Biomimicry is a science that studies biological processes with the aim of transferring them to the artificial world. For this reason, biomimicry and architecture have been extremely connected disciplines in recent years. Man seeks his source of inspiration in nature to find the solution to different types of problems.
It was Leonardo Da Vinci who gave birth to biomimicry. In fact, in his studies on flying machines, he took an example from the flight of birds. The biomimetic buildingsOne of the most representative examples of biomimetic buildings is the roof of the Crystal Palace in London, built during the mid 19th century by the famous architect and botanist Joseph Paxton. In the realization of the Crystal Palace, the architect was inspired by the Victoria Amazonica, a plant belonging to the water lily family.
Architecture has changed considerably today compared to the beginning of the industrial revolution. Thanks to the advances in technology, it has been possible to identify new perspectives in the relationship between design and biology: the latter in particular is now able to offer new ways of interpreting nature.
Over time, man has progressively removed himself from the natural world, denying his dependence on it. Today the path has reversed and the trend is to get closer to nature again. For our well-being it is essential to rediscover the value of nature, in all its sustainable aspects, bringing it to our cities and its buildings. Biomimicry for design
Nature is comparable to an evolved project, perpetuated for more than 4 billion years. For this reason there are many tools of biomimicry for design and architecture.
A designer who has set his work in this direction, strongly believing in the value of nature and in particular of light and lighting for everyday life, and Den Roosergarde. The Dutch designer amazed the world by designing a cycle path illuminated by a myriad of sparkling stones, an architectural work inspired by Van Gogh’s starry night, inaugurated in Eindhoven, on the occasion of the Van Gogh International Team Year 2015 .
The Dutch designer wants to give life to urban situations in which nature and technology can coexist in harmony, creating dimensions that are ever closer to feeling and interaction. This desire to be inspired by nature arises from the ever stronger need to provide sustainable and ecological answers in the artistic, architectural and urban planning fields.
The path of the realization of a project is inverted: first an idea was defined and the project was developed from there, looking for a way to realize it, while now a new scenario is designed, in which the objectives are conditioned by the means, which must be eco-sustainable. The civilization – environment binomial
The concept of biomimicry provides that there is a real inversion of the civilization-environment binomial: the city model that was born on the edge of nature is now obsolete, since it limits the spaces of the latter and attacks its borders. Instead, it is precisely nature that activates and conditions the material project: that is, it takes place in an innovative dimension, where nature no longer becomes only a source of aesthetic inspiration, as for example in the Liberty period, but instead gives up systems, organisms and solutions that are already biologically present.
In this way biomimicry is born which becomes an approach at the service of design, through an observation study and a scientific application that seeks to achieve sustainable solutions to the continuous challenges of innovation and development, going to emulate models, forms and strategies of their own. of the natural world. And it is precisely in this context that the aforementioned Roosergaarde decides to deepen his studies on the possibility of exploiting the natural ability of some animals to emit light, such as jellyfish and fireflies, without the need to receive any type of stimulus. electric, or ultraviolet light. Biomimetic engineering
One of the most significant results of biomimetic engineering, arises from the collaboration between the designer Roosergaarde, theState University of New York and the Bioglow Tech research center , which led to the birth of a bioluminescent seedling capable of expressing a stunning effect to say the least.
The stem of the seedling was modified by introducing DNA of electroluminescent bacteria into the genome of a common plant: the result is the emission of a slight luminescent glow. It goes without saying that any development and enhancement of this ambitious project is certainly destined to revolutionize the world of lighting design. The Glowing Nature Paint
Fascinated by the theme of light in nature, Roosergaarde is carrying out another project: the Glowing Nature Paint. It is a biological paint that, applied to the frame of the tree and on the leaves, makes them luminescent. The biological paint is absolutely harmless to the health of the plant and during the day it recharges and then emits a bioluminescent light during the night. The inspiration seems to have come from some particular species of fungi, such as the Neonothopanus gardneri, one of the largest and brightest fluorescent mushrooms, which during the night emit a particular luminescence, to attract insects and make diffusion more efficient. of the spores.
From these data emerges the clear will, now widespread among the most visionary involved in urban design, to recover the extraordinary that exists in nature, for use aimed at well-being and sustainability. If, as we hope, we are still very far from the end of our planet, biomimicry undoubtedly represents the path we must take to carry out important projects, never forgetting what Albert Einstein said: “everything you can imagine, nature has already invented “. What is biomimicry
But what exactly is biomimicry
Let us try to answer this question comprehensively. We could simply define this science, with the desire to imitate the sophisticated processes of nature, for an application aimed at architecture and design.
With biomimicry, nature becomes the absolute protagonist in design objects: living beings, used as a starting point in architectural design, represent a particularly interesting inspiration also in the creation of design objects, tools and furnishings, due to their shape and function. , both at the macroscopic and at the microscopic level.
Nature has always been the subject of scientific studies. To fully understand the sophisticated mechanisms of nature and in particular of living beings and apply them to the fields of architecture and design and the goal of biomimicry. Applying these natural mechanisms to human creations allows us to develop solutions that are able to limit the environmental impact of products and systems, and to significantly improve their performance and reactions.
Thanks to technological developments it is now possible to study and imitate nature. In particular, the new programming and coding languages, 3D printing and modeling, allow to reproduce in an absolutely faithful way, the cellular functions and structures of living organisms, as well as the systems of organization and evolved adaptation, typical of habitats. natural.
