The role of natural complexity in adaptive architecture : Eco-based design: Nature as pattern and architecture element

In the broader context of an ongoing doctoral research, it is possible to consider adaptive architecture as a possible solution for designing resilience. Despite the large use of technology, it is possible in fact to recognise different design approaches that involve Nature in the whole process, from the initial conceptual phase toward the effective construction stage. Among these different ways, which underline a biomorphic common perspective, this paper would focus on two of them, underlying the role of nature in the design approach. The first is referred to the consideration of Nature as a design material and is shown through the projects of the American architectural firm SCAPE, ‘Living breakwaters’ and ‘Oystertecture’. The second approach instead will introduce the use of natural pattern as a way to conceive architecture through geometries, as shown in ‘Hygroscope’ and ‘Pad Hygroskin’, two projects conceived within the Institute for Computational Design, University of Stuttgart. The aim of the paper is to show different vision of the More-than-human approach in architecture, envisioning a more responsible way to think of the built environment through Nature to design resilience.