13/09/2021 - NATURE IS THE BEST SETTING
HOW ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENT COULD (AND SHOULD) COEXIST IN HARMONY
“No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other”.
It wasn’t just some guy that pronounced these words, but one of the most great architects in the history, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). While the contrast between man and nature is becoming increasingly bitter, and the catastrophic effect of human activity become more and more relevant, these words sound timely, and needed, today more than ever.
As creatures, we are part of nature in the same way as plants and animals. However, our supposed intellectual superiority resulted in oversized needs, that lead, in turn, in the arrogant desire to control and prevail over nature. But, “naturally”, we get the short end of the stick.
Everywhere we go today, anything we do, we are incapable not to leave our human footprint. But truth is that we are interdependent: our well-being depends on the environment around us. If nature feels sick, we feel sick too. The paradox is that nature is sick because of us.
As regards architecture, the idea of a natural way of living is luckily spreading more and more. From energy saving to sustainable building materials, the mere aesthetic and functionality leave room for the idea to adapt and respect nature. And the more we become affiliated with nature, the more our life gains quality: an increasing number of studies show that natural environment not only gives us what we need to live, but has a strong impact on our emotional and psychological well-being.
In addition, architecture that considers these aspects can go further, even managing to stimulate more meaningful interactions between man and nature. The ideal house can’t be seen from afar, it disappears in the landscape and emerges gradually while approaching. It has the same colors of plants and ground, with large windows that cancel the separation between inside and outside. It’s a house from where we admire nature, and not the opposite. Because, of course, nature is the best and only setting that we can imagine to set our lives.
EKO Canapé compostable by Christophe Delcourt
Capitol Complex Chair by Cassina
Luminaires by Christophe Delcourt
The Circle by Elisa Ossino studio
Paintings by Bertille Achard de la Vente