthetical norms.
Today, old ideas gained new aesthetical value. We own the new technology, accumulated knowledge
and experience in our collective consciousness. When we add to that a new aesthetical value of old
principles we have to ask ourselves what is it that we are missing in order to make a next step, to
achieve the change that the postmodern time strives to, to cross the limit? We are the ones that are
manipulating our own perception of the reality by introducing innovations in spatial relations, creating
new forms etc. This implicates that it is necessary to ask ourselves what ME is in the contemporary
society and where inside of ME the house lies. New age introduced idea of organic architecture. What
is the contemporary organic architecture today and can it be a possible solution? Or do we need to go
beyond and explore further?

ABOUT ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE

Organic architecture represents a living tradition. This controversial architecture was always hard
to define. It was never a style, but rather an approach. David Pearson points that is was sometimes
called ‘the other tradition’ and that it has a long history from Ancient Greece to Art Nouveau. Roots of
the organic architecture can been found in life, in nature and its forms. Pearson states that primitive
vernacular architecture was innately organic since it was based on natural forms and structures and
was built by the local materials (Pearson 2001). Through history there were many styles, theories and
ideas based on the nature and its principles. So if we understand organic architecture as an
architecture inspired by the nature, we can with caution say that it existed all through history in
different emerging shapes.
Louis Sullivan believed that buildings should “naturally follow suit in that their forms follow their
functions, regardless that buildings are not in themselves organic things” (Cruz 2012, p. 28). Buildings
are not born, do not grow or reproduce – they are being made. He stated:
 “It is the prevailing law of all things organic, and inorganic, of all things physical and
metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of
the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form
ever follows function. This is the law.” (quote according to Cruz 2012, p. 28)

Frank Lloyd Wright followed this idea, but rephrased it in his later works, writing that the form
and the function are one. He sad: “That abstract saying Form and function are one is the centre line
of architecture, organic. It places us in line with nature and enables us sensibly to go to work” (quote
according to Cruz 2012, p. 29).
One of the fist times that the word organic was mentioned in an architectural discourse was in a
lecture of Claude Bragdon in 1915 in Chicago. Years later, in 1939 Frank Lloyd Wright will declare:

“I bring you a new Declaration of Independence… An Organic Architecture means more or

less an organic society. (…) In this modern era Art, Science, Religion – these three will
unite and be one, unity achieved with organic architecture as centre.” (quote according to
Pearson 2011, p. 29)

Wright was one of the first who introduced the term organic architecture. In his earlier works,
natural and organic were the synonymous. Later on, he referred to the organic architecture and
nature as inseparable. This reminds us of on-going contemporary discourses regarding green or
ecological architecture.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s concept of organic architecture evolved from a group of architectural
principles to the way of living. In his essay In the Cause of Architecture he presents his early ideology.
In 1914 he wrote: “By organic architecture I mean an architecture that develops form within outward
in harmony with the conditions of its being, as distinguished from one that is applied from without”
(Pfeiffer 2011, p. 19). For him organic architecture is an extension of nature and its principles. Nature
itself is a unique principle needed to be understood and later, integrated into the architecture. Among
nature’s principles, Wright paid special attention to the organic simplicity and the idea of an entity
referring to a building as an integrated whole of many factors (Cruz 2012).
Defining organic architecture, Wright gave six main design principles. The first among them was
mentioned earlier and was related to the simplicity and calmness as a measure of art. The idea that
there should be as much different house styles as there are types of people was the second principle.
The third principle of organic architecture brought together nature, topography and architecture in a
specific relation. As the forth principle, Wright stated that the colours of the houses should be taken
from the nature and harmonized with other house materials. The fifth principle - architecture should
express the real nature of the materials. The last organic architecture principle proclaimed spiritual
integrity in architecture (Perović 2005).
In the research of Wright’s organic architecture we found interesting thoughts and ideas:

“The idea of organic architecture is that the reality of the building lies in the space within
to be lived in, the feeling that we must not enclose ourselves in an envelope which is the
building.” (Pfeiffer 2011, p. 19)

“Organic architecture is… architecture in the reflex, architecture seeking to serve man
rather than to become, or be becoming to, one of those forces that try so hard to rule
over him.” (Pfeiffer 2011, p. 20)

