What if architects thought about buildings and nature as a united whole? Well, some are and they are designing buildings that take into account of the needs of other species, value the 5 elements of nature, consider the impact of buildings on the environment and use sustainable materials. Featured in this article are buildings like Thorncrown Chapel, a church in the Arkansas woods where the glass and metal structure lets the humans commune with nature outside as they worship inside. Another example of a nature-forward building is in Sharma Springs, Indonesia, that uses a sustainable material, bamboo, to great effect. The six-story structure, the tallest bamboo structure in Bali, has all the amenities of a modern home and offers views of the plantations outside. Mellor Primary School in Manchester is one of the buildings incorporating nature in the form of other living species. The school is situated in a natural habitat encouraging ‘forest culture’ in children from an early age. Wood is used for both the structure and the cladding. The ‘habitat wall’ in the school attracts various types of insects, birds, small animals, bats, etc., to it. These examples show that nature-forward design helps us build a more beautiful world.
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