Norman Forster is one of Englands most famous architects and is arguably most famous for ‘The Gherkin’ This building links in well with my beehive research as he has also been inspired by objects in his surroundings and environment. I personally love this building because it shows that you can be inspired from absolutely anything, Norman Forster has been inspired by a Gherkin (vegetable) to design one of the worlds most famous buildings. The hexagonal skin of the building was in fact not inspired by a Gherkin but by a ‘Venus Flower Basket Sponge’. This is a deep underwater organism which has a strong exoskeleton with a complex geometric shape. The strength of the organism is why Norman Forster chose to study its shape. The glass shell of the building is also inspired by a Venus Flower Basket Sponge as the creatures skin is made from glassy fibres that attach the sponge to the ocean floor. In its water environment the sponge gives off a shiny glow which looks as if it is made from glass. This is again a way which aspects of the environment has heavily inspired Norman Forsters design. Normans inspirations have inspired me to think outside the box and look at the fine details in my environment to inspire me when designing my building. The strength in structure in these naturally occurring shapes have evolved to perfection over thousands of years. This is why architects tent to look to nature as their first source of inspiration.
http://www.biomimetic-architecture.com/2010/lord-fosters-natural-inspiration-the-gherkin-tower/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus%27_flower_basket
This second design by Norman Forster has also been inspired by his environment. In this case, he has been inspired by the wing of a bird to create a design which is amazingly unique. This design has amazing attention to detail as each ‘wing’ is made from lightweight steel and has gaps through it to help wind resistance and to keep the structure as lightweight as possible. The towers are designed to act as thermal chimneys that will draw cool air into the spaces below, whilst cooling pipes buried beneath will release fresh air into the lobby. This shows how much Norman has thought about every aspect of his design, from the look to practical uses to keep the building cool. This is good inspiration for an eco building because I can look into different ways to make the building as self
sustainable as possible by possibly adding wind turbines or solar panels.
Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid is one of the worlds most famous architects who focuses most of her work on modern futuristic buildings. Her work is very unique and has a distinctive curved theme like no other architect I have ever seen.The clear inspiration from trees in the building below shows how this designer has also looked for inspiration in her environment and managed to turn something so old and natural into something abstract and modern. I do not know the actual inspiration for this building however I believe that she has looked at the strength in branches of trees and used that as an outline for her structure design. One of the features is the 3,500sq m of solar panels providing 12.5 percent of the buildings energy needs. The inside halls are also lined with extremely energy-efficient LED lighting. Outside lighting has been used on the outside of the building to enhance the outline and shape of the design. This significant use of lighting could be interesting to include to enhance the visual aesthetics of the designs.
The boat design below resembles a spiders web, these are elements from nature which are very small but have unique structures. This has inspired me to not just look at the shape of a tree, but to also look at the shapes in the bark on the tree or the structure inside the leaves on the tree. This will open up some interesting abstract shapes which can be developed throughout the project. Even though the artist has looked at natural forms, she has still made the design look modern and edgy. This is a technique which I hope to accomplish in my designs.
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