THEORY OF DESIGN

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
surprise. United Kingdom
• Express the rhythm of music and the • Books- The New Natural House Book
power of dance." and New Organic Architecture
• 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
•Anton Alberts •John Lautner
•Laurie Baker •Imre Makovecz
•Claude Bragdon •Howard Roark
•Nari Gandhi •Eero Saarinen
•Antoni Gaudi •Hans Scharoun
•Bruce Goff •Gustav Stickley
•Neville Gruzman •Louis Sullivan
•Hugo Häring •Rudolf Steiner
•Hundertwasser •Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959)
•Kendrick Bangs •Bruno Zevi
Kellogg (born 1934) Simon Dale