Nature, my god…
All we do is try to mimic you
To learn from you
To express your beauty
To feel the way that you do
Effortless. Resilient. Abundant.
You teach us when we listen
We grow with you when we surrender
Your blueprints are in plain sight
The more I examine my relationship with nature and consider my connection to art, design, and architecture, the more richness I see. Richness is the glue that binds it all together: experience, or rather, how we experience our lives. Nature is at our core, and it's the universal answer to the question, "what is your inspiration?".
In this Louisiana Channel conversation with architect Kengo Kuma, Kuma shares his reverence for nature in his work and how human beings engage with it. "When you enter architecture, you enter another world," he states, as is the case with the new Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, and other works by his studio. Though they are new worlds, there is no hesitancy; they welcome and embrace us. By using nature as his blueprint, his architecture feels familiar, humbling, and reinvigorating all at once.
Another example of following nature's blueprint is an experimental 3-D dwelling called TECLA (a name derived from Technology and Clay). This design was undoubtedly inspired by nature in form and material – potter wasps nests, to be exact. TECLA uses locally sourced clay as first used in this model instead of a more standard concrete mix, combining technology with nature in a beautiful new way. Should this method prove successful beyond its initial trials, the implications are very exciting for housing and building projects around the world.
Nature readily shares her blueprints with us. All we have to do is pay attention and be open to the possibilities.
