ZQ Issue 07 Final

zq⁰⁷
fall 2013
About Zygote Quarterly
Editors
Marjan Eggermont
Tom McKeag
Norbert Hoeller
Contributing Editors
Raul de Villafranca
Adelheid Fischer
Kristen Hoeller
Offices
Calgary
Bangalore
Toronto
Mexico City
Phoenix
Contact
info@zqjournal.org
Cover art
Woodland Night
pp. 2 - 3: False Turkey-tails | Stereum ostrea (L) Parchment fungi family (Stereaceae)
pp. 120 - 121: Composed Polypores | Lisa A. Frank | 2010
Design
Marjan Eggermont
Colin McDonald
ISSN
1927-8314
Page 4 of 148
Monarch Caterpillar
Photo: Vicki’s Nature, 2011 | Flickr cc
Zygote Quarterly: zq07 | Fall 2013 | ISSN 1927-8314 | Pg 5 of 148

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fall 2013 Editorial
Translation introduce a new section of our magazine that

introduces these groups and the environments
Translation is a very apt word in the business
in which they operate. In this issue, we highlight
of bio-inspired design and it is a key step in
talented biomimicry interest groups from the
any design process. A designer or an engineer
Netherlands and Germany.
or a scientist will eventually have to translate
something, whether it is an idea into a drawing, a Translation also requires a common
set of specifications into a object, or a hypothesis understanding amongst the various disciplines
into an experiment. It is rooted in the notion of involved. In our “Proposal” section, Ashok Goel
“across” and those who work in our field cross and fellow authors make an initial case for
boundaries routinely: from subject to subject, developing a common ground across the still
from discipline to discipline, from concept to nascent field of which bio-inspired design and
concept, from theory to application, from scale biomimicry are parts. The bio-design field is a
to scale, from place to place, from species to wide one, growing rapidly and being pursued
species. Innovation itself might be approached by people with many different backgrounds.
formally in this way, crossing boundaries in a For many, the work is currently a practice rather
comprehensive and divergent way in order to than a profession, and they are content to look
conjure new ideas. to more traditional fields for their standards
and career advancements. There is important
In this issue, the foremost popularizer of
work to be done to increase the maturity of
biomimicry, Janine Benyus, tells us of the
our field and ensure that a similar quality of
accomplishments and offerings of her
professionalism is practiced. The article includes
organization, Biomimicry 3.8, and reflects on
a proposal for a workshop to begin building a
over a decade of promoting and organizing and
consensus on the core elements of research and
enabling others to pursue a career in biomimicry.
practice that will support the emergence of a
Along her path, translation has been a very
credible and recognized discipline. ⊗
important task, as she first translated the work
of scattered scientists for the general public, and
then translated some of the lessons from nature
to the professionals in the design and business
fields. Brent Constantz, highlighted in our case
study, has made a life’s work of translating
ideas from one discipline to another, first
from geology to medicine, and then from the
biomedical field to sustainable manufacturing
Tom McKeag, Norbert Hoeller, and Marjan
and resource use. Interviewee Markus Beuhler’s
Eggermont
work involves translating natural protein arrays
into new functional structures. Artist Lisa Frank
translates biological ideas into her personal
revelation and shares the experience of these
ideas with the public.
Translation is facilitated by understanding the
professional landscape: who the actors are and
how they relate to each other. To that end, we
Page 6 of 148
Case Study: Making Paste: Biomedical Innovations
Inspired by Nature
Tom McKeag
8
The Science of Seeing: Jewels of the Desert
Adelheid Fischer
26
Special Feature: “Looking back, looking forward”

Janine Benyus in conversation with Megan Schuknecht
40
Portfolio:
Lisa Frank
58
People: Interview with

Markus J. Buehler
92
Book: Architecture Follows Nature

by Ilaria Mazzoleni
Reviewed by Colleen Mahoney
104
World: Interview with
Biomimicry Germany
110
World: Interview with

Biomimicry Netherlands
124
Proposal: Developing a Common Ground for Learning

from Nature
Norbert Hoeller, Ashok K. Goel, Catalina Freixas, Randall Anway, Antony Up-
134
ward, Filippo Salustri, Janice McDougall, and Kamelia Miteva

Coral, Westray, Orkney
Photo: craigie3000_2011 | Flickr cc
Page 8 of 148
Case Study
Making Paste:
Biomedical
Innovations
Inspired by Coral
Tom McKeag

