NATURAL ARCHITECTURE
by Alessandro Rocca
Princeton Architectural Press, New York
Where does landscape architecture stop and landscape art begin? The artists and architects in Natural Architecture have transformed the act of building into an art form capable of sparking new relationships with nature, landscape, and the environment. Natural Architecture presents sixty-six site-specific installations that use raw materials such as twigs, pebbles, and straw found on the site to create truly green architecture that is as organic as the materials with which it is created. Projects by Olafur Eliasson, Patrick Dougherty, Nils-Udo, Ex. Studio, Edward Ng, nArchitects, and many others are shown together for the first time. Selected for their commitment to the use of raw materials, manual labor, and natural inspiration, these works are vividly displayed in photographs, drawings, and models. As raw as the materials with which they are built, these creations allow the changing landscape to naturally overtake each structure until it finally decomposes. Each project is accompanied by a series of inspiring photographs, drawings, and models.
DAVID NASH
Ash Dome Ffestiniog, North Wales, 1977
GILLES BRUNI & MARC BABARIT
A tunnel with nature. Covering the way of our wandering
MIKAEL HANSEN
Back to Nature(left) Artcentre, Silkeborg Bad, Denmark, 1999. Red spruce logs found on site, charred by fire and lined up in a fence that extends from the forest to close in a wedge. At the vanishing point of the wedge there is a dark room, partially covered, with a narrow opening offering a view of “wild” nature.
Estimatory SpyglassesGorlitz (Germany) and Sgorzelec (Poland), 2001. The installation is composed of two gigantic spyglasses, each 66 feet long, that are made of chestnut and oak, standing where there once was a bridge between Germany and Poland. The Neisse River divides the city in two; it is called Gorlitz on the German side and Sgorzelec on the Polish side.
PATRICK DUGHERTY
Just Around The Corner Mixed hardwood saplings.
EX. STUDIO
Point of View. Belvedere in Toscana Casale Marittimo, Pisa, Italy, 2005. A compact volume, formed by bales of hay that were harvested from the site, sits on top of a small hill along the ancient Roman road that leads to Caslevecchio.
Back cover. Organic Highway by Mikael Hansen, Tickon Skulturpark, Langeland, Denmark, 1995.
Deborah Christman
Used this book to inspire me for my studio L3 class at UCB extension. Helped me to create a wave barrier in a lagoon out of uprooted trees that had to be moved for a path. Keeps the ol’ grey cells thinking! Thanks Andrew.
Barbara Peterson
Love the ‘tree houses’. Thank you for sharing; I’m going to add it to my book wish list.