The connection between architecture and nature
It is obvious that the essences of man and nature exist inextricably, no matter how a person strives for progress, ultimately he returns to natural sources. Nature is the first principle from which humanity continues to draw inspiration for architectural design throughout its existence. However, scientific and technological progress and spiritual beliefs leave a certain imprint on buildings of different historical eras.
A large number of new solutions that have emerged as a result of the development of the field of building materials and structures allow a person to create life around him. Features of the construction site, climatic conditions and cultural and historical characteristics of peoples influence the formation of forms of architectural compositions. Undoubtedly, the natural appearance leaves an imprint on aesthetic education and forms living values, because it becomes possible to preserve nature for future generations.
Nature manifests itself in the world in a variety of forms, therefore, surrounded on all sides by the products of scientific and technological progress, man continues to take inspiration from nature and psychologically succumbs to his desire for spiritual relaxation. However, architectural concepts of recreational areas cannot always allow us to do this.
Note 1
Over time, the interpretation of the term architecture has changed. Initially, it meant the art of constructing buildings; today, architecture can be called a reflection of humanity’s capabilities in the field of construction technologies.
Figure 1. Leonardo's glass cube. Author24 - online exchange of student work
Today, the most famous specialists in the field of “natural” design include such architects as:
- Greg Lynn;
- Michael Sorkin;
- Santiago Calatrava;
- Norman Foster.
Today many new ones are being developed design diagrams buildings, facades are increasingly decorated with glass and metal, the use of rough forms in the architecture of not only business and public areas of the city, but also in the architecture of recreational areas is noteworthy.
To satisfy a person’s psychological need for energy rest, the dominance of nature is important, so it is important to be a “guest” with it, and not to be its owner.
Famous buildings illustrating the connection between nature and man
Modern technologies make it possible to build garden buildings and buildings with “green walls”. Such concepts connecting building architecture and nature are very popular today. Let's look at some of the most striking examples of such combinations:
- Concert hall Auditorio de Tenerife, Spain. The shape of this building resembles a bizarre fish. The roof has a characteristic curve, the height of which varies along the entire length of the building. The side windows of the Concert Hall resemble half-closed eyes. The main hall has 1616 seats and a stage 16.5 meters wide. You can enter the hall of this opera from both sides of the building; the building is equipped with two terraces overlooking the sea;
- Complex of mesh greenhouses "Eden", Great Britain. The domes of these structures consist of many plastic hexagons that are combined into one structure. The frame consists of metal pipes forming polygonal frames. The shape of this complex of structures resembles a mesh honeycomb;
- Glass cube by Leonardo, Germany. This building serves as a venue for informal meetings. Here you can see the interaction of the interior and the design of the surrounding landscape. The interior of the building is made in white and correlates with the architecture of the facade in the smoothness of its forms;
- Planetarium Emispheric, Spain. This structure successfully functions as both a planetarium and an Imax cinema. The name of this structure is translated as “hemisphere”; this is exactly the shape of the building. Part of the hemisphere is movable: when moving, it opens the ball inside. According to the architect's idea, this structure should resemble human eye, symbolizing observation of the vast surrounding world;
- Milwaukee Art Museum, USA. At the first glance at this structure, associations with a white bird appear. The museum's galleries contain more than 30,000 works of art;
- Peter Vetsch underground house complex, Switzerland. Here the concept of earth is taken as a basis, as thermal insulation material, effectively protecting against rain and heat loss. These structures are classic turf houses with a green roof, having a rounded “natural” shape and characterized by the absence of repeating elements. Architects of such projects strive to make maximum use of the natural landscape of the area, turning fundamental construction solutions into fabulous ones.
Along with specific structures, entire trends in architecture can be identified that seek to strengthen the interaction between man and nature. For example, grass roofs have become widespread in Scandinavian countries. Norwegian scientists have proven that such a coating not only has good heat and sound insulation properties, but is also environmentally friendly and cost-effective. In Germany, decorating roofs with flower arrangements is also becoming popular; this allows a person to feel harmony with nature, as well as emphasize the special individuality of the building.
Figure 2. Peter Vetch's underground houses. Author24 - online exchange of student work
Main aspects of "natural" architecture
Architecture is one of the main elements present in human life, and also has a protective function. Therefore, it is important to organize the space and appearance of the building in conjunction with an environmentally friendly recreational environment. Architecture combines what has been created by man and existing nature into a single organism. This can be explained by the fact that harmony is a balance of opposing forces, which determines the main principle of the existence of nature, because the equivalence of forces is the basis of the harmony of existence. Today's architecture embodies nature with human hands and is highest degree harmonious influence.
