Architecture and Botany: Rethinking Nature Through Design

An article by Agustina Iñiguez for ArchDaily explores how architectural practice can learn from botany, focusing on the concept of 'constructed forests' and the decolonization of landscape perception. Paulo Tavares reinterprets William Balée's photographic archive of Amazonian forest groves as an architectural archive, arguing that vast areas of the Amazon are cultural artifacts rather than natural wilderness. Balée's work with the Ka'apor communities in the 1980s documented sophisticated botanical knowledge that challenges Western scientific classification. The article traces the evolution of botanical gardens from 18th-century medicinal teaching gardens to contemporary centers for biodiversity conservation, education, and research. Examples include the Montreal Botanical Garden Entrance Pavilion, Structural Botany by Cheng Tsung FENG Design Studio, the Waterfront Botanical Gardens by Perkins&Will in Louisville, and the Yunxi Botanical Garden in Guangzhou, which advances China's biodiversity strategies. The piece is part of ArchDaily's topic 'Transspecies Architecture: The Life of Materials, Ecological Alliances, and Nature's Agency.'