New Organic Architecture: The Breaking Wave

"New Organic Architecture is an important book. It would be significant if it were only seen as the defining work on contemporary organic architecture. I know of no other volume that brings together the works and words of such a wide range of currently practicing organic architects. The beginning sections of the book do a masterful job of both summarizing the main principles of organic architecture and setting the movement in its historical context. But I believe that the significance of New Organic Architecture goes beyond its role in cataloguing the current arc of a long-standing movement. David Pearson grasps what too few people see: that organic architecture fills the void at the heart of the current ecological building movement."—Carol Venolia, Architect, author of Healing Environments

"David Pearson's New Organic Architecture: The Breaking Wave is a remarkable book. Visually it makes the connection between the organic in nature and in design. Verbally, without getting bogged down in the usual architectural jargon, it offers a broad and comprehensive review of sources,and current work with statements by architects themselves. This is an inspirational book for a broad audience. It is seminal - a seed that will flower into new ideas, and a new vision of what is possible - in the same way that Bernard Rudofsky's Architecture Without Architects did thirty years ago. The layout - connecting pictures of architecture and nature, with pithy quotes and descriptions interweaving history, philosphy,design, and culture is like a filed of wildflowers in full bloom. This book is much needed, and I predict will have a long and successful run."—Sim Van der Ryn

Natural Home

If your soul longs to dwell within something other than flat walls and right angles,this book will make you say,'Ah!' Pearson gives us the gift of seeing into the hearts and minds of these designers while sharing their sources of inspiration,the nature of their design process,their involvement with the materials,and their passion for the spirit and form of life. In short,he gives us the gift of ourselves,reawakened.

David Pearson is an architect and planner actively involved in inner city and new community planning—both in Britain and the U.S. For more than ten years he has been active in the field of ecological design. With degrees both from the University of London and the University of California, Berkeley, he works, lectures, and travels widely. He founded the Ecological Design Association and is the editor of EcoDesign, the association's journal. His The Natural House Bookwas revised and updated in 1998.