From time immemorial, architects turned to nature for inspiration and introduced its image into individual elements, such as acanthus leaves in a Corinthian capital, a rose window in a Gothic temple, and in any other style there was almost always a floral ornament.
From the second half of the twentieth century, new trends and directions began to emerge, where natural forms dominated the overall design of the building. Metabolism, as a concept that came from biology, has become a new word in architecture. Externally, the building could not be compared with any object of living nature, but it internal structure The architects created a type of living organism consisting of cells, that is, of separate blocks in which a person can live. In the process of life, cells die and are born, and in the case of architecture, it was meant to easily replace old parts with new ones. Appearing in the 1950s in Japan, metabolism left the main architectural monument - the Nakagin Tower in Tokyo. Subsequently, many architects took the cellular structure as a basis, but not all ideas were brought to life. Now this style has faded into the background, but such properties as replacement of parts and complexity in the repetition of residential blocks are still found in modern projects.
Nakagin Tower in Tokyo, Japan
A. Isozaki. CityVair, 1961
HouseVBobruisk, Belarus
ProjectFilene's Eco Pods, Höweller + Yoon,Boston, USA
The next style - organicism - like metabolism, was developed in opposition to functionalism. In addition to the use of natural materials and the desire to fit the building into the surrounding natural environment, a distinctive feature of organic architecture is also the imitation of natural forms, but not at the “cellular” level, but in a broader concept. Asymmetry, curvilinearity, bends bring the building design closer to biomorphic objects. The buildings resemble elements such as tree leaves, sea waves, etc.
In the 21st century, organics have grown into bionics, which is not just an imitation of individual elements, but rather the borrowing of natural forms.
Like the previous styles mentioned, bionics are in opposition. Contemporary high-tech with its straight, unnatural urban structures is recognized as “inanimate” architecture. Many authors are beginning to move from the style in which they previously worked to bionic. They are increasingly collaborating with biologists and engineers to bring their project as close as possible to the desired result. The most famous architects include Santiago Calatrava, Nicholas Grimshaw, and Vincent Callebaut.
ProjectThe Coral Reef,Vincent Callebaut
City of Sciences and Arts, Santiago Calatrava
ProjectThe Eden,Nicholas Grimshaw
Appeal not only to biomorphic forms, but also to the way life works in nature is also becoming a popular theme in architecture. Designed for overcrowded Tokyo, the Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City pyramid is the equivalent of an anthill. Such a building with developed infrastructure allows residents not to leave the boundaries of the pyramid.
In 2006, according to a project developed by the Mexican architect Javier Senosyan, a building was built, shaped exactly like a nautilus shell. The uniqueness of this project was the spiral internal structure, corresponding to the natural one.
The project by Spanish architects Mozas Aguirre arquitectos in a sense returns to the theme of metabolism, since the building's plan resembles the interweaving of chromosomes that divide the building's exterior into cells, and refers to the theme of cellular structure.
New projects are increasingly surprising in their closeness to living nature, not only by borrowing forms, but also by developing concepts according to which a particular structure will exist as a separate organism.
To summarize, we can say that the main similarity in the development of architecture and biology is evolution - from metabolism to bionics through cellular structure to the forms of an integral single organism. All three styles opposed the unnatural, rigid geometry of functionalism, and later hi-tech. Distinctive features metabolism, organics and bionics today are often combined together. Modern architects do not stop there, improving their ideas both in terms of visual similarity and design.
Bionic forms are distinguished by their complexity of designs and non-linear shapes.
The emergence of the term.
The concept of “bionics” (from the Greek “bios” - life) appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century. In a global sense, it denotes the area scientific knowledge, based on the discovery and use of patterns of construction of natural forms to solve technical, technological and artistic problems based on the analysis of structure, morphology and life activity biological organisms. The name was proposed by the American researcher J. Steele at a 1960 symposium in Daytona - “Living prototypes of artificial systems - the key to new technology” - during which the emergence of a new, unexplored field of knowledge was consolidated. From this moment on, architects, designers, constructors and engineers are faced with a number of tasks aimed at finding new means of shaping.