It seems as if he looked even beyond his idea of organic architecture. Contemporary

interpretations of organic architecture brought along a number of limitations and miscomprehensions.
We can notice that today a large number of researches and critiques concerning organic
architecture discuss mainly the organic form bringing like that architecture down to the mere form. By
dealing mostly with the house form, we unconsciously break up the relation between hose and man.
In his book New Organic Architecture, The Breaking Wave David Pearson provides us interesting
observations. Fundamental inspiration of organic architecture is the nature offering the architects
endless design ideas. Pearson than says: “a building is seen as an organism, an indivisible whole, and
humans are seen as part of nature, not above her” (Pearson 2011, p. 10). This is followed by another
statements saying that “a special characteristic of organic design is that it is a continuous process,
never finished, always in a state of change” (Pearson 2011, p. 12) and that “the form of a building
should follow the flow of energy, and be created by it” (Pearson 2011, p. 14). But, after these
progressive thoughts the further text is again orientated towards the form – a single moment of
organic architecture. Even though he wrote that the organic architecture should be living rather than
frozen, he later on points that the properties of the materials dictate the form and by that dictate and
limit architecture.
We can notice that today there is a growing trend of organic forms separated form the principles
of organic architecture introduced by F. L. Wright. Sidney Robinson said that for some people organic
is curved or asymmetrical, for the others organic is natural materials; some consider organic is
individualistic, while other believe organic is holistic” (Robinson 1993). The essence of organic
architecture is everything and non from the above. Mere use of geometry and science, alone, can not
produce the real organic architecture.
Going back to the introductory, if, and only if, the present prevailing understanding of organic
architecture is right and organic forms successfully integrated man and nature, how come we still
witness the break up of the relationship man-house?

SYMBIOSIS – TOWARDS SYMBIOTIC ARCHITECTURE – A RESPONSE ON THE ORGANIC

ARCHITECTURE

SYMBIOSIS is an interaction between two different organisms living in close physical

association, typically to the advantage of both.
Kisho Kurokawa believes that opposite to the Age of the Machine, 21st century will be the Age of
Life, and that the answers for present problems are in the processes that already exist in nature
(Kurokawa 1994).
Contemporary society as an opened and accessible one, gives people a possibility for individuality,
as well as a chance to perceive their own identities in the contact with others and with the
surroundings. A large number of information, different spatial contexts, situations and environments
prevent a man to completely comprehend this possibility and lead him to the conformism, to
recognition of mass-identity instead of individuality. Man becomes a machine taken from case to case,
from circumstance to circumstance, completely unprepared for the development of the society called
the Age of Life by the Kurokawa.
Kisho Kurokawa defines symbiosis as new way of interpreting contemporary culture, a philosophy
of ‘both-and’ rather than ‘either-or’ (Kurokawa 1994).
World today is a world of dualism – man-nature; inside-outside; organic-nonorganic etc. Symbiotic
architecture is not a compromise, simple coexistence, mere harmony of elements. It is more than that
– it is their co-life. Symbiotic architecture begins with the man as an initial symbiote highlighting his
basic physiological, spiritual, cultural and social needs. House, as the second symbiote is seen as a live
being dependent on a man and transformable in its essence. House is defined by an organic bond
between natural materials and represents a live membrane – skin that energetically feeds, maintains
constant connection between man and environment and meets all the needs of its symbiote – man.
House, on the other hand, owns a man its existence. A house is born, he/she lives and changes,
he/she dies. He/she breathes with the life of the household. When the man ends his existence in the
house, house returns to the nature, to the origins.
Symbiotic architecture restores and strengthens the relationship man-house. House in the
symbiotic architecture is oriented towards one unique body-architecture. The core of symbiotic house
is the protection, a transformable response to human needs, natural and social context.
Future architects have a specific task – to create a space suitable for the development of the
human spirit, within which a man can perceive his core essence and his identity; a space resistant to
all internal and external negative influence and opened to the positive ones.
Symbiotic architecture is a specific bionic – architecture that draws the principles from the nature,
life and environment and uses that knowledge in the definition of its own essence. Man was created
form the natural principles. He recognizes them in the nature and feels them as his original habitat. It
is necessary to provide essential comprehension of these principles and to allow a man to use them
for the improvement of his life.
 Photo 1: Symbiotic architecture by Studio Cubex (Ksenija Bulatović)

The next level of the symbiosis, a symbiosis between the man and nature through the house as
an intermediate element, represents interdependence and co-existence in time and space. Man is a
physical being with his own needs. Needs are variable, unlike senses which are constant. Needs are
being modified along with the changes in the environment. Symbiotic architecture provides the
answers to these changes – form is adaptable in regard to the function and transformable according
to the users needs. Importance of the symbiotic architecture can be found in the continuous quality of
human existence in the environment where he was placed.

Photo 1: Symbiotic architecture by Studio Cubex (Ksenija Bulatović)

 How to create a space measured by the man, by his sole? Object breaths as the people living
inside breath. Interior change is enabled by a specific joint of automatics and organic tissue. This
suggests a possible change of the form if needed. Everything is focused on comfort and functionality.
Warmth and ambience of the interior is provided by free organic forms. Aesthetics and way of
functioning depend only on the beings that are moving, thinking and creating inside the house.

