Zoomorphic

New technical possibilities in materials and structural engineering are combining with new social preoccupations in science to produce an explosion of international buildings whose form is inspired by bizarre animals. Able to at last break out of the physical and ideological constraints that once favoured rectilinear form, architects are going beyond the merely organic in shape to create a new biological baroque.
After a brief historical overview of this relationship, looking at, for example, Gothic buildings and Art Nouveau, Zoomorphic focuses on contemporary architecture. Sometimes the 'animal' connection is generated for structural reasons - nature supplies an efficient design solution; in other cases the resemblance is symbolic; while in yet more examples the natural likeness seems accidental. Organised according to the type of relationship, the book ends with a look at some of the latest materials and techniques that will push this trend even further in the future.