This is the field in which the application of biomimicry moves, a science that we can define as relatively young. Biomimicry expresses the marriage between biology and technology, where biology represents the primordial model that regulates the functioning of the complex structures that make up living beings, while technology represents the means by which to reproduce their functioning in materials and structures. The history of biomimicry
Here are some hints relating to the history of biomimicry. One of the pioneers of biomimicry is the American Janine Benyus, founder of the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute in Missoula, in the State of Montana: it is an organization that is dedicated to the training and dissemination of biomimicry science.
One of the products that we can define historical in the field of the application of this modern science, is the velcro: the material was created by imitating the functioning of the lappola, fruits of the Burdock, equipped with very small hooks that allow it to attach itself to the fabrics. After the creation of the velcro, the application of science turned to the creation of a special self-cleaning paint (Lotusan) made inspired by the leaves of the lotus plant that clean themselves.
Subsequently, the studies and applications of biodynamics began to go further and to interest design and architecture. A significant example of this new application is represented by a research by Neri Oxman , an innovative Israeli designer, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who has developed an interesting solution, capable of skilfully combining biology and technology.
Thanks to a 3D printer, Neri Oxman began to create organic fabrics capable of adapting to the shape of the body and its physiological composition, using Stratasys’ innovative triple jet technology .
With the same 3D printer “Gemini” was designed a chaise longue which, using a particular shell shape and a combination of 44 digital materials (with different properties capable of reproducing the sensory points of the human body) creates a particular habitat that is inspired to the womb.
The materials used for the creation of these creations direct specific pressure points on the body, so as to create a sensorial passage and at the same time also act as a soundproof anechoic chamber and create an architectural structure that has the purpose of relaxing and calming the mind. .
The famous Israeli designer has gained notoriety thanks to the famous Wanderers collection: An Astrobiological Exploration: this work includes four wearables, designed to be incorporated into living matter and to be worn in space. The four wearables are created thanks to synthetic biology: the garments include pockets and apparatuses capable of hosting biological materials and creating micro habitats that could allow humans to adapt to an alien or extra-terrestrial environment.
One of the most recent creations in the field of biomimetics is a chitosan compound , made with chemically modified shell fragments, in order to obtain different properties. The compound is printed by a robot, which gives life to a paste that can be used for different applications, such as for application on window frames.
Still in the construction field, very interesting is a biomimetic application made from silk threads produced by worms, which are then genetically modified and processed by a robotic arm, so as to obtain a malleable and eco-sustainable material , with which it is possible create structures or building elements.
In the history of biomimicry, architectural design has also been inspired several times by nature: one of the most significant examples of a construction inspired by nature is certainly the Eastgate Building ., a multifunctional center built by the South African architect Mick Pearce, in collaboration with an engineering firm from Zimbabwe. This creation was inspired by termite mounds: these are extremely complex structures, composed of mounds of earth created by the insects themselves to keep the internal space at a constant temperature, in order to grow the fungus on which the insects themselves feed. Low temperatures are guaranteed in this sophisticated creation of nature, by a series of channels dug into the ground, so as to create a ventilated environment.
The South African architect managed to recreate and reproduce this system in the designed building, thanks to the creation of a series of side fireplaces and a central tunnel, which help to ventilate the rooms in a natural way, avoiding the use of air conditioning systems .
The recently built buildings inspired by nature are true contemporary masterpieces, characterized by extremely welcoming, functional and ecological environments. Biomimicry today represents the natural evolution of human design: a science that offers us the opportunity to overcome the challenges that the future holds. The principles of biomimicry
The fundamental principles on which biomimicry is based are the following:
– interdependence;
– solar power;
– enhancement of diversity;
– absence of waste.
Based on these assumptions, architects from all over the world, followers of this applied science, are designing and constructing new buildings, a symbol of biomimicry, managing to incorporate living material within the structures created. Modern biomimetic architectural creations
A concrete example of the perfect union between life and architecture, is represented by the Hamburg Algae House: this is the first example of a bio-reactive façade, designed by Arup and contemplated in 2013. The façade contains microscopic algae that grow and regulate the light of the building, according to needs, acting as real solar filters. As the algae grow and develop, they are then transformed into biogas.
Another recent successful example of the union between life and architecture is the building that houses the Shanghai Natural History Museum: the structure was inaugurated in 2015 and designed by the London studio Perkings + Willand is inspired by shells. The building today represents one of the most significant icons of green building. The most important feature of this futuristic architectural structure is the so-called “intelligent skin”: a layer capable of absorbing solar energy, regulating the air conditioning by means of small ponds and a green wall that protects the structure. from noise pollution. National Theater of Taichung
Very interesting is the building that houses the National Theater of Taichung, inaugurated in 2016 and designed by Toyo Ito. The structure is inspired by the concept of a cave of sound and was conceived with the aim of creating a spatial experience that recalls something primitive and ancestral. Over time, nature has been the author of the creation of extremely complex systems, which in comparison the building of the National Theater of Taichung could appear simple. However, the application of biomimicry in architecture represents an effective path towards sustainable architectural design, with the aim and objective of reuniting man with nature itself.
Thanks to this sophisticated research approach, with the aim of creating a new connection with nature, biomimicry today becomes a conscious study of all the biological and biomechanical processes of nature, as a source of inspiration to operate a concrete improvement of activities and human technologies. Nature is considered as a model to be inspired by.
In fact, biomimicry is a real imitation of nature and today allows to obtain high standards of efficiency, sustainability and integration with the environment. In all living organisms, from the most elementary to the most advanced forms, it is possible to observe a sort of large catalog of materials, architectures and complex functioning systems. The ever more meticulous study of the characteristics of living beings represents the stimulus for the evolution of biomimicry, allowing the creation of new materials, up to a few ago totally inconceivable.