In the USSR, by the beginning of the 1980s, thanks to the many years of efforts of a team of specialists from the TsNIELAB laboratory, which existed until the beginning of the 1990s, architectural bionics finally emerged as a new direction in architecture. At this time, the final monograph of a large international team of authors and employees of this laboratory, under the general editorship of Yu. S. Lebedev, “Architectural Bionics” (1990) was published.
Thus, the period from the middle of the twentieth century. to the beginning of the 21st century. in architecture, it was marked by an increased interest in complex curvilinear forms, a revival, at a new level, of the concept of “organic architecture,” which has its roots in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, in the work of L. Sullivan and F. L. Wright. They believed that the architectural form, as in living nature, should be functional and develop, as it were, “from the inside out.”
The problem of harmonious symbiosis of the architectural and natural environment.
The technocratic development of recent decades has long subjugated the human way of life. Step by step, humanity has emerged from its ecological niche on the planet. In fact, we have become inhabitants of an artificial “nature” created from glass, concrete and plastic, the compatibility of which with the life of the natural ecosystem is steadily approaching zero. And the more artificial nature takes over living nature, the more obvious the human need for natural harmony becomes. The most likely way to return humanity “to the bosom of nature” and restore balance between the two worlds is the development of modern bionics.
Cypress skyscraper in Shanghai. Architects: Maria Rosa Cervera & Javier Pioz.
Sydney Opera House. Architect: Jørn Utzon.
Rolex Training Center. Architects: Japanese architectural bureau SANAA.
Architectural bionics is an innovative style that takes the best from nature: reliefs, contours, principles of shape formation and interaction with the outside world. All over the world, the ideas of bionic architecture have been successfully implemented by famous architects: the cypress skyscraper in Shanghai, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the board building of NMB Bank - the Netherlands, The educational center Rolex and the fruit museum - in Japan.
Fruit Museum. Architect: Itsuko Hasegawa.
Interior of the fruit museum.
At all times, there has been a continuity of natural forms in architecture created by man. But, in contrast to the formalist approach of past years, when the architect simply copied natural forms, modern bionics is based on the functional and fundamental features of living organisms - the ability for self-regulation, photosynthesis, the principle of harmonious coexistence, etc. Bionic architecture involves the creation of houses that are a natural extension nature that does not come into conflict with it. Further development bionics involves the development and creation of eco-houses - energy-efficient and comfortable buildings with independent life support systems. The design of such a building includes a complex of engineering equipment. Eco-friendly materials and building structures are used during construction. Ideally, the house of the future is an autonomous, self-sustaining system that fits seamlessly into the natural landscape and exists in harmony with nature. Modern architectural bionics has practically merged with the concept of “eco-architecture” and is directly related to ecology.
Shape formation passing from living nature into architecture.
Every living creature on the planet is a perfect working system adapted to its environment. The viability of such systems is the result of evolution over many millions of years. By revealing the secrets of the structure of living organisms, one can gain new opportunities in the architecture of buildings.
Shape formation in living nature is characterized by plasticity and combinatoriality, a variety of both regular geometric shapes and figures - circles, ovals, rhombuses, cubes, triangles, squares, various kinds of polygons, and an endless variety of extremely complex and amazingly beautiful, lightweight, durable and economical structures created by combining these elements. Such structures reflect the complexity and multi-stage evolution of the development of living organisms.
The main positions for studying nature from the perspective of architectural bionics are biomaterials science and biotectonics.
The objects of study in biomaterials science are various amazing properties natural structures and their “derivatives” - tissues of animal organisms, stems and leaves of plants, spider web threads, pumpkin antennae, butterfly wings, etc.
With biotectonics everything is more complicated. In this area of knowledge, researchers are interested not so much in the properties of natural materials as in the very principles of the existence of living organisms. The main problems of biotectonics are the creation of new structures based on the principles and methods of action of biostructures in living nature, the implementation of adaptation and growth of flexible tectonic systems based on the adaptation and growth of living organisms.
In architectural and construction bionics, much attention is paid to new construction technologies. Thus, in the field of development of efficient and waste-free construction technologies, a promising direction is the creation of layered structures. The idea is borrowed from deep-sea mollusks. Their durable shells consist of alternating hard and soft plates. When a hard plate cracks, the deformation is absorbed by the soft layer and the crack does not go further.
Technologies of architectural bionics.
Let us give an example of several of the most common modern trends in the development of bionic buildings.
1. Energy Efficient House - a building with low energy consumption or zero energy consumption from standard sources (Energy Efficient Building).