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fall 2013 Case Study Author:
Making Paste Tom McKeag
Making Paste
The Problem (#1) of relatively brittle ceramics that could not pro-
vide structural stability to the reduced healing
Dr. Brent Constantz was not really thinking of
fracture.
medical inventions the day he plopped down
in his dad’s study to watch a football game. He Unlike his father, Constantz was not a medic-
started to peruse some of his father’s medical al doctor, but had been trained in marine biol-
journals and came across an article on osteo- ogy and geology. Days later he was in the South
porosis in the New England Journal of Medicine. Pacific studying corals when he put two ideas
He was particularly surprised by the statistics together. The results were two products and
showing the costs of bone fractures to patients three companies that would add greatly to our
and hospitals. ability to treat and heal patients suffering from
bone fractures and blocked blood vessels.
With the world’s highest health care cost, the
United States hosts a trauma market where Constantz was already an expert on biomineral-
more than 6 million fractures occur every year, ization, having studied Caribbean coral reefs
with nearly 1.4 million fractures in cancellous under a National Science Foundation Doctoral
(spongy) bone treated surgically as noted by Dissertation Fellowship grant, supervised by
the National Osteoporosis Foundation. These in- Léo Laporte, an eclectic investigator and mentor,
cidences seemed likely to increase as the popu- while at University of California Santa Cruz. He
lous generation of baby boomers reached ad- would later be a Fulbright scholar at the Weis-
vanced age. mann Institute under Dr. Stephen Weiner, and
his mentor, Dr. Heinz Lowenstam, considered the
The current practices that orthopedic surgeons
father of the study of biomineralization. His dis-
had for managing osteoporotic fractures ap-
sertation had addressed three aspects of sclerac-
peared less than adequate, especially since most
tinian, or stony, reef building corals: their struc-
patients had poor quality bone in the first place
ture and mechanical performance; their process
that was not amenable to affixing the orthoped-
of skeletal formation; and how they produced
ic pins, plates, and screws that would allow the
their skeletons.
patient to return to placing a routine load on the
repaired bone. Patients were usually immobile
for weeks due to marginal fracture fixation tech-
The Inspiration
niques. Because they were elderly, many were
susceptible to extensive morbidity and eventual The animals that make up corals are anthozoans,
death, at a very high cost to society. Bone graft a class of invertebrate within the phylum Cni-
replacements at the time were solid blocks or daria, which includes a diverse assortment of
granules used as defect fillers and were made creatures like jellies, hydroids, and sea anem-
Page 10 of 148
Biomineralization
A biomineral means a min-
eral produced by a living or-
ganism, but it also means
that such a substance is
likely to be combined in a
composite with organic pro-
teins like collagen or carbo-
hydrates like chitin and
be different itself in struc-
ture and composition than
a mineral produced by in-
organic chemistry. One of
the remarkable aspects of
biogenic minerals is the var-
iety of intricate forms made
of crystals; completely con-
trolled by genetic informa-
tion, faithfully replicated
generation after generation,
and often beyond our tech-
nical prowess to mimic.
Organisms from many dif-

ferent phyla have evolved
to produce minerals since
the end of the Precambrian
Age, some 640 million years
ago. Algae, diatoms, mar-
ine invertebrates and ver-
tebrates like humans all
have acquired the capacity
to make minerals. To date,
approximately 64 different
minerals are known to have
been produced by living or-
ganisms. The calcium bear-
The fossil coral Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus

Photo: Mark A. Wilson, 2007 | Wikimedia Commons

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ones. The stony corals make up the major mod- The Idea
ern taxa that form today’s coral reefs, although
While in the Tuamotu atoll of Rangiroa (the third
at certain times in Earth’s geologic history, reef
largest atoll on Earth) Constantz had had time
formation was dominated by other types of
to reflect on what he had learned of osteopor-
coral, molluscs, and sponges. In this mostly mar-
osis, bone breakage and the challenges to im-
ine and entirely carnivorous club you can either
mobilize these difficult to manage fractures. The
float or anchor yourself to a surface, and many
creatures he was studying seemed to offer a pro-
do both within their lifespan. The corals have a
cess that might aid medical procedures. Why not
symbiotic relationship with algae, which occupy
mimic the way corals quickly produce skeletal
their stomach lining giving the tissue its color
minerals right inside the patient and patch up
and produce sugars in exchange for protection
the bone fractures in place with this natural
and the nutritious waste from the polyps.
cement? The basic materials were similar; the
When corals anchor themselves, they do so as process promised to be quicker and less invasive,
attached polyps in large colonies, and they do it and no one had thought of this before.
by forming calcium carbonate, or lime, from the
Making things using the coral technique was
constituents of seawater as a controlled calcium
not exactly a new idea for him, but the applica-
carbonate cement. The Great Barrier Reef along
tion seemed a good fit. He knew that during the
Australia’s northeastern coast, for example, is a
war in the Pacific, Allied crews had made good
huge wave-resistant collection of these colonies,
use of the cementing action of ground corals
built on the 10,000-year-old ruins of their an-
in building island roads and airstrips. Some of
cestors’ exoskeletons. Charles Darwin’s theory
those airstrips are still in use today. Constantz
of reef and atoll formation, which preceded the
thought he could harness this capacity more
Theory of Evolution and also stemmed from the
directly by what he had learned of the detailed
Voyage of the Beagle, still remains the domin-
chemistry of coral biomineralization, for he had
ant explanation for these massive structures,
made a key discovery: the Golgi bodies within
the largest biological structures on Earth.
the polyps’ cells were forming seed crystals that
Each coral polyp within the colony will secrete could be used to reproduce the calcium carbon-
an external skeleton of calcium carbonate in the ate cement structures of any specific coral spe-
form of the mineral aragonite from the calico- cies artificially in a test tube. It was then that he
blastic ectodermis of its lower body to form a had a vision of seeding these crystals to initiate
partitioned cup around the living creature. The mineral formation in the form of a cement. Later
cup is made up of upwardly radiating fiber bun- he would see it as a method to hold an osteo-
dles intergrown below the soft tissue. Both the porotic fracture while it healed and the patient
hard mineral skeleton and the soft gastrovascu- was loading it, or even prevent such a fracture
lar tissue of these corals will be joined, so that with a preventative injection of the mineralizing
when the colony feeds at night by waving its medium he’d invented.
tentacles in the water, everyone eats.
Page 12 of 148
ing minerals represent over
50% of these, with calcium
carbonates being the most
abundant and widespread.
Phosphates make up a fur-
ther 25%. In all cases the
concentration of minerals
is affecting the morphology
of the organism and likely
serving a successful func-
tion, typically in mechanical
support, defense or feeding.
For example, the spicules on
an echinoderm like the sea
star. Some functional struc-
tures are quite specialized,
such as the concentration of
minerals used as magnetic
sensors in some magneto-
tactic bacteria.
This biogenic process is hap-

