Organic design

ORGANIC DESIGN

BY: NIKKI AND

NIKOLINA

What is Organic Design?

Organic design is influenced by the erosion of time. This means that art can be anything naturally made. Naturally created as in the process by which the surface of the earth is worn away by the action of water, glaciers, winds, and waves.

This also includes the effect people. We, people are part of that because when we walk we, slowly as the years go by erode the places that we walk on. So for example these stone stairs have been walked on upon so much that they have been eroded and flattened.

Frank Lloyd Wright

1869 – 1959

In the year of 1935 in Pennsylvania, Frank Lloyd Wright designed an extraordinary house known as Falling water that redefined the relationship between man, architecture and nature.

The Falling Water was built in 1935.

Hoke House designed

by Jeff Kovel

Falling Water

The house on the top is the Hoke House. It was used in the shooting of the Twilight Trilogy. It is very similar with the falling water because they both are surrounded with nature and are both modernized houses.

For example this is another museum that Frank Lloyd Write was inspired to design. It is located in New York City and is called Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

The building was named after the director and who was the person who came up with the idea of a series of Guggenheim Museums all around the world, each of which would add something to the foundations identity.

Outside View

Inside View

Wrights admiration for Japanese art inspired him to do the falling water master piece and a bunch of other works that he has done. Like for example The Johnson Wax Building.

The Johnson Wax Building 1936

This building has big poles all around inside of it. Wright wanted to have the Johnson wax building very related to nature so as you can see here the poles with the top on the ceiling resemble large trees as in the picture here.

Wright was inspired by Japanese art because they were very connected with their nature and liked to very much show it in their art.

Japanese Woodblock Print

Alvar Aalto

1898 - 1976

Alvar Alto was a Finnish architect and designer. His work included architecture, furniture, textiles, and glassware and some paintings. He designed around 500 individual buildings, and some that were built in Finland, USA, Germany, Italy, and France. Like for example The Mount Angel Library built in 1970.

The Mount Angel Library built in 1970.

The Savoy Vase

This is Alvar’s most famous design it is called The Savoy Vase. It was made from prototypes by letting the molten glass swell on some sides. By doing this he created a wavy/curvy outline.

The yellow vase and the Aalto vase are different because the Aalto vase is more wavy and that is what gives it the characteristic of being organic art. The yellow vase on the other hand doesn’t give you that. It shows you more that its just an object that won’t take you anywhere.

The Aalto vase is wavy and curvy. The waviness of the vase is very similar to eroded rocks as seen here.

Alvar Alto also designed paintings, textiles,

glassware and some furniture like the Beehive Pendant Light. Its called that because it resembles a beehive in its shape and its

dimensions.

The Pendant Beehive Light

This is an example of a beehive and how the Pendant Light has sort of the same dimensions as the beehive hanging off a tree branch in the picture.

The Pendant is considered as organic design because a beehive is organically made and is part of nature.

Charles and Ray Eames

Charles 1907–1978 Alexandra "Ray" Eames 1912–1988

La Chaise 1948

Charles and his wife, Alexandra “Ray” Eames were American designers who worked in and made contributions to modern architecture and furniture. They also worked in the fields of industry and graphic design, fine art and film.

Charles and Ray Eames designed La Chaise in 1948. It was inspired by “Floating Figure” a sculpture by Gaston Lachaise. This chair has a comfortable flow to it. This made it what is known to day as an icon of organic design.

La chaise compared to a normal chair is very different because it has more flow and curves to it. It fits to the outline of your body when you sit in it.

The other chair has no flow and is just a chair with nothing special to it.

Charles and Ray Eames were house architectures also. They designed a building which was used as their home and studio.

These are some pics of their house in diff. perspectives.

The Eames house look a bit like a dice or garage, because of its square features and the different colors on the house.

This is also what made this house unique and different from other houses.

The Hoke house is also very similar to the Eames house because of its set in nature and its boxy characteristic.

Eames House

Hoke House

Frank Gehry

1929 (age 81)

Located in Bilbao, Spain in 1997 the Guggenheim Museum who was designed by a Canadian - American artist called Frank Gehry has a lot of modern and contemporary art. The Guggenheim Museum is one of Frank’s most admired works of contemporary architecture.

Gehry was inspired by Thomas Krens who asked him to create a building that would not only stand out clearly from it urban context, but be characterized by a provocative and aggressive appearance.

Thomas Krens

The Guggenheim Museum and the Museum in New York City are similar in comparison because they both are very unique and different. They both have different complexions and are also built differently.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Lloyd Write

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain designed by Frank Gehry

The Guggenheim museum was built with an organic design because when you look at the building itself, it reminds you of fish scales. The walls are wavy and reminds you of the ocean, where the waves are continually moving.

Some of the other things that Frank Gehry has designed is jewelry for Tiffany & Co. The jewelry that he has designed is very strange because they have weird irregular forms.

This ring is called the Fish Ring because it resembles a fish with no tail..

This dress is called the Oyster Dress and was designed by Alexander McQueen. This dress is in the same group with organ design because this dress has the characteristics of a oyster.

The McQueen dress resembles the oyster in the picture because if you look at this oyster you can see that is has a wavy shell that sort of layers on top of itself. This is just like the dress. The dress has lace and different material that flows all the way to the ground and that is what gives it the characteristic of looking like an Oyster.

Jorn Utzon

1918 – 2008

Jorn Oberg Utzon was a Danish architect mostly known for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia. He won a contest in 1957 for designing the Sydney opera house. In 1966 however, he left Australia and never saw his completed work.

The Sydney Opera house is connected with organic design because Jorn Utzon thought of his design as if the roof tops were peelings of an orange shell. He said that if he put the shells together it would make a perfect sphere.

Another building that Jorn Utzon designed was the Skagen Odde Nature Center in Denmark. This building is a museum for the natural elements like wind, rock, water and the sand.

The sea and nature was essential in the way he created his designs.

Eero Saarinen

1910 - 1961

Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century. He was famous for changing his style according to the demands of the project. For example the different styles he used were simple, sweeping, arching structural curves. He would just accept different styles for different projects. Like for example the TWA Terminal at Kennedy Airport where he used the architectural style of Modern Movement.

Eero Saarinen client wanted him to design the building capturing the “spirit of flight.” So when visitors rushed to make their flight they can’t help but look and admire the organic concrete curves. In order to capture the concept of flight Saarinen used curves to create spaces that flowed into one another.

The interior of the terminal has ribbon of elements that whisk themselves from the outside so the ceilings run into walls and those walls become floors.

Where as outside the terminal roof imitates a bird in flight with two massive wings.

The similarity of the bird wings and the roof are very similar.

This is really important to understand because the client and Saarinen wanted the visitors to feel as if they were already getting ready to lift off for flight.

Along with designing the TWA terminal Saarinen also did industrial designs that had to do with everyday lives like for instance chairs. He designed many important pieces of furniture including the “Ottoman” lounge chair.

The Ottoman or Womb Settee was one of the very successful chairs, because of the model of the chair and how it was a chair that is just very comfortable to sit in.

So all of these pictures and slideshows all have something in common whether its furniture, Architecture, jewelry or fashion. They all are organic designs.

THE END