Architectural Impressions: Organic Form

The suite of oil paintings entitled "architectural impressions" reflect my long preoccupation with the phenomenon of Organic Form in the built environment. The following notes were written for the Catalogue of the exhibition to accompany the pictures. 

The aesthetic quality of an organic form seems to be directly determined by its inherent metaphor and appeals both to understanding and emotional perception. The extent of such understanding is determined by the extent to which one is open to a new metaphor and ready to link an organic form and existing understanding of the language intended by the architect. The quicker the metaphor speaks for itself, the greater the degree of recognition and acceptance, and the less the need for any explanations.

In order to understand an organic form one has to use a different, alternative way of cognition of the world taking as a basis neither reason nor logic. It relies on intuition, inspiration, and revelation. That is why this method, probably, is so powerful. The knowing and the knowable do not need to be in the opposition – like in the rational approach. Due to the intuition they amalgamate into one whole, and then, through the inner vision the vital energy of the moving world is transforming into an organic creation. Obviously, it may have some aesthetic or functional meaning, but still the main purpose is to reflect the juxtaposition of the two worlds at the extreme point of their existence. As a result, the sensation will be something lofty, dramatic, and even religious about an object of knowing as a whole.

At the basis of many of the organic principles there is an understanding of the Nature as a divine plan, and of a building created by the natural methods as a spiritual entity interacting with the people who use it. Therefore, the best way left for the people is to preserve our interest in the naturalness of the environment. Revealing this quality one can discover new hints for the future, and achieve fresh insights regarding how to live in harmony with oneself and the Universe of which one is an integral part. In such a context an architect takes the role of a mediator in transmission of vital energy and spiritual essence.

It appears, an organic form has a potential of transforming any closed space into a living entity that continually gives part of its vital energy to the people who use it. In contrast to that, a non-organic form, for example, - the one based on a rectangular shape, - dramatically reduces the amount of this vital energy.

The organic architecture is not at all new. Quite the opposite. It’s the timeless way of building that has deep roots in the human experience and in the ethnic traditions of natural building in cultures across the world.