pening primarily at the cellu-
lar level. The methods used
to make these minerals can
be grouped into two main
types based on the degree
of control by the organism.
The two types are biologic-
ally induced mineralization
and biologically controlled
mineralization. In the first,
the organism induces the
manufacture of crystalline
material, but does not con-
trol the type or location. In
the second, the organism
does control these aspects
Scanning Electronic micrography of deproteinized trabecular bone -

[100x magnification]
Photo: Sbertazzo, 2012 | Wikimedia Commons

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When the National Science Foundation grant bonate and a sodium phosphate solution into a
which had funded his PhD research dried up, he damaged bone created a clinically effective ce-
gained a postdoc position at the U.S. Geological ment, allowing patients at Massachusetts Gen-
Survey with Dr. James O’Neil, a pioneer in carbon eral Hospital to load their fracture earlier.
dioxide-water interactions, and founded his first
The new method was successful for initial bone
company, Norian, in 1987. The name Norian it-
repair, and was revolutionary as a load-bear-
self suggests the interdisciplinary nature of the
ing scaffold for new bone growth. Since bone
inventor and his idea. It is the name of a div-
growth and remodeling is regulated by mech-
ision of the upper Triassic geologic period distin-
anical stress, the new implant’s ability to trans-
guished by the presence of ammonites, ancient
mit mechanical stress from the surrounding
invertebrates with beautiful spiral shells. Stony
bone facilitated its incorporation into the pa-
coral reefs appeared in the mid Triassic and built
tient’s normal skeleton during fracture healing.
reefs in a circumglobal seaway due to a different
The material formed as the cement was dahl-
configuration of the continents.
lite. Dahllite is another name for carbonated
hydroxyapatite, the most abundantly produced
phosphate mineral in the natural world and is
The Results
present in vertebrate bones and teeth, as well as
The company’s initial goal was to make anal- in the shells of inarticulate brachiopods. It mim-
ogs of seed crystals in order to form synthetic icked the lattice disorder and impurities found in
bone in situ as a standard orthopedic proced- the mineral phase of natural bone and, most im-
ure for fracture fixation, especially osteopor- portantly, the solubility of the natural material.
otic fractures where the quality of the broken This allowed the body’s remodeling cells, osteo-
bone was compromised. If orthopedic surgeons clasts, to tunnel through the material using car-
could use the mineralizing cement to stabilize a bonic acid, followed by other bone forming cells,
reduced fracture and allow early loading, then osteoblasts, to spread its capillaries and reform
they could avoid the prolonged postoperative Haversian systems within the cement implant,
immobilization typically occuring after margin- thus making the material alive with nutrients
ally successful, risky, painful and invasive pro- and cells. In effect, the injected calcium phos-
cedures like rigid internal fixation with exces- phate formed a composite with new natural
sive metallic hardware. By 1995 the Norian team bone. The injected paste hardened quickly and
had performed animal and human trials of the gained strength from the crystallization of the
procedure, and published “Skeletal Repair by in carbonated apatite contained. As this dahllite
Situ Formation of the Mineral Phase of Bone” in crystallized more and more, the compressive
the American Association for the Advancement strength of the material increased, eventually
of Science’s journal, Science. It was the most achieving a final strength of around 55 Mega-
cited journal article in Science that year and it Pascals (MPa), with a tensile strength of over 2
showed how injecting a paste of monocalcium
phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, calcium car-
Page 14 of 148
of nucleation, growth, mor-
phology and location, usu-
ally quite precisely. Humans
perform this when they
form teeth and bones, as do
mollusks and the scleractin-
ian corals studied by Const-
antz.
In general, cells form the

