NATURE & CONSTRUCTED
“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.”-Gary Snyder
Nature is often an influencer in the world of architecture. Known as biomimicry, humankind has studied nature for inspiration in solving all kinds of problems, not just architectural or building. Leonardo da Vinci studied birds in his quest to create a flying machine that eventually inspired the Wright Brothers. The role of nature and importance of natural resources in human’s social-economic life is undeniable, and also it is essential to note that God is the Creator and man the explorer. Human always have to explore the nature in order to create a new order.
Nature is a detailed set of rules.
Le Corbusier once quotes,
"We are in line with the laws of nature, these laws rule our acts and all our actions are based on them."
Therefore, I deeply believe that there is a kind of simplicity in the nature and if it is converted to design language,
definitely a beautiful and delicate building would be created.
In the contemporary architecture world, the nature actually play important role as it function as a design metaphor, physical factor to emulate and overcome at the same time. Metaphorical design is a method that many contemporary architect used to create effective architecture which able to creates linkage and communication between human and nature. Besides, there are many examples where nature has solved problems in a way that might provide ideas for solving human’s problems as well as in architecture field. One very popular example in architecture is termites develop their living environment to include “air conditioning” by virtue of structural design. Here are the example of building design which inspire by nature.
BEIJING NATIONAL STADIUM, HERZOG & DE MEURON
The Beijing National Stadium or better known as the Bird’s Nest Stadium was designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron for the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing, China. As the name implies, the stadium looks like a giant bird’s nest made out of 110,000 tons of steel. Besides, the design also meant to overcome and deal with the natural laws and physical factor of the site. The infrastructure was built using advanced energy-saving design and environment friendly features such as natural ventilation & lighting, a recycling system for rainwater, use of renewable geothermal energy sources and utilization of photovoltaic power technologies.
 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Apart from that, there is one more things I would like to further emphasize. Through hundreds of years on this earth, man has taken what Mother Nature has given to him. With the increasing demand for technological development and the need for one’s own personal fortune, man has neglected the environment, and has abused the many natural resources in which he was once able to partake. But after all there is one thing we should always bear in mind, Mother Nature play her role on give everything to us for living and life without seeking for any payback but human unlimited greedy might finally brought ruination to ourselves. Nature might destroy us through the disasters, such as droughts, fires and floods.
WENCHUAN EARTHQUAKE MEMORIAL MESEUM , CAI YONG JIE
One of the example was China’s Wenchuan earthquake. In 2008 this huge earthquake in China’s Sichuan province was responsible for the death of nearly 70,000 people, with over 18,000 missing. Then the architecture faculty of Tong Ji University was commissioned by the China government to build a museum as a memorial to those who lost their lives. The Wenchuan Earthquake Memorial Museum takes the form of a ruptured landscape. Large subterranean buildings are topped with green roofs, ensuring that the complex adopts an unobtrusive presence. Trees have been planted, which, alongside the rest of the site, will continue to evolve over time. The lush landscape establishes a strong dialogue with the built environment, with the rich hues of the reddish steel serving as a visual counterpoint to the verdant green topography. The building not only built to memorialized the victims but at the mean time keep remind us that the balanced relationship need to be maintain always and neither architecture nor other technological development shall break the rule.
​
"This must be our attitude towards Creation: we must protect it. Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us. Let's not forget that.”-Pope Francis
 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
To my mind, well designed buildings compliment, work with, draw from, and enhance their immediate context from both natural and man-made while respecting larger fields of consideration (most importantly, the dimension of time, including the current period, historical trends, and potential future evolution). The best architecture draws elements from each of the items above and creates a space informed by powerful social metrics, client and user needs, and fiscally responsible decisions. Great design is the mastery and balance of the broadest range of life’s variables, which includes the profound relationship with nature. Just like what hold by Frank Lloyd Wright “ Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”
As the conclusion , human , nature and architecture are triangle three point that are not opposite, but they combine and complete each other .“We are united with all life that is in nature. Man can no longer live his life for himself alone.” Albert Schweitzer. By using natural science and techniques creating a friendly bridge between human and nature by architecture help could create a trace that has nature inside its . Therefore architectures and experts’ commissions and training to find better solution for symbiosis with nature serves as today world need.