Photo 1: Symbiotic architecture by Studio Cubex (Ksenija Bulatović)

Symbiotic object exists alone in the space, but there is also a possibility for grouping more units.
Symbiotic groups can exist in different spaces since they are adaptable to all environments.
Membrane of the symbiotic object is an organic membrane composed of fluid between pore-walls.
House-membrane becomes human’s second skin. Elastic and organic walls enable easy
transformability of the form and adjustment according to the needs. Wall is a material energetic field
that protects a man from outside influence. Defined on this way, the intermediate space between man
and nature – membrane provides dynamics and gives house a life. Symbiotic house is transformable,
fluid and transparent.
Even though it is imagined as a futuristic vision of the symbiosis between man and house, and
man and nature through the house, symbiotic architecture can be understood as a principle, as an
approach to the architectural design – symbiosis between different natural and contextual conditions,
symbiosis of cultures, information etc. It can also represent a switch from the anthropocentric view to
the ecological one where the ecology is seen as a symbiosis of all species. Or it can explain the core of
the sustainability as a symbiosis of all ecological, sociological and economical principles. The
possibilities are endless.
CONCLUSION

Like the organic architecture, symbiotic architecture also draws principles from the nature, life and
environment. But unlike the contemporary interpretations of organic architecture, symbiotic one uses
that knowledge in determination of its own essence. Emphasizing harmony, its changeable form is
sympathetic to the human body, mind and spirit. The table bellow shows comparative analysis of
organic and symbiotic architecture from the aspect of environment, form, function, materials and
technologies.

ASPECT ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE SYMBIOTIC ARCHITECTURE

Environment, form, function, materials
and technologies are all one, since
Organic architecture and nature are
symbiotic architecture is seen as a
inseparable.
specific live organism – a human’s
second skin.
Organic architecture is the extension of
the nature and its main purpose is to
Symbiotic architecture is a symbiosis of
blend the house into the nature and
the man, nature and the house.
ENVIRONMENT surroundings.
(natural and cultural context) Since symbiotic architecture is specific
Organic architecture is the extension of
by its transformation and adaptation, it
the nature.
can exist in any environment and any
natural and cultural context.
Organic architecture brought nature,
topography and architecture in a specific
It is not the extension of the
relation.
environment – it is a symbiosis of
environment and architecture.
House, as the symbiote of the man and
nature is seen as a live being dependent
on a man and transformable in its
essence.
Form is inspired by the nature, but is
still “frozen moment of nature”.
Form is adaptable in regard to the
function and transformable according to
F. L. Wright believed that an organic
FORM form should proclaim simplicity and
the users needs, obtaining continuous
quality of human existence in the
calmness and there should be as much
environment where he was placed.
different house styles as there are types
of people.
There is no single and constant form.
Symbiotic form is in the constant
motion. It changes as environmental
conditions or occupants needs change.
Function varies according to the change
Form and the function are the one.
FUNCTION Function defines the organic form.
in the occupants needs. Function
influence the change in the form.
Material used in symbiotic architecture is
In theory it should use natural materials
nature itself – house is seen as a living
such as wood, stone etc. but
organism.
contemporary interpretations use
concrete, glass, steel to obtain just the
House is defined by an organic bond
organic form.
MATERIALS between natural materials and
represents a live membrane – skin that
Organic architecture should express the
energetically feeds, maintains constant
real nature of materials, but material
connection between man and
properties dictate the form and by that
environment and meets all the needs of
dictate and limit architecture.
its symbiote – man.
Organic architecture represents a living
Symbiotic architecture depends on the
tradition and is often referred as ‘the
new technologies in the initial phase –
other tradition’.
creation of the specific membrane, after
TECHNOLOGIES which it exists and lives by itself
But, organic architecture uses new
dependent only upon man as his initial
technologies in order to create organic
symbiote.
forms and obtain the quality of life.
 The first discussions regarding organic architecture were visionary in many things. Frank Lloyd
Wright propagated the organic architecture whose main purpose was to serve the man who made it.
Maybe this can be considered as an initial step towards symbiosis of man and the house, towards
restoration of their relationship. Still, it seems that these progressive ideas were replaces today by a
form-based contemporary organic architecture, which main purpose is to be seen and noticed, to
provoke and raise questions, without going into its essence.
The rectilinear and orthogonal form that dominated in the 20th century coexist now, in the
postindustrial age, with so-called organic forms, that brought a new ‘freedom of thought’ as stated in
many contemporary discussions. And yet, in most of the cases this freedom is limited to mere form.
Interpreting organic architecture strictly as an organic form is as if the house is seen apart from its
context and user. Imre Makovecz wrote: “Organic architecture strives to connect the parts of the
building which are nearest to the earth - the foundations of the walls in particular – closely to the
earth. It also strives to construct them from mterials which have been extracted from the earth itself”
(quote according to the Pearson 2001, p. 10). The organic architecture is seen here as a bridge
between nature and man. We go step further and propose a symbiosis of nature/environment, man
and house. Organic form is creative. It originated form poetics in the nature. But yet it seems as if it is
just a frozen image of possibilities, an announcement for the next level, for the symbiotic architecture.
Only in understanding the very essence of the house and its symbiotic characteristics, the relationship
between man and house can be restored.

LITERATURE

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