Frank Lloyd Wright once said, "Organic architecture is an architecture from within, outward, in
which entity is the ideal. We don't use the word 'organic' as referring to something hanging in a butcher shop, you know. Organic means, in a philosophic sense, entity, where the whole is to the part as the part is to the whole, and where the nature of the material is the nature of the purpose, the nature of the entire performance becomes a necessity, and out of that comes what significance you can give the building as a creative artist" (from "A Conversation with Frank Lloyd Wright," 1953).
Wright's distinction between his concept of organic architecture and the literal idea of a living organism hints at a deeper metaphor. He describes the built environment as an "entity," an integrated whole where every part relates harmoniously to the others.
One of the most profound steps in the evolution of life was the symbiotic relationship between distinct organisms, leading to the development of complex, eukaryotic cells. This partnership, where one organism absorbed another not as food but as a collaborator, gave rise to the incredible diversity of multicellular life. The key to this complexity was the mitochondrion, a tiny powerhouse enabling cells to work together, ultimately allowing the formation of intricate, multicellular organisms, including you and me.
In architecture, objects, machines, buildings, and urban plans can similarly benefit from a systems approach that explores design possibilities within a multidimensional problem space. Just as organisms need to meet basic needs to survive and thrive, architectural systems can utilize evolutionary machine learning algorithms to generate solutions that satisfy fundamental building codes while optimizing other parameters. This approach takes advantage of gradient descent, a mathemarical framework that avoids getting stuck in a localalized, good solution, and navigate towards more ideal solutions that might require exploring less ideal solutions in between.
The art of this method lies in crafting a problem space that is both desirable and rich with potential solutions. These solutions must then confront real-world constraints: the physics of materials, construction methods, and the influence of political and social forces.
The true path forward in viewing buildings as organisms involves a commitment to experimentation and research, both in academic settings and through real-world implementation. This approach should be both incremental and bold, always striving to achieve the vision of a building as an organism. Each structure becomes a prototype, a unique entity that, while it may resemble its many cousins, has the potential to evolve into something extraordinary through the care and creativity of talented individuals.
In essence, every building is a living entity, a prototype that blends form, function, and innovation. By embracing the organic, we pave the way for architectural designs that are not only functional but also deeply integrated with their environment, much like living organisms that adapt, grow, and thrive in their ecosystems. This is the next evolution of organic architecture—a holistic, dynamic, and collaborative process that mirrors the complexity and beauty of life itself.
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