Nature inspired design

By - , Build 102

Attending a Biomimicry and Design course in Costa Rica and completing a research trip to North America in April this year, provided exciting opportunities to explore the potential of biomimicry as a design process.

Janine Benyus and students discuss the organisms of the rain forest in relation to design.
Presentation of the group biomimicry design project on the course.

Biomimicry, where biology is used as a basis for design, is a growing area of research in architecture and engineering. It is an inspirational source of innovation, especially in the quest for increased sustainability.

Biology often outperforms human design without creating non-recyclable waste, toxic chemicals or the need for immense pressures, temperatures or energy. Mimicking the living world may provide new ways of creating a built environment that is more comfortable, sustainable and adaptable in a changing environment. There is a growing body of inter-national research exploring this idea, which is known as biomimcry or bio-inspired design.

Presentation of the group biomimicry design project on the course.

Lessons used for design of products and buildings

Biomimicry has been used to design several new products. For example, the underwater adhesive that mussels use to cling to rocks is extremely strong and outperforms petroleum-based, toxic, human-made glues. This adhesive has recently been mimicked and is being used as an alternative to formaldehyde-based adhesives by a plywood manufacturer. It is so effective that the plywood can be boiled for several hours and remain intact.

An architectural example of biomimicry is the proposed fog-catcher design of the Hydrological Center for the University of Namibia, designed by Matthew Parkes of KSS Architects and inspired by the Namibian desert beetle, Stenocara. The beetle lives in a desert with negligible rainfall but is able to capture moisture from fog by tilting its body into the wind, where droplets form on the surface of its wings and back and roll into its mouth. The beetle’s surface has also been mimicked for other potential applications, such as clearing fog from airport runways and improving dehumidification equipment.

Learning from whole ecosystems

Perhaps the most important idea to come out of the course was the idea of biomimicry that mimics ecosystems. This may play a part in the creation of regenerative architecture that is able to reinforce and strengthen major planetary cycles, rather than damage them. Such an approach implies a convergence of architectural and building science knowledge with that in the fields of biology and ecology.

Although systems that use this idea fully are yet to be developed, there are several proposed projects that use aspects of an ecosystem based biology. For example, Mithun Architects’ Lloyd Crossing project in Portland, Oregon began with a detailed study of how the ecosystem had functioned on the site before development. This was used to set goals for the ecological performance of the project and provided a proven, successful model of a system that had previously worked on the site.

Biology and design working together for positive outcomes

Biomimicry research relies on collaboration between researchers in biology or ecology and architecture and building science. There is increased interest in this direction in North America and in Europe. Niche opportunities may exist for New Zealand researchers from different disciplines to collaborate to design a New Zealand built environment which can adapt to climate change and restore the ecosystems it exists in.

Janine Benyus and students discuss the organisms of the rain forest in relation to design.

The built environment is increasingly held accountable for global environmental problems, with vast proportions of waste, material and energy use and greenhouse gas emissions attributed to it. A shift must be made in how buildings are created and maintained. Mimicking life, including the complex interactions between living organisms that make up ecosystems, is a readily available example for designers to learn from and an exciting prospect for future human habitats that may be able to be entwined with those of other species in a mutually beneficial way.

For more

Funding and financial assistance for this trip from Building Research, a New Zealand Postgraduate Study Abroad Award and Victoria University of Wellington are gratefully acknowledged.

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Articles are correct at the time of publication but may have since become outdated.

Janine Benyus and students discuss the organisms of the rain forest in relation to design.
Presentation of the group biomimicry design project on the course.

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