You have to admire a man who has invented his own “new way of building” and called it archiborescence.
For three decades, this eco-visionary has been imagining and realizing homes, urban landscapes, cities… inspired by all he has been able to observe in natural environments.
There are several things I love about Schuiten’s work. Cosmetically, the organic shapes and colours in his drawings are delightful. More fundamentally the desire to align with nature and to integrate with natural things, to live as a part of nature, rather than apart from nature is beguiling. Schuiten’s cities are a part of the natural landscape, the boundaries between city and country, man and nature are blurred.
See more at vegetalcity
Not quite sure how ‘archiborescence’ can come to bear on my own design, but certainly the drive to integrate and evolve with nature are a shared thread between my desire for my place of my own and Schuiten’s grand philosophy.
If you liked that post, then try these...
Boat house on November 25th, 2011
Sod roofs! on April 1st, 2011
Mudgee Permanent Camping project on January 31st, 2011
A tower of my own on January 19th, 2011
Flat roof / living roof / green roof on October 28th, 2010
French Medieval castle – built 1998 to 2023+
The construction of the Chateau de Guedelon in Burgundy, France makes me think I’m setting the bar too low in my own aspirations! Started in 1998, the Castle is being built using only tools, materials and techniques that would have been available in the early 13th Century. The walls are being built from sandstone quarried on site, lime mortar is being prepared and the oak, clay and water used in construction come from the local forests.
Castle Guédelon
One strong point that this project raises is the very natural and until recently very obvious local sourcing of materials – build from what you have on site wherever possible rather than dragging materials across great distances at great ecological cost.
Makes me fancy building something castley
If you liked that post, then try these...
Boat house on November 25th, 2011
Sod roofs! on April 1st, 2011
Mudgee Permanent Camping project on January 31st, 2011
A tower of my own on January 19th, 2011
Flat roof / living roof / green roof on October 28th, 2010