30-Second Architecture

Besides the most famous example of biomimetics, Velcro (in imitation of the burrs of the burdock plant), is the recent and award-winning kinetic façade of the Al Bahar Towers by Aedas (2012) in Abu Dhabi.

Adaptive Reuse Alternative name for Creative Reuse, in which, rather than being demolished, a building is reused by being converted from one purpose to another.

The term Baroque describes the exuberant architectural and sculptural styles of the 17th–18th centuries, where formalism became replaced by freer expression and experimentation.

Other communication devices are the use of historical references, often in irony or as parody, and a reliance on the façade to communicate with no reference to a building’s internal layout. Seminal Postmodern works include Michael Graves’s Portland Building, Portland, Oregon (1982), Philip Johnson’s AT&T Building, New York (1984) and James Stirling’s Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart (1984). The New Urbanism of Leon Krier at Seaside, Florida, and Poundbury, in Dorset, are also considered Postmodern.

The Nakagin Capsule Tower is a rare example of built Metabolist architecture. Its prefabricated capsules fitted to a permanent core were intended to be reconfigured or replaced over time.

Metabolism was a Japanese movement that envisioned cities as living organisms, comprising elements with different metabolic cycles that transformed over time.

The term ‘Organic Architecture’ was coined by Frank Lloyd Wright to describe his approach to buildings as organisms with all-inclusive designs, where every element – from layout and technical details to windows, ornamentation to furniture – relates to every other.

The most celebrated examples of Arts & Crafts architecture are domestic homes, which were organized around a communal core – the hearth and inglenook, a semi-enclosed seating area around a fireplace. The interiors appear casual and comfortable, and the building and furniture demonstrate the handcrafting of the materials used.

In the 19th century, the choice of styles turned into a veritable battle when A. W. N. Pugin ascribed the Gothic with superior moral and religious ideals derived from a romantic interpretation of medieval life.

The term ‘Paper Architecture’ can be applied to Utopian, unbuildable or otherwise imaginary structures, generally conceived to explore an architectural thesis or cultural/political position.