2. Passive Building - a building with passive thermoregulation (cooling and heating through the use of energy environment). Such houses use energy-saving building materials and structures and practically do not have a traditional heating system.
3. Bioclimatic Architecture. One of the trends in hi-tech style. The main principle of bioclimatic architecture is harmony with nature: “... so that a bird, flying into the office, does not notice that it is inside it.” Basically, numerous bioclimatic skyscrapers are known, in which, along with barrier systems, multilayer glazing (double skin technology) is actively used to provide sound insulation and microclimate support, coupled with ventilation.
4. Smart House(Intellectual Building) - a building in which, with the help of computer technology and automation, the flow of light and heat in rooms and enclosing structures is optimized.
5. Healthy Building - a building in which, along with the use of energy-saving technologies and alternative sources energy, priority is given to natural building materials (mixtures of earth and clay, wood, stone, sand, etc.) Technologies for a “healthy” home include air purification systems from harmful fumes, gases, radioactive substances, etc.
History of the use of architectural forms in architectural practice.
Architectural bionics did not arise by chance. It was the result of previous experience of using in one form or another (most often associative and imitative) certain properties or characteristics of forms of living nature in architecture - for example, in the hypostyle halls of Egyptian temples in Luxor and Karnak, capitals and columns of ancient orders, Gothic interiors cathedrals, etc.
Columns of the hypostyle hall of the Temple of Edfu.
Bionic architecture often includes buildings and architectural complexes that organically fit into the natural landscape, being, as it were, a continuation of it. For example, these can be called the buildings of the modern Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. On par with natural ones building materials, he works with already existing natural elements - mountains, hills, lawns, trees, practically without modifying them. His structures seem to grow from the ground, and sometimes they blend so much with the surrounding nature that they cannot be immediately detected. For example, the thermal baths in Switzerland from the outside seem like just a green area.
Baths in Vals. Architect: Peter Zumthor.
From the point of view of one of the concepts of bionics - the image of an eco-house - even village houses familiar to us can be classified as bionic architecture. They are created from natural materials, and the structures of rural villages have always been harmoniously integrated into the surrounding landscape (the highest point of the village is the church, the lowland is residential buildings, etc.)
Dome of the Florence Cathedral. Architect: Filippo Brunelleschi.
The emergence of this area in the history of architecture is always associated with some kind of technical innovation: for example, the Italian Renaissance architect F. Brunelleschi took an egg shell as a prototype for constructing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, and Leonardo da Vinci copied the forms of living nature when depicting and designing construction and military buildings. and even aircraft. It is generally accepted that the first who began to study the mechanics of flight of living models “from a bionic position” was Leonardo da Vinci, who tried to develop an aircraft with a flapping wing (ornithopter).
Gallery in Park Güell. Architect: Antonio Gaudi.
Portal of the Passion of Christ of the Cathedral of the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia).
Advances in construction technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. gave rise to new technical possibilities for interpreting the architecture of living nature. This is reflected in the works of many architects, among whom, of course, Antoni Gaudi stands out - the pioneer of the widespread use of bioforms in the architecture of the twentieth century. The residential buildings designed and built by A. Gaudi, the Güell Monastery, the famous “Sagrada Familia” (Cathedral of the Holy Family, height 170 m) in Barcelona still remain unsurpassed architectural masterpieces and, at the same time, the most talented and characteristic example of the assimilation of architectural natural forms -- their application and development.
Casa Mila attic floor. Architect: Antonio Gaudi.
Arched vault of the gallery in Casa Batlló. Architect: Antonio Gaudi.
A. Gaudi believed that in architecture, as in nature, there is no place for copying. As a result, his structures are striking in their complexity - you will not find two identical parts in his buildings. Its columns depict palm trunks with bark and leaves, staircase handrails imitate curling plant stems, and vaulted ceilings reproduce tree crowns. In his creations, Gaudi used parabolic arches, hyper-spirals, inclined columns, etc., creating an architecture whose geometry surpassed the architectural fantasies of both architects and engineers. A. Gaudí was one of the first to use the bio-morphological design properties of a spatially curved form, which he embodied in the form of a hyperbolic paraboloid of a small flight of brick stairs. At the same time, Gaudi did not simply copy natural objects, but creatively interpreted natural forms, modifying proportions and large-scale rhythmic characteristics.
Despite the fact that the semantic range of protobionic buildings looks quite impressive and justified, some experts consider architectural bionics only those buildings that do not simply repeat natural forms or are created from natural materials, but contain in their designs the structures and principles of living nature.
