The normal structural adaptation of heart and vessels to regional changes in load or/and tissue demands is surveyed with respect to its importance for cardiovascular function in normotension as well as in physiological (giraffes) and pathophysiological (e.g. human and rat primary hypertension) variants of high pressure states. At the local level it implies an entirely appropriate adjustment of cardiovascular geometric design according to principles inherent in the LaPlace and Poiseuille laws. However, when generalized to all systemic circuits, as in