minerals within and then
transport them through the
cell to an outer surface. The
transport methods may be
passive diffusion through a
membrane, active pumping
or secretion with or with-
out some containment ves-
sel. Where the mineral ends
up can also vary; it can be
on the outer surface of the
same cell, on another cell or
group of cells. It may finally
reside on an intricate matrix
of proteins, polysaccharides
or glycoproteins that have
been secreted by epithelial
tissue. The structures and
compositions of these or-
ganic frameworks are gen-
etically programmed to per-
form essential regulating
and/or organizing functions
that will result in the forma-
tion of composite biomin-
erals, like you would see in
Osteoclast in cell culture

Photo: Cellpath, 2007 | Wikimedia Commons

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MegaPascals (MPa). This was better than cancel- His first company, Norian, was acquired by
lous bone in compressive strength and compar- Synthes of Davos, Switzerland in 1998, which
able in tensile strength. divested itself of the company by court order
to Kensey Nash Corporation in 2011. The two
Constantz is quick to cite the critical participa-
companies have a long-term supply agreement
tion of Professor Dennis Cater, a biomechanical
whereby Kensey Nash will manufacture the
engineer at Stanford, and Dr. Harry Skinner of
Norian products, and Synthes will exclusively
the University of California, San Francisco, start-
distribute the products worldwide. Its product
ing in 2006, and in the early stages of introduc-
is called the Norian Skeletal Repair System (SRS).
tion and adoption. Dr. Skinner was a reconstruct-
ive orthopedic surgeon and had been trained in
ceramics so was familiar with the germane ma-
The Problem (#2)
terial properties. He was also the Chairman of
the surgical device panel of the American Col- In 2002, Constantz and members of the former
lege of Surgeons and was a professor in the de- Norian team continued to make refinements to
partment of orthopedic surgery at UCSF from the initial product, and his cross-disciplinary ca-
1978 until 1994 and UC Irvine from 1994 to 2007. pabilities again proved useful in solving a contra-
diction. They wanted to make the cement more
Spreading the use of this method still had its
injectable (less viscous), but diluting it would
challenges since, as Constantz has put it, “the
compromise its setting time and weaken its
product is being manufactured by the client”. He
strength.
recalled one panicked call from Sweden in which
an 88-year-old woman had been on the oper-
ating table for four hours and the cement had
The Inspiration
not set after they had applied it. “I explained to
them how critical body temperature was to the A marine geological feature called the coastal
setting, and, of course, this had been comprom- anoxic ooze became an inspiration for the an-
ised after such a long time in a tourniquet.” swer. Within its sedimentitious layer was an ex-
tremely slippery material that then set very very
“To introduce our bone cement, we set up train-
hard. This mineral material is made up of cal-
ing seminars for doctors, but we also did studies
cium/phosphate minerals and silica.
comparing the outcomes of patients who had
had the traditional metal screw implant versus
our synthetic bone cement. We didn’t just look
The Idea
at recovery time, but looked at cost to the pa-
tient in time, money and opportunity. Our new In the marine phenomenon, calcium/phosphate
method sometimes made the difference be- minerals combined with silica in a composite
tween someone returning to his old job, or keep- matrix to cause the famously slippery effect.
ing her mobility in old age. We called our metrics
According to Constantz, he typically starts with
‘The New Standards of Care.”
a problem and then labors to make a natur-
Page 16 of 148
the nacre of mollusks. There
are a great variety of tech-
niques.
Biomineralization is of great
interest because of the les-
sons it can impart about
material strength and dur-
ability, ease of manufac-
ture, and self-organization.
For example, the compos-
ite construction of mollusk
shell has 3,000 times the
fracture toughness of its pri-
mary constituent (95-99%
by weight) calcium carbon-
ate. Natural organisms can
form these minerals rela-
tively cheaply, in an aque-
ous environment, free of
high pressure, heat or toxic
substances. Finally, many of
the techniques of nuclea-
tion and precipitation have
potential applications in
manufacturing at the nano-
scale.
Spiny sea shell mollusk