Construction Eiffel Tower. Engineer: Gustave Eiffel.
Bridge project. Architect: Paolo Soleri.
These scientists would rather call protobionics such buildings as the 300-meter Eiffel Tower by bridge engineer A. G. Eiffel, which exactly replicates the structure of the human tibia, and the bridge project by architect P. Soleri, reminiscent of a rolled-up leaf of cereal and developed on the principle of load redistribution in plant stems, etc.
Cycling track in Krylatskoye. Architects: N. I. Voronina and A. G. Ospennikov.
In Russia, the laws of living nature were also borrowed to create some architectural objects of the “pre-perestroika” period. Examples include the Ostankino radio and television tower in Moscow, Olympic facilities - a cycling track in Krylatskoye, membrane coverings of an indoor stadium on Mira Avenue and a universal sports and entertainment hall in Leningrad, a restaurant in the Primorsky Park of Baku and its connection in the city of Frunze - the Bermet restaurant and etc.
Among the names of modern architects working in the direction of architectural bionics, Norman Foster (http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/ByType/Default.aspx), Santiago Calatrava (http://www.calatrava.com/#/Selected) stand out %20works/Architecture?mode=english), Nicholas Grimshaw (http://grimshaw-architects.com/sectors/), Ken Young (http://www.trhamzahyeang.com/project/main.html), Vincent Calebo ( http://vincent.callebaut.org/projets-groupe-tout.htm l), etc.
If any aspect of bionics interests you, write to us and we will tell you about it in more detail!
Architectural bureau "Inttera".
At the end of the 19th century, the innovative architect Antoni Gaudi found inspiration for Barcelona's grandiose Sagrada Familia cathedral while walking in the woods. A hundred years after Gaudi’s amazing projects, a new movement appeared in architecture called biometrics - imitation of nature in structures created by man.
Nature is the best source of inspiration for architects
Over the several decades of its existence in architecture, biometrics has changed its content and general direction. At the very beginning, architects were guided by natural forms in the drawings of their projects; today they are interested not only in external beauty; the direction seeks to “understand” nature, its capabilities and the many ways in which nature makes the most of the minimum amount of resources.
Today, humanity is increasingly faced with the need to save resources, from electricity to territory, and biometrics proposes to imitate not only natural forms, but also processes and structures with the help of which a building becomes an active part of the natural world, without taking away resources, but, on the contrary, adding them. Understanding the need to be closer to nature, architects study termite mounds and anthills to understand natural ventilation patterns. Roofs, facades and even walls of houses are used to grow plants and sometimes living organisms. We invite you to get acquainted with the most striking projects of biometric architecture.
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
Gaudi always considered nature to be the best architect, and each of his projects became a kind of ode to natural forces. Antoni Gaudí's most magnificent work is the Sagrada Familia, which is scheduled to be completed in 2026, exactly one hundred years after the architect's death.
The interior of the cathedral, and especially the colonnade, is inspired by the image of a quiet forest. The columns, like the trunks of giant trees, strive upward, where they are illuminated sunlight, penetrating the cathedral through green and gold stained glass windows.
Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
The most remarkable feature of the Milwaukee Art Museum's elegant building is the solar roof, which resembles the wings of a bird and is adjustable with a lifting mechanism capable of lowering and raising the 90-ton protective structure.
The architect who designed the museum, Santiago Calatrava, drew inspiration from watching Lake Michigan, and it is on its shore that the museum stands. The lake inspired the architect with the image of wings and sails, which was reflected in the design of the building.
Kunsthaus, Graz, Austria
The Kunsthaus has a biomorphic structure and is in great contrast to the historical part of the city in which it was built. The main architects sought inspiration from nature, but did not try to imitate anything. The result of their labors was a building that local residents and lovers of modern architecture dubbed the “friendly alien.” The Kunsthaus is equipped with a media facade, which makes it look more like a living creature than a structure made of reinforced concrete panels.
National Theatre, Taichung, Taiwan
Architect Toyo Ito was inspired by natural caves, rock mounds and lines of water currents. He managed to combine all this into one design, which became like a natural island of smooth lines and rounded shapes in the noisy and “rectangular” city of Taichung.
