Author(s)

D. Kirkland

Abstract

Throughout the history of architecture building forms have tended to reflect the technologies and processes that have been within the designers reach. Today we are on the threshold of a new era where liberation from linear processes by technology is enabling us to devise and construct complex architectural forms efficiently. Buildings no longer have to reflect the planar, orthogonal and repetitive processes of the traditional assembly line but can respond to and express the non-linear forces of Nature. Such an approach will be critical to progress in sustainable architecture. This paper seeks to tap into the developments within the Biomimetic field and establish the validity of borrowing solutions from nature to develop a new architecture, one that has more in common with natural organic systems and less in common with machines. The built examples of Waterloo International Terminal in London and The Eden Project in the south west of England will be studied to demonstrate the potential of such an approach.

Keywords