WHEN ARCHITECTURE IS INSPIRED BY NATURE

• BY MARION SPÉE

For millennia, humans lived in close interaction with their natural environment. This relationship has largely faded with the increased urbanization, a recent phenomenon in human history. But humans still have a natural affinity for the living. Both are interconnected.

In an effort to promote a more intimate connection between the occupants of buildings and the natural world, people who work in architecture and design are drawing more and more inspiration from natural elements. Their goal is to design structures that mimic the conditions of a natural environment—for example by letting in daylight, maximizing views of the outdoors, and exploiting patterns that evoke the forms present in the environment.

Examples abound all around the world: in Germany, the architecture of the Buga Wood Pavilion is inspired by the skeleton of a sea urchin; in Singapore, the Artscience Museum mimics the shape of a lotus flower; and the design of the Gardens by the Bay, an urban outdoor recreational space, takes its cue from trees.

In the Espace pour la vie museums, architecture and design are freely inspired by life and the environment, concepts that are built into their mission: to connect humans and nature by bringing them as close as possible.

AT THE BIOSPHÈRE – THE VISION OF A PIONEER

Built on an island that has become an oasis of nature, the United States pavilion at Expo 67, renamed the Biosphère, is the work of American architect, engineer and inventor Richard Buckminster Fuller. A true precursor of contemporary environmental thinking, he already feared for the survival of humanity if the natural resources of our "unique spaceship" that is the Earth continued to be squandered.

The design of the building is largely inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s innovative vision: creating a form reminiscent of the Earth and use few materials to evoke the fragility of the planet.

The architect had a geometric view of nature. He is the father of the geodesic dome, the famous spherical lattice structure whose bars follow the great circles of the sphere. Incidentally, researchers discovered in the 90s a carbon molecule with shapes similar to those of geodesic domes. They named the molecule Buckminster fullerene in honor of this visionary.

Photo: Shutterstock/Richard Cavalleri

AT THE INSECTARIUM – A MUSEUM AT THE SCALE OF ARTHROPODS

For the architects of the new Insectarium, the visitor experience had to be informed by the museum's environment. The architects used insects as their muse and decided to adopt their point of view, put themselves at their level, to design a most immersive visit.

The scenography and architectural design drew inspiration from the various habitats of insects: nests, chambers and galleries, vegetation, water and earth. Materials were also chosen to reflect their natural habitat, notably concrete, whose granular, porous texture with uneven crevices beautifully reproduces the tunnels of ants.

Inside the alcoves, underground galleries give visitors a chance to see the world as if they were insects themselves, before discovering the Great Vivarium, a palace of glass, where the little creatures roam freely all year round.

And to maximize the connection with the outdoors, the glass architecture carries over into the Pollinator Garden and blends into the landscape, as if the building merged with the natural environment.

AT THE BIODÔME – A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ECOSYSTEMS

The Biodôme design encourages visitors to explore: an immersive path invites them to wander around as they please, as spontaneously as taking a walk in nature.

The people behind the design imagined an exquisitely refined reception area where you can put your senses on hold: a transition of sorts—an antechamber—before you slip into the tropical rainforest of the Americas, the maple grove of the Laurentians, the Gulf of St. Lawrence or the subpolar regions— colourful multisensory ecosystems. The goal is to maximize the connection with the fauna and flora.

In each ecosystem, the public is invited to make first contact in a smooth and gentle way. They can hear sounds, smell scents, feel the warmth and the freshness of each place, before emerging in these vast open spaces where they can finally take in the scenes of life unfolding all around. For example, the huge frosty tunnel that leads to a towering wall of ice immerses you in the atmosphere of the penguins' habitat, in which you’re about to set foot.

Science has shown that contact with nature, and all that nature has to offer, is beneficial for humans, regardless of their age or background.