Copy cats

Nature is at our core. It's also a universal answer to the question "what is your inspiration?".

In this Louisiana Channel conversation with architect Kengo Kuma, Kuma shares his reverence for nature in his work and how human beings engage with it. Kuma states, "when you enter architecture, you enter another world" and his studio's new Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, and other works, indeed feel otherwordly. Using nature as his inspiration and blueprint, his architecture feels familiar, humbling, and reinvigorating. Kuma's designs welcome and embrace us.

Also following nature's blueprint is an experimental 3-D dwelling called TECLA (a name derived from Technology and Clay). TECLA's form and materiality was undoubtedly inspired by nature, potter wasps nests, to be exact. Combining technology with nature in a stunning new way, TECLA uses locally sourced clay (as first used in this model) instead of a standard concrete mix. Should this method prove successful beyond its initial trials, the implications could be revolutionary for housing and building projects worldwide.

So, what is my inspiration?

The more I examine my relationship with nature and consider my connection to art, design, and architecture, the more richness I see: a richness in nature that is the binding glue of all of our experiences.

So yes, nature is my inspiration, too.

And as with the architectural examples above, the richness of how we experience life is all around us.

Mother Nature readily shares her blueprints with us. All we have to do is pay attention and be open to the possibilities.

She's happy to let us copy her wise ways.

•••

A nature-inspired  poem, from me to you:

Nature, my god…

All we do is try to mimic you

To learn from you

To express your beauty

To feel the way that you do

Effortless. Resilient. Abundant.

You teach us when we listen

We grow with you when we surrender

Your blueprints are in plain sight