Photo: enjoiskate8, 2012 | Flickr cc

Scuba Diving the Great Barrier Reef with “Crush” | Photo: University of Denver, 2008 | Flickr cc
Page 18 of 148
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al solution that will work, rather than seeking gions of compromised cancellous bone resulting
applications for an observed phenomenon. He from trauma fractures. Cancellous (or spongy)
believes, “…true innovations do not come as a bone occurs at the ends of long bones beneath
result of changing higher applications, but by joint surfaces, such as at the wrist, hip and knee.
developing fundamental processes.” SKaffold can be either injected during surgery
or applied by hand to voids in bone and sets in
He credits his training under Jim Valentine, an
a matter of minutes and cures in 72 hours. It
evolutionist at the University of California Santa
can be drilled soon after setting. Like the first
Barbara, for his approach. “More evolutionary
generation of cement, its performance is very
training is needed for designers and inventors;
much time and temperature dependent, while
it’s here where you see what has worked and
it has improved tensile strength and handleabil-
why.”
ity. The material is, of course, biocompatible and
He also believes that cross-training is essen- remodels via cell-mediated processes in a mech-
tial to performing innovative work. Referring to anical stress-directed fashion.
the initial bone cement, “We found that many
In August 2006, Skeletal Kinetics became part
surgeons and other medical personnel did not
of the worldwide medical group of Colson Asso-
understand how to solve some of these prob-
ciates, Inc. Skeletal Kinetics maintains its head-
lems because they were not used to looking at
quarters, R&D and manufacturing facility in Cu-
a structure from an evolutionary (and therefore
pertino, California (http://skeletalkinetics.com).
functional) perspective. For example, radiolo-
Dr. Duran Yetkinler, its president, said that SKaf-
gists who were using our bone cement started
fold has seen steadily growing use in specialized
to inject barium into it in order to track it and
orthopedic surgery cases over the last 10 years.
this was upsetting its performance; others
would poke the cement to see if it had set, a
natural thing to do, but this would weaken the
The Problem (#3)
ultimate structure. Until we could train them
further, there wasn’t this awareness of materi- Upon selling Norian in 1998, Constantz returned
al functionality.” to Stanford to teach, and within four days had
formed a new company, Corazon Technologies,
Inc. This time he teamed up with several Stan-
The Results ford colleagues among them Dr. Tom Fogarty,
the inventor of the embolectomy catheter. The
The team was able to integrate this chem-
company was formed to address the problem
istry into the formula for the cement, and this
of pathological calcification in the cardiovascu-
formed the basis for a new company, Skeletal
lar system. Here, there is a mineral buildup on
Kinetics. Skeletal Kinetics LLC, develops, manu-
the sides of the vascular vessel and this buildup
factures and markets SKaffold, a proprietary cal-
reduces the normal flow of blood. In advanced
cium phosphate bone void filler and autograft
cases this can lead to heart attacks, or in the case
extender. The product is designed for use in re-
of diabetics, the loss of legs.
Page 20 of 148
Light micrograph of cancellous bone showing its bony trabeculae (pink) and marrow tissue (grey).
Photo: Department of Histology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 2006 | Wikimedia Commons

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Coral Rocks
Photo: Joe Shlabotnik, 2007 | Flickr cc
Page 22 of 148
The Idea the Cordis Corporation (http://www.cordis.com,
a Johnson and Johnson company) which is con-
Three pieces of information were key to this
tinuing to evaluate the procedure.
next breakthrough idea: first, from his work de-
veloping the bone cement, Constantz had learn-
ed about the body’s own dissolution of minerals
Some Common Elements for Product Development
in order to recycle and reform new structures. It
typically uses a mild acid (carbonic acid) to dis- The development of these products shared sev-
solve the mineral phase of bone. Second, he then eral common threads:
learned that the mineral phase of bone was an
First, the conceptual ideas were based on a de-
exact match chemically to the calcium collecting
tailed knowledge of the process of biomineraliz-
on blood vessels and causing the medical prob-
ation. This knowledge was the result of intensive
lems. Third, he learned that vascular material,
and primary study of one particular organism,
such as forms the linings of blood vessels, was
corals, but general conclusions were also in-
insoluble in acid. He reasoned, therefore, that
duced.
the same treatment that the body used to rid
itself of excess minerals in bone could be used Second, this study had been, from the first, inter-
to rid itself of calcification in its vascular vessels disciplinary in scope and awareness because the
without harming the vessels themselves. study of biomineralization requires it. Subse-
quent product development followed that trad-
ition.
The Results
Third, the translation of natural processes to
Corazon Technologies, Inc., was incorporated in technical applications did not jump scales to any
1999, with Constantz serving as President and great degree, but focused on the mimicking of
CEO. The company was able to develop a pro- molecular chemistry within new environments
cess in which mild acid is injected into vascular containing the thermodynamic forces necessary
vessels in order to dissolve and flush out the of- for the biomineralization to take place.
fending calcification.
Fourth, great care was taken to ensure that the
Corazon Technologies, Inc. operated as a med- mimicked process was able to fit the new en-
ical device company offering devices to remove vironment. This included further manipulation
calcification in coronary and peripheral arter- of the basic chemical process, study of reactions
ies, kidney and urethral stones, covered surgical and rigorous testing of results.
and percutaneous aortic heart valves repair, and
preparation treatment for percutaneous valve
replacement. The vascular decalcification pro-
cedure offered an alternate to risky and pain-
ful bypass operations and traumatic amputa-
tions. Corazon Technologies was acquired by