30 Mary Ax, or Gherkin, London, UK
The cucumber-shaped tower, located in central London, is one of the first buildings to redefine the concept of imitating nature in architecture. In this project, not only the form and consumption are environmentally friendly daylight and areas for planting. The gherkin is built using an “exoskeleton,” a structure that carries ventilation throughout the building. The architects were inspired by the nutritional process of a sea sponge, which allows water to pass through itself. The absolute absence of corners in the building does not allow air flows to go down, thereby ensuring natural ventilation.
Eden Project, Cornwall, UK
A huge botanical garden with an area of 22 thousand square meters located on the territory of an abandoned and cultivated quarry. On the territory of Eden grow species of trees, grasses and shrubs of tropical latitudes and Mediterranean climates, as well as jungle flora. The garden consists of several domes, in shape and appearance resembling soap bubbles.
Inside the spheres are divided into biomes - territories united by common climatic conditions and vegetation. At the center of "Eden" there is an educational center imitating the Fibonacci spiral - a shape that is repeated by pine cones, pineapples, sunflowers and snail shells.
Seaweed House, or Green House, Hamburg, Germany
A unique house in Hamburg includes in its design living organisms - microalgae that live in aquariums located in the walls of the building. These algae grow tens of times faster than any other organisms on the surface of the Earth, they are regularly collected and used as biomass to produce fuel. Residents of such a house use 100% green energy. In addition to the energy function, algae regulate the lighting of the building. In sunny weather, they quickly multiply and cover the walls of the aquarium with a green translucent veil, acting as a natural filter. In bad weather, the glass remains transparent and allows maximum daylight to pass through.
Eastgate Office Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe
The chief architect of this office and shopping center managed to design the house using the very natural ventilation of termite mounds. The idea came to him while watching a documentary about termites. The external structure of the building, its façade, is covered with holes, like skin with pores.
Architects call Eastgate the best example of biomimicry to date, and not only in construction and design. The result of Mick Pearce's idea was the concept of passive ventilation, a concept in which the building does not need a heating or air conditioning system, thereby saving on energy.
Downland GridshellBuilding, Chichester, UK
This light and airy building is part of the museum of the same name under open air. Its construction was completed in 2002, the main material being thin oak strips, bent to create a double curve imitating the shape of a shell.
In addition to its natural shape, the structure of the building resembles the process of building a nest by intertwining thin twigs. This creates a very light but strong structure. The use of renewable natural resources and the building's location in the heart of the forest make it even closer to nature.
Details Miscellaneous Aesthetics
The enrichment of the formal means of modern architecture through the use of increasingly complex surfaces and other spatial structures introduces a lot of new things into the development of architectural form, approaching the natural diversity of natural forms. Even a shopping center today should look like a work of architecture, and not a faceless box.
As noted above, the history of architecture gives us many examples of imitation of the forms of living nature. However, such an imitation was purely external and concerned mainly individual elements: columns, frieze, ornament, etc. On the contrary, the architectural composition of the building as a whole depended on the division into parts of its structure and the general appearance determined by its individual forms, similar to how in Ancient Egypt the architrave of rectilinear outlines was supported by columns of a phytomorphic nature.
This contradiction was overcome in the Doric temple Ancient Greece through the use of curvature, entasis, thinning and other “optical corrections”. Thus, the composition acquired continuity, solidity and unity of a living organism. However, this was achieved only thanks to external similarity and a number of artificial techniques, such as, for example, imitation of the columnar shape of a plant.
Today, imitation has become obsolete, because the continuity and solidity of the material have become a reality, as well as integral unity, at least from a technical point of view. Achieving ideological and artistic unity is no less important for us, and its importance in art has now increased even more.
But how can we achieve a common material and technical structure? It can be achieved with the help of tectonics, identifying the plasticity of form and the widespread use of architectural composition tools associated with the laws of perception.
However, the expressive language of modern architecture cannot be identical to the language of the architecture of the past. It is no longer a question of expressing victory over the forces of gravity, overcoming heaviness and emphasizing the meaning of lightness. Today the task is to express first of all the victory of light “aerial” forms over immutability and then the victory over the differentiation of structural elements, emphasizing the importance of continuity and homogeneity of the material and the fact that the strength of spatial systems is largely determined by the properties of the form. The relationship between form and design is dialectical; they form an inextricable unity. This clearly demonstrates the law of continuous development of technology, which is most important for understanding the process of interaction between technology and architecture, as a reality that has a “revolutionizing” influence on more conservative architectural forms. However, the latter do not passively follow technology; they have relative independence and can influence structures, promoting their development or, conversely, restraining it.