shoestring modern...

Brad Green, my surrogate uncle, has got to be one of the coolest guys I know--into modern art, Ayn Rand, Miles Davis--and a brilliant architect. The above image is a shot of his cottage on Sunny Lake, appropriately named The Roc, as it's built on a cliff. Not only is it extremely interesting and absolutely gorgeous in its De Stijl-inspired way, its form somehow emulates its surroundings perfectly. Yes, it's colourful and geometric, but it still manages to feel like it's meant to be a part of that cliff, that it's the only thing that could have possibly been built there.

This theme, that architecture and external design should be created to compliment and flow with surrounding elements, has clearly played a huge part in the creation of The Roc, and it's been the central theme of one of my favourite designers, the prolific Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was a major figure in the movement of organic architecture, this idea that the design should be completely harmonious with its natural surroundings. Perhaps the most well-known example of this is Fallingwater, a residence Wright designed for a family in Pennsylvania.

Its stone balconies echo the stone outcroppings of the waterfall and its surrounding area, and the building's placement creates a sense of some kind of dialog with the waterfall and the steepness of the land.

Theorist David Pearson created a set of rules for designing to organic architecture, and I think they're certainly relevant to everything we're doing as graphic designers, organic or not.

"Let the design
-be inspired by nature and be sustainable, healthy, conserving, and diverse.
-unfold, like an organism, from the seed within.
-exist in the "continuous present" and "begin again and again".
-follow the flows and be flexible and adaptable.
-satisfy social, physical, and spiritual needs.
-"grow out of the site" and be unique.
-celebrate the spirit of youth, play and surprise.
-express the rhythm of music and the power of dance."

Essentially, every element should relate to the others, reflecting the relationships present in nature. Sound familiar?

[image source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3675&id=1048985333#pid=3675
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright]