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While Pitt's words may have seemed like a challenge extended to every architect and urban planner on the planet, the dream of self-sustaining eco-communities has been lingering around our society for many years. Ever since outdoor artist Patrick Dougherty began manipulating plants and tree branches into architectural forms, an increasing number of designers and architects and even celebrities have begun flirting with the concept of "natural" buildings. Luc Schuiten - an architect-slash-ecologist with an penchant for thinking outside the box-frame of standard structural prototypes - garnered attention with his vision of buildings that live, breathe, and metamorphosize over time.
LEFT: Actor Brad Pitt with Global
Green USA in New Orleans
RIGHT: artists rendering of One
Planet Living eco-community in
Brighton, England
A brief flip through the dreamy pages of Schuiten's book "Archiborescence" is enough to engulf anyone in his ideas of the ideal home. He believes in reintegrating nature back into our everyday existence, instead of fostering increased separation between man and environment. While his concepts are indeed fantastical, they are also beautifully optimistic. He believes the future of living lies in the "habitarbres" he designs – eco-homes made of trees, not from trees – where man and the environment can coexist without ecological destruction. The beauty of Schuiten's vision is that he wholeheartedly believes in man's ability to create these peaceful environments and live a life of balance.
Clearly, we’re not quite there yet. Our homes may not breathe and grow idyllically in some utopian garden of human communities, but Dougherty and Schuiten’s visions do provide a direction to move towards. Citizens of communities around the globe are turning toward eco-villages, sustainable living, and wellness communities in order to experience more balanced and holistic lives. Natural architecture and lifestyles are on the rise, continuing to grow into ubiquity as time passes. Recently in Brighton, England a 172-apartment community opened, in which residents grow their own food on the rooftops and dispose of garbage by way of a zero-waste plan. Perhaps we can stop destroying our habitats after all.
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