Understanding Nature And The Idea Of A Man-Made World

Reviewed by Aylla Andianna Hamdani 2014 841 001

Overall Summary
Within this book, Crowe tell us the difference between the natural
world from the man made world, their interaction and interpretation
towards architecture and the world around us. The natural world refers to
the environment which has not been touched by humans, a world which
has developed on their own accord through time and evolution. Where
plants, animals, and other feature developed naturally in the physical
world. Nowadays we view nature as natural things which implies a
distinction between natural and artificial which has been changed and
produced by human mind. Therefore a man-made world is a world which
humans has touched and changed, created by humans and opposed by
nature. An example of a man-made world would be a lake which was
created by machines, our houses which was constructed by natural
materials and our cities which has changed the natural environment.
Human nature think and act differently than others, we can adapt
and create environment to fit our needs to be able to survive. Like for
example we create shelter to protect us from the rain and wild animals,
reshape the natural environment to gain easy access to food and increase
the
number of shelter due to expansion of human growth. As we keep
evolving we begin to change the natural environment into a man-made
world, a reliable and much more suitable environment.
The man-made world is made by humans reflection of the natural
world, nature becomes inspiration, characteristics and metaphor towards
architecture. Architecture brings harmony between human habitation and
the natural world through design approaches such as site, buildings,
furniture and surroundings which becomes composition of a man made
world. Everyone has different viewpoints on the way we approach the
natural environment and the man-made environment. How we view the
world depends on where we were brought up to, what we learn, our
religion, culture and personal experiences. A person from a countryside
will have different opinion on how they view natural resources from a city
person. A countryman will appreciate their environment and food because
they know
what nature has given them, although a city man will not appreciate
environment as much because they have not experienced it from the start.




Architecture uses nature to gain balance, ideals and beauty. A
whole history could be told by a historic building, architecture becomes a
tool to understand the creation of what human has constructed over time
and the natural resources it used. Everything in architecture have its
connection with the natural world, it could be from its materials,
knowledge or metaphors. In Medieval and classical times nature becomes
a starting point to construct architecture to gain perfection and balance.
However after the world war, mass production become the key aspects
where people needed places to live and mass houses were produced
forgetting the implications to nature. After modernism and the use of vast
materials which has caused harm to nature people began to recognize the
damage we caused to nature.

There is always a balance between the natural world, there is life
and death, day and night, plants and animals, a never ending cycle.
However with the human intervention the natural world becomes
unbalanced, we take too much than we can give back to nature, we destroy
the ecosystem and we create natural disasters. As the quality of nature
decreases we began to understand that it is our fault and begin to build new
environments to remind us of the natural world. We are connected to
nature and the man-made world is hurting not only the environment but
also ourselves.


My Viewpoint
The man-made world reshape and develop the natural world to
become more habitable for humans. During the process we uses our
understanding on how the world around us work and our beliefs. We have
changed so many things within this man made world which doesnt seem
natural anymore.
The rapid expansion in human population that began after the
Industrial Revolution, cities were relatively small, their impact on the
natural world was limited. With the increase of population there has been
wildlife extinction, deforestation, ecological footprint all caused by
buildings and its surroundings. In the past the man-made world cared
about the environment and only wanted to expand a little however as time
passes, population increased, war begins and modernism appeared.
The man-made world changes and wanted to create better
structures, technology and the increase of land use, forgetting the harm it
has created to the environment. Global Warming is the consequences of
what man-made world done against nature, forgetting the implications and
going through with developments. It is now too late to bring back the
natural environment as it is, we can only prevent further destruction.

Uses nature as
their starting
point
Medieval and
Classical architecture
Concentrates in mass
production and forget
nature
Modernism
Bring back
nature
Post modernism





As the time goes by construction methods have developed as
technology become more advanced. Natural materials has become hard to
distinct within architecture nowadays since it has become a mixed
materials. Some materials may not be what they seem to be, right for
example a wood railing may be made from steel and painted as wood. It
completely loses its sense of nature and balance however people doesnt
seem to care, we are now in an era where we can fabricate natural
materials and get the wrong perception. The man-made world we live in
today doesnt seem natural anymore. A home was a safe place against
wild and cruel nature now we neglect our natural infrastructure and focus
more on making life more convenient by making easy access through life.
Nowadays developer uses land to its maximum land capacity to optimize
cost and increase value forgetting nature and its implication to the city.
Natural world consist of an ecosystem which enables them to
grow and expand on their own, man made world have an urban ecosystem
which includes people among the living things which can influence
ecological factors such as plants, air, soil, and animals. Human can help
prevent further damage by influencing ecological factors to create a
healthier ecosystem. We can build a better man made world with the
advance technology, built a city with a planned green belt and improve its
performance by adding natural environment which could decrease crime,
stress level and increase the quality of the city scape.



National Ecology Center Botanic greenhouse
by Grimshaw and Samoo , South Korea


http://www.dezeen.com/2013/11/07/national-ecology-center-botanic-greenhouses-by-
grimshaw-and-samoo/

Located in Seocheon, the Ecorium visitor centre was designed in
collaboration between the New York office of Grimshaw and Korean
architecture firm Samoo, and was intended as an exhibition of the world's
climates. The complex is made up of five biomes, each dedicated to a
different climatic zone. In plan, they all feature curved semi-circular
shapes that are based on the form of lakes left over by moving rivers.
An example of a man-made world and how we can
influence the environment around us.
"The project concept is inspired by the form of an oxbow lake, an
aquatic body created by the evolving erosion of a meandering river,"
said the architects, who previously designed biomes at the Eden Centre
in Cornwall, England.
Curving steel beams create arched rooflines, while lightweight
glass walls help to maximise the natural light inside each space.
Visitors enter the complex through a grand lobby and are led first to the
tropical zone - the largest of the five greenhouses. This structure has
high ceilings


that will allow trees to grow in the future, alongside waterfall and
aquarium features. From here, a route moves through climates that
include sub-tropical, Mediterranean, and temperate, which mimics the
natural ecosystems of rural Korea. The final greenhouse contains a
polar zone, which has a sub-zero temperature and offers visitors a
chance to see living penguins.