Growing Architecture

Paperback, 224 pages

German, English language

Published by 2023 Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH Basel.

ISBN:: 978-3-0356-0332-3

(1 review)

A growing, living house, a building made of a plant seems to be a contradiction in terms. Nevertheless, the Khasi in eastern India already knew how to connect the branches of rubber trees to form footbridges, and in southern Germany dance lime trees formed the centre of villages for centuries. Following on from this, the new discipline of Baubotanik is dedicated to designing with trees. Built projects, prototypes and visionary concepts point the way to a new green architecture. This introduction shows the possibilities of such living constructions and goes into the botanical growth laws that guide the design. The basics of constructing with trees are presented. The book encourages a whole new look at architecture that becomes part of urban nature.

1 edition

Stoneshins reviewed Growing Architecture by Ferdinand Ludwig

A garden of imagination, a frontier for new green designs

5 stars

The living root bridges of the Khasi have lived rent free in my head for more than a decade. This book compiles the experimental work of some German academics who are inspired by those same bridges, and a slew of other past and contemporary efforts (both realized and speculative) to blend arboriculture and architecture into a new field all its own. If you've ever wanted to grow a house made of living trees like an elf from dwarf fortress, this book is a wonderful guide to striking the balance between what can be imagined and what one may be able to achieve within the limits of plant biology. It gets a bit technical, but I believe the authors do a good job of explaining the relevant plant biology in an accessible way, and there are many simple and stylized diagrams that explain key concepts of growth dynamics.