The term “biomimetics,” used to describe architecture that mimics natural forms and processes, was coined by Otto Schmitt in the mid-20th century, but the concept has been around for longer. Biological drawings like those, most famously, of the evolutionary theorist Ernst Haeckel, have been used as inspiration for architecture since the turn of the century.
Born in 1865 in the small town of Schielo, Germany, Blossfeldt became interested in photography at a young age during a time when it was unusual to even own a camera, much less practice photography. He refined his technique at Art School of the Royal Museum of Arts and Crafts in Berlin, where he studied under Moritz Meurer, a decorative artist who taught classes on ornament and design. Meurer’s major influences were two painters named Ludwig Richter and Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, both of whom incorporated ornament and architecture into their paintings, and whose practices inspired Meurer’s approach to teaching. To encourage his students to incorporate ornamental objects into their own artwork, Meurer would cast unique plants and flowers in bronze to use as props in class. To help him find and photograph the flora, Blossfeldt came on as his assistant.
Blossfeldt photographed the plants before they were cast, eliminating any distracting background and focusing narrowly on the plants and their sculptural details. Since he was preparing the plants to be used as bronze architectural ornaments, he was careful that his photographs highlighted the elements that would be most useful. In the book’s forward, German biologist Hansjörg Küster writes, “Blossfeldt arranged the plants in an ideal way; he laid them on a sheet of glass that was placed at a distance from the surface below. The objects did not cast a shadow, but they had to be illuminated from various angles to ensure that all their parts and their three-dimensional structure would remain visible.”
In the years between 1900, when Blossfeldt was assisting Meurer, and the 1920s, when Benjamin was writing his book, Blossfeldt’s work had evolved from a mere teaching tool into widely respected fine art photographs. Benjamin compared Blossfeldt to Maholy-Nagy and the pioneers of the New Objectivity movement, and the Surrealists embraced his work. Yet, even today, the photographs still have an educational use in encouraging viewers to think about the interconnectedness of things both natural and manmade. Just as architects and designers find biological forms and processes useful for their designs, Blossfeldt found art and design reflected in biology.