Blobitecture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blobitecture or blob architecture, or blobism are terms for a current movement in architecture in which buildings have an organic, amoeba-shaped, blobby form. Blobitecture first appeared in print in 2002, in William Safire's "On Language" column in the New York Times Magazine in an article entitled Defenestration. Amidst discussion, Saffire mentions the predecessor of this term, blob architecture, which was coined by architect Greg Lynn in 1995 in his experiments in digital design with binary large objects or BLOBs. Blob architecture has since been shortened by some to blobitecture, often with slightly derogatory connotations. A perceived lack of rigor is one such criticism, although there is often a highly developed mathematics of calculus involved in these buildings and designs. Also implied in the name is an off-beat allusion to the science fiction film The Blob.
It is associated with many works of Frank Gehry, such as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Experience Music Project. In a large part, blobitecture derives its forms from an architect's interpretation of natural organic forms, but it also depends on the advanced use of computer modeling to ensure that the evolving design is structuraly stable. Some computer aided design functions involved in developing this are the nonuniform rational B-spline or NURB, freeform surfaces, and the digitizing of sculpted forms by means akin to computed tomography.
Peter Cook and Colin Fournier's Kunsthaus in Graz, Austria, is a notable example and Cook's earlier projects with Archigram also have tendencies toward blob architecture. Ron Herron, Another member of Archigram created early blob-like architecture in his projects with Archigram Walking Cities and Instant City, as did Michael Webb with Sin Centre. There was a climate of experimental architecture with an air of psychedelia in the 1970s that these were a part of. Other instances are Roy Mason's Xanadu House the buildings of organicist Bart Prince and a rare excursion into the field by Herzog & de Meuron in their Allianz Arena. Frederick Kiesler's unbuilt, Endless House is an early instance of blob architecture, and although it is symmetrical in plan, his design for the Shrine of the Book has the characteristic droplet form of fluid.
Blobitecture has a diverse cultural heritage, evoking the voluptuous curves of the baroque or rococo, those of art nouveau as well as the onion domes of Russian architecture. Also to be considered are the organic designs of Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona, although Gaudi was arguably a century ahead of his time. Other sources from early in the twentieth century are found in expressionist architecture, including the Glass Pavillion at the Werkbund Exhibition (1914) by Bruno Taut and the Formspiels of Hermann Finsterlin.
[edit] Gallery
 Peter Cook and Colin Fournier's Kunsthaus in Graz |
 Exterior siding of the Experience Music Project |
 Golden Terraces in Warsaw |
 Allianz Arena in Munich |
 Panoramic view of the geodesic domes at Eden Project |
[edit] References
- Lynn, Greg. Folds, Bodies & Blobs : Collected Essays. La Lettre volée, 1998. ISBN 2873170689
- Muschamp, Herbert. The New York Times, Architecture's Claim on the Future: The Blob. July 23, 2000.
- Safire, Wiliam. The New York Times: On Language. Defenestration. December 1 2002.
- Waters, John K. Blobitecture: Waveform Architecture and Digital Design. Rockport Publishers, 2003. ISBN 1592530001
- Margaret Wertheim (Mar 13, 2004). Prototype shows that buildings may someday be constructed by robots 2. Oakland Tribune (orig. NEW YORK TIMES). Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
