Talk:Organic architecture
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The 'David Pearson' link on this page links to the wrong David Pearson. It links to David Pearson the NASCAR driver and not the theorist.
This entry on organic architecture is somewhat misleading. Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings are far from good examples of "sustainable, healthy, conserving" design solutions. Falling Water for example is built with materials high in primary energy such as as steel, reinforced concrete, masonry, glass and very limited use of renewable, low-energy content materials such as wood. The building lacks any insulation and is not really environmentally friendly in its design layout. For example, extremely low ceilings prohibit adequate light penetration and natural ventilation. One can argue that sustainability and environmental design guidelines were not established at the time; perhaps not to the degree that these standards exist today. Nevertheless if we compare Falling Water with a traditional building of the same era we can clearly establish that the latter rather than the former is by far the only environmental friendly, energy conserving, efficient design. Related concepts such as: use of wood for main structure, floors, siding, fenestration, etc., use of natural insulation materials (hay, animal hairs), use of pitch roofs for improved performance and protection from the elements, appropriate building layout and form and so on.
The organic architecture that Frank Lloyd Wright pioneered, was arguably a beautiful style that imitated naturalistic patterns and aimed at using nature as a beautiful set-up for wealthy clients who could afford the luxuries of his eclectic approach. On a pragmatic level the design style projected through architectural icons such as Falling Water has no connection to the principles of sustainability and environmental design as they are perceived and practised today. Efpalinos 08:45, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
This article is the opposite of FLW's "Organic" principles. FLW was first and foremost a Romantic; his architecture is by and large a gesture of "Order over Chaos," mind over nature. It means not to seamlessly integrate into its environment or to be passive against the processes of Nature; it means to complement these -- with its presence, not the reverse. "For [FLW], what an artist is, is a person who transforms nature by looking at nature, passing it through the soul, and in the expression of what the soul experiences in nature, something more natural than nature itself emerges." --William Cronon
FLW was trying to trump nature, not disappear into it. "Your house shall not be an anchor but a mast." --K. Gibran Considerable revision required. (Renyseneb 05:31, 14 November 2006 (UTC))
