The Relation between natural and man - made structural systems - examination of 20th century examples in special case of the modern architect Santigo Calatrava

Since the ancient times, in order to provide a place for living, for accomodating and for other vital activities, man has developed the 'architecture' which is the art of building. Nature has structures of its own. Man has always been in close observation of nature and he imitated nature's structures while he was erecting his buildings. In other words, throughout history, man referred nature as source of inspiration and made use of his derivations in architecture. Investigation of this relation between natural and man-made structures in contemporary examples and in special case of Santiago Calatrava constitutes the subject of this study. Structures found in nature can be grouped as: the structures of non-living nature, the structures of Irving nature and the structures produced by living organisms. They have similarities with man-made structures and they serve as models for contemporary constructions. Researches about nature-architecture relation and close observations of natural structures provide help for the development of architectural and technical studies. The examples that have relation with nature are chosen from different periods and trends of architecture of the 20th century. Derivation from nature has a variety of ways as conveyed by these examples. The Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava is the special example to examine the subject in detail He is preferred as his work is specific and distinctive: he is famous for his constructions which recall structures of animals and plants. This thesis is comprised of five chapters. First chapter is an introductory, presenting the purpose and the method of the study. In the second chapter, a general knowledge about the structures of nature is presented. Natural structures are examined in three groups and are given examples; the relation between them and man-made structures is sought.III In the third chapter, the examples from 20th century architecture are introduced. They begin with Antoni Gaudi, continue with the Expressionists, Organic Movement, structural engineers, contemporary architects and examples from recent issues of architectural magazines showing the current situation of this relation. In the fourth chapter, firstly Santiago Calatrava's profession and architectural features are discussed. Second, some of his remarkable buildings and projects are introduced. Thirdly, the relation between his structures and nature is examined. Finally, the evaluation of his buildings is presented with comparisons, from the aspect of their relation with natural structures. The fifth chapter is the conclusion part where the previous three chapters are evaluated. The 'nature' of architecture-nature relation is portrayed before the opinions about the analysis of Calatrava's work is presented.