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Brent Constantz has gone on to found three

more companies since his development of these
biomedical innovations: the Calera Corporation,
a carbon capture and cement manufacturing
company; DeepWater Desal, LLC (http://www.
deepwaterdesal.com/), a deepwater desalina-
tion company; and Blue Planet, a second gener-
ation biomimetic carbon capture company that
converts carbon dioxide into cement and other
building materials. Like his previous work, these
organizations have been based on a fundamen-
tal knowledge of both biological and geological
phenomena, and a clever awareness of how that
might be made useful. ⊗
Page 24 of 148
Salt mounds in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Photo: Luca Galuzzi (www.galuzzi.it), 2006 | Wikipedia Commons

Saguaro skeleton
Photo: cunningba, 2009 | Flickr cc
Page 26 of 148
The Science
of Seeing
Jewels of the Desert
Adelheid Fischer

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fall 2013 The Science of Seeing Author:
Jewels of the Desert Adelheid Fischer
Jewels of the Desert

Careful observation is vital to successful out- a hushed, humidity-controlled room that is lined
comes in biomimicry. It is so essential that fu- floor to ceiling with small drawers. They contain
ture biomimetic enterprises will either succeed more than 30,000 extraterrestrial rock speci-
or fail depending upon the attention that we mens that have hurtled to Earth from places as
bring to them: individually as scientists, educa- far away as the asteroid belt. An expert in elec-
tors and practitioners and collectively in our or- tron microscopy, Garvie peers into their mineral
ganizations and institutions. As Frederick Franck structures for clues to the formation of the Solar
points out in his book The Zen of Seeing, there’s System.
looking and then there’s seeing. It’s good to know
Garvie is as perfectly at ease in the desert heat
the difference. “We do a lot of looking: we look
as he is in cool, dim recesses of his ASU lab. In
through lenses, telescopes, television tubes,” he
his spare time, the self-described desert rat can
writes. “Our looking is perfected every day—but
be found roaming the remote reaches of the
we see less and less. Never has it been more ur-
Sonoran Desert—but not, as you might suspect,
gent to speak of seeing.”
with his nose to the ground in search of meteor-
Welcome to the third in a series of essays entitled ites. He studies the structure of cactus spines
“The Science of Seeing.” or listens to beetles rasping the woody hollows
of a dead palo verde tree or picks through the
charred remains of a mesquite after a rare wild-
• fire. These are the kinds of goings-on in the de-
sert that most people pass again and again with
hardly a glance. For Garvie, however, they are
Laurence Garvie makes a left turn off a dirt road, every bit as intriguing as the mysterious mineral
crosses a line of railroad tracks and pulls over debris that rains down from outer space.
into a makeshift clearing in Saguaro Nation-
“Look at that spider,” he points out as we trudge
al Monument. I reach instinctively for my hat,
down a wash to the shade of a mesquite tree for
water bottle and sunglasses as we step out of
lunch. “We haven’t had rain in two months. How
his truck, blinking in the desert’s hard white light
does it survive?”
one late morning in June. Although the site is
less than two hours south of his office on the To accompany Garvie on a walk in the desert is
Tempe campus of Arizona State University, Garv- to witness what it means to care about a place,
ie may as well be on another planet. As curator as defined by the deep meaning of the word’s
of the Center for Meteorite Studies at ASU, the Old English root, cearu, which means to guard or
world’s largest university-based meteorite col- watch, “to trouble oneself.” Simply paying atten-
lection, he spends most of his working hours in tion to the particulars of the world and taking
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Saguaro dusty sunset | Photo courtesy of Laurence Garvie, 2013

Downed saguaro | Photo courtesy of Laurence Garvie, 2013
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Saguaro ribs pumice | Photo courtesy of Laurence Garvie, 2013

