Frank Lloyd Wright introduced the word ‘organic’ into his philosophy of architecture as early as 1908. It was an extension of the teachings of his mentor Louis Sullivan whose slogan “form follows function” became the mantra of modern architecture. Wright changed this phrase to “form and function are one,” using nature as the best example of this integration.
Organic architecture involves a respect for the properties of the materials—you don’t twist steel into a flower—and a respect for the harmonious relationship between the form/design and the function of the building (for example, Wright rejected the idea of making a bank look like a Greek temple). Organic architecture is also an attempt to integrate the spaces into a coherent whole: a marriage between the site and the structure and a union between the context and the structure.
Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders’ spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground
Frank Lloyd Wright
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Lao Tzu
In nature, nothing is perfect, and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.
Alice Walker
A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.
Benjamin Franklin
The space within becomes the reality of the building.
Frank Lloyd Wright
“Organic architecture seeks superior sense of use and a finer sense of comfort, expressed in organic simplicity.
Frank Lloyd Wright
The building grows out of the landscape as naturally as any plant; its relationship to the site is so unique that it would be out of place elsewhere
– Frank Lloyd