Organic architecture—the philosophy that architecture should be informed by its natural environment, shaped by the needs of its users, and reflective of the nature of the materials involved—dates back to at least the nineteenth century. In the mid-twentieth century a movement away from the International Modern style of architecture and towards a more vernacular, organic style, in touch with the counterculture of the period and with the universe, took hold. This is reflected in Bruce Goff's writings and plans for a Space Study Institute, a structure created to house an institute that would study architecture's potential to create spaces to meet the individual and collective needs of all people.

1. Bruce Goff. Study for Space Study Institute, 1956.
2. Bruce Goff. Space Study Institute. Typescript, with graphite sketches, 1956.
3. Bruce Goff. Study for Interior Structure: Space Study Institute. Typescript, with graphite sketches, 1956.