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the trouble to find out more about them have Yet saguaros are as important to desert wildlife
led Garvie to a whole grab bag of discoveries, in death as they are in life. The towering cac-
many of which are new to science. On one de- tuses are like gigantic sponges, their internal
sert outing in 1998, for example, he came across tissues saturated with up to 90 percent water.
a small prehistoric potsherd covered by several When they are toppled, they become an “organ-
different kinds of lichens. He took the specimen ic moist soup that’s teeming with life,” he ob-
to his ASU colleagues, lichenologists Tom Nash serves, adding that in the immediate aftermath
and Matthias Schultz, who determined that one of death, “the whole thing is moving, heaving
of them was the first known occurrence of that with bugs, worms, and all sorts of microorgan-
particular species in the U.S. On another trip, isms. It’s quite exciting.”
Garvie pocketed a sample of a large and lumpy
Scientists at the University of Arizona have con-
black lichen that he discovered growing on an
ducted extensive postmortems of freshly top-
outcrop of limestone, a type of rock that is not
pled saguaros. In one cubic foot of a rotting sa-
commonly exposed in the Sonoran Desert. Nash
guaro, they catalogued 413 arthropods including
and Schultz declared it to be a whole new spe-
beetles in both adult and larval stages, larval
cies. A few years ago Garvie published a paper
flies, pseudoscorpions, and mites. Some of them
in a botanical journal, becoming the first to de-
occur only in dead saguaros.
scribe how, as saguaros age, the structure of
their spine clusters changes dramatically, from But when Garvie tore off a chunk of the rotting
formidable, downward-facing spikes when the cactus, the mineralogist found more than bio-
cactuses are small to a more starburst-like pat- logical treasures. “It was almost like a geode,” he
tern in their later years. “It’s not some great sci-
explains. “The insides sparkled in the sun from
entific discovery,” he observes. “For me, it was all the new crystals that had formed.” But even
just a little puzzle that I’d seen for years.” more startling discoveries awaited Garvie when
he took the glassy jewels back to his lab. The re-
Arguably some of Garvie’s most exciting desert
sults were confounding. “I looked at my data
adventures have led him to explore the afterlife
and said, What on earth is this?” he recalls. His
of saguaros, the towering sentinels of the de-
finds included rare, magnesium-bearing crystals
sert that can grow to 60 feet or more and reach
with such exotic sounding names as lansford-
grand old ages of 200 years. As they near the
ite, glushinskite and nesquehonite (which has
end of their lives, these desert elders commonly
been located in mines and caves and is a com-
are felled by a systemic disease in which fungi
mon weathering product of Antarctic meteor-
and bacteria attack the plant’s moist inner tis-
ites). Others rarely occurred in deserts. At least
sues. A telltale sign of infection is the weeping
half a dozen additional crystals, he observes,
of a ripe-smelling black liquid from openings in
were new to science.
the saguaro’s skin. Once the disease spreads, the
plant turns into what Garvie calls a “fetid bag of These exotic crystals, however, form only when
goo” that can be easily downed by a strong wind. the saguaro’s putrefying pockets are moist,
quickly disintegrating as conditions dry out.
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Glushinskite
Photo courtesy of Laurence Garvie, 2013

