Autoportret 16. Architektura organiczna

-- living architecture. the process of covers creating / peter cirko
Peter Cirko invites you to an intellectual journey which begins several billion years ago with the beginning of life on Earth and continues through sciences and social sciences up to the contemporary concept of autopoiesa. These philosophical divagations are supposed to help answer the question whether architecture (in its basic sense) should be regarded as a static element of space or as a self-reproducing phenomenon.

-- direction shown by makovecz. organic quality in hungarian architecture / jános gerle
As organic architecture has it, even though the building process separates human beings from nature, it gives them a tool to restore shaken harmony with the macrouniverse.
Each building has its own history, its social 'content,' time span and metaphysics. The essence of organic architecture is analysed on the example of several works by the father of contemporary Hungarian organic architecture Imre Makovecz.

-- light from the east. károly kos and hungarian organic architecture / lukasz galusek
Since the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the myth of Transylvania has been a ' reservoir of true national iden-tity.' For many years the tradition of this region has been the frame of reference for artists creating in the organic architecture stream. The foundations of this trend were laid by Karoly Kos, the patron of contemporary Hungarian architects, including Imre Makovecz.

-- goetheanum. the steiner impulse in architecture / wojciech dudzik
Side by side with organic architecture there is a related trend called anthroposophic architecture. Its model reference point is the building of Goetheanum, situated near Basel, raised on the initiative of the creator of anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner. Giant, irregular, detached buildings characteristic for anthroposophic architecture stand out from their immediate surroundings and yet they are in perfect harmony. Their primary function was to enable people to rediscover the spiritual world.

-- goethe in front of a cathedral. a work of art as a work of nature / emiliano ranocchi
Although Johann Wolfgang Goethe may be primarily associated with The Sorrows of Young Werther or Faustus, he is also the author of a breakthrough in modern aesthetics and the precursor of the organic concept of architecture. Young Goethe's fascination with the cathedral in Strasbo-urg, his studies of nature and reflections on the relation between scientific and intuitive cognition are described by Emiliano Ranocchi.

-- the city before the city. the organic power of prague / vladimir czumalo
If we were to search for the heart of Europe, we should point at Prague. For centuries this unique city has been admired by architects owing to the fact that it grew out of the ground where it lies rather than was built there. That is why it is possible to 'read' its history directly from the urban tissue. The following article is an example of such a fascinating analysis.

-- the czech republic, moravia and silesia. the question of organic architecure / jiri junek
Why does organic architecture not do well in the Czech Republic, Moravia and Silesia? Why do the buildings erected according to its precepts stand out distinctly from the surrounding landscape and provoke controversy? In order to understand the reason for this we have to look back at the history of Czech architecture, realise its functions and fundamental principles.

-- gaudi and hundertwasser. degrees of the organic in architecture / michal rybak antonio
Two artists and two radically different philosophies of designing - and yet they do have something in common: organic architecture. Gaudi's method is 'internal development,' while Hundertwasser's is 'external covering.'

-- the philospohy of relations. critical regionalism by kenneth frampton / michat wisniewski
The notion of 'critical regionalism' answers the question posed by Paul Ricoeur: 'How to become modern and yet return to the origins?' Frampton juxtaposes globalisation and the dominance of abstract, avant-garde architectural forms with the reference to the context of local nature and culture. He proposes to replace uniformisation with regionalisation. In his view, only this approach will enable to create architecture which will fully express our postmodernist society.

-- inspired by nature. biomorfism in architecture / jaroslaw trybus
After people had left caves, when architecture was being born, building materials came from nature, including tree trunks, branches and leaves. References to these origins of building are observable in architecture up till the end of the 19t century. The 20 century brought the predominance of sterile, angular solids made of glass and concrete. It seems, however, that nature is coming back into architecture. Why is it happening and what is biomorphism in architecture?

-- at the roots of building. stanislaw niemczyk - architect / andrzej mikulski
What is a building? No more than the building itself. Who is its designer? Primarily, a craftsman who should, first and foremost, have its future users in mind. An article about the return to the roots, and about the courage of an artist who does not have to follow fashion and who can achieve beauty using the simplest means.

-- the principle of the development of forms. erik asmussen's järna / dariusz smiechowski
Danish architect Erik Asmussen considered himself an artist-craftsman. Anthroposophical by nature, his designs show how architecture can refer to and complete landscape and how it can correspond to culture. Dariusz Smiechowski writes about the architect who dreamed that the buildings designed by him should appeal to all our senses.

-- architect's signature / endre szúcs interviewed by joanna nowostawska-gyalókay
A conversation with the Hungarian architect who found his vocation in renovation and reconstruction of old, often ruined houses. His designs reconcile modernity compatible with the 21st century with traditional elements of an old house. Each time it results in a dialogue between what is characteristic for a given place, the needs of its future inhabitants and the architect's inventiveness.

-- building a hierarchy. on the craftsman in urban space / martin drahovsky
Referring to an article from a previous issue of "Autoportret", Martin Drahovsky describes the idea of a Crafts Street in Kosice where it is planned to revive the long-abandoned tradition of gathering craftsmen's workshops all in one place. This results in the emergence of space which fulfils living, producing, service and artistic functions.

-- façade - the face of architecture / krzysztof kalitko
The façade is the same for the building as the face is for a human being. It informs us what we can expect, and yet it also covers, hides inner life or 'soul. ' Classical humanism gave buildings personality. Modernism, which rejected individual features in architecture, also rejected the façade.
Now it is coming back into grace.