Biomorphism

thumb|Biomorphic branching columns in Antoni Gaudí|Gaudí's monumental but still incomplete [[Sagrada Família church are modelled on trees.]]

Biomorphism models artistic design elements on naturally occurring patterns or shapes reminiscent of nature and living organisms. Taken to its extreme, it attempts to force naturally occurring shapes onto functional devices. In his search for architectural reform the French architecte Viollet le Duc is the first to express this idea clearly : Like a botanist, Viollet le Duc analyzes details of nature in his books, subsequently making them undergo metamorphoses.