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Calcium oxalate in saguaro

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Other minerals—with equally strange and fas- When it comes to the rare, Soviet-era-sounding
cinating life stories—linger long after the plant’s minerals that Garvie discovered in the hot rot
tissues have disappeared. As a newcomer to the of saguaro flesh, well, it’s unlikely that compan-
Sonoran Desert in the 1990s, Garvie noticed ies will be filing mining claims any time soon.
chunks of a bone-colored material, as light and On the other hand, studying the transformation
porous as pumice, heaped around the exposed of calcium oxalate crystals into hydrated cal-
wooden ribs of saguaro skeleton, the last of the cium carbonate may offer some interesting bio-
plant’s remains to decompose. “I remember col- mimetic insights. For example, scientists have
lecting a piece after a year or so. It sat on my desk studied the potential of forests to sop up the
for another year. One day I had a few minutes excess carbon in the atmosphere that leads to
and I subjected it to powder X-ray diffraction global warming. But these same trees release
[a method geologists use to identify minerals],” the stored carbon as carbon dioxide when they
Garvie recalls. Much to his surprise, the material decompose. Saguaros and other cactuses, on the
was monohydrocalcite (also known as hydrat- other hand, also take up CO2 during their life-
ed calcium carbonate). The last place Garvie ex- times but, as Garvie has shown, after they die,
pected to find this relatively rare mineral was on microbial helpers transform the carbon calcium
the surface of one of the hottest deserts in the oxalates into a stable, inert minerals that can’t
world. Just what was it doing here? easily escape back into the atmosphere. Could
mimicking this microbial process suggest an-
Garvie launched a deep dive into the scientific
other pathway for creating calcium carbonate
literature and reconstructed the sequence by
for use in cement, an energy-intensive building
which this material came to rest in the desert.
materials? “It started with a scientific curiosity,
As it turns out, saguaros take up calcium—and
and it’s leading to some interesting research,”
lots of it—in groundwater. Excess calcium can
Garvie says. “We really don’t know where this
be toxic so saguaros, like many other plants,
research is going to go. Is it just fun research or
safely sequester the mineral in their tissues in
is there a bigger story that will come out of it?”
the form of insoluble calcium oxalate crystals.
After most of the saguaro tissue has rotted away,
these oxalate crystals remain as a kind of sand-
•
like material. Even the calcium oxalates, how-
ever, don’t last forever. In time, a specialized
group of bacteria, known as oxalotrophic bac-
A postscript.
teria, which feed exclusively on oxalate crystals,
begin to break them down. The final product? This kind of scuff-your-boots, curiosity-driven
Chunks of monohydrocalcite, like the kind that research has resulted in a number of designs
launched Garvie’s inquiry. Over time, the desert that now figure prominently on the list of bio-
heat further transforms these chunks into cal- mimicry’s Top 10 greatest hits. The Swiss en-
cite, a stable mineral that becomes mixed into gineer, Georges de Mestral, for example, stum-
the local soils. bled (perhaps literally) across the idea of Velcro
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while walking his dog in the woods and wonder- microscopes, are off limits to researchers unless
ing if the pesky burrs that hitchhiked a ride on they have the grant money to use them. “Every
his socks or became tangled his dog’s fur could bit of analysis now requires money,” he observes.
serve as a model for a new kind of attachment
In this regard, universities could do well to fol-
design.
low the example of major companies, includ-
These days, however, scientists can find them- ing 3M, Hewlett-Packard and Google, that have
selves in a research Catch 22 that prevents the recognized the value of encouraging their em-
kind of free-form exploration which leads to ployees to tinker, pursue hunches, to explore the
startlingly original insights. This is an approach great wide open, wherever it leads them, out-
to discovery that the Spanish philosopher Jose side the boundaries of their committed areas
Ortega y Gasset describes as “an attention that of expertise--and on company time and in com-
does not consist in riveting itself to the pre- pany laboratories. Early on in its history, Goo-
sumed but consists of precisely in not presuming gle instituted a practice known as Innovation
anything and avoiding inattentiveness.” Perhaps Time Off which required its engineers to devote
too many scientists in academia are pursuing one hour to their own pet project for every four
money to support their labs rather than chas- hours spent on an official company assignment.
ing their curiosity in the field. Trapped on the re- The idea was copycatted from a similar longtime
search-funding treadmill, they log long hours at program at 3M known as the “15 percent rule,”
their computer screens churning out more and through which 3M employee Art Fry most fam-
more grant proposal pages about an ever-nar- ously invented one of the company’s most lucra-
rowing circle of expertise. It’s a trend that wor- tive products: Post-It Notes.
ries Ahmed Zewail, the 1999 Nobel laureate in
Government agencies too could adopt practi-
chemistry, who decried the thwarting of curios-
ces to encourage more curiosity-driven research.
ity-driven research and warned that “to distract
Garvie suggests that grantors such as NASA di-
faculty members with the writing of extensive
versify their long-term, big-buck funding port-
and numerous proposals or to turn them into
folios with short-term, sudden-opportunity
managers is the beginning of the end. The mod-
grants that would award more modest sums of
ern enterprise of science has become so bloat-
money to researchers with errant but interest-
ed and complex that the traditional models of
ing ideas.
funding must be re-examined.”
After all, he says, there is no shortage of fascin-
Yet, as Garvie points out, “If you’re someone who
ating leads to pursue in the world. “When I’m
doesn’t get a lot of grants, you’re stuck. You can
out in the Sonoran Desert,” Garvie points out,
do nothing.” Field observations may be free for
“I’m always aware of the fact that there are prob-
the looking yet the follow-up research can be ex-
ably all kinds of weird and wonderful things
pensive. For example, the use of diffractometry
that I’m not recognizing. When I walk back to
to identify a crystal can cost hundreds of dollars
my car after each visit, I ask myself, What else
per sample. Even if it’s sitting idle in a university
can I see that’s interesting or that I don’t know
lab, sophisticated equipment, such as electron
Page 38 of 148
about? I have found that the desert out there is
just bursting with research opportunities. Every
time I go out there I find something new.” ⊗
Saguaro

Painted Clouds | Montana
Photo: 5oulscape, 2012 | Flickr cc
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Special feature
Janine Benyus in
conversation with
Megan Schuknecht
“Looking back,
looking forward”

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fall 2013 Special feature Authors:
“Looking back, looking Janine Benyus and Megan
forward” Schuknecht
A Conversation with Janine Benyus, auth-

or of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by
Nature, and co-founder of Biomimicry 3.8
MS for ZQ: Regarding how one goes about the The areas of inquiry are also expanding. Every
business and process of bio-inspired design, with- year that goes by, another application comes
in the last ten years how has the field of biomim- towards us. People want to apply nature’s intel-
icry changed, in your opinion. In other words, ligence to finance, business, organizational de-
discuss any changes in the science, level of col- velopment, national security, and health as well
laboration, rate of development, climate for in- as engineering, design, and architecture. A covey
vesting, etc. of new books are coming out, like Rafe Sagarin’s
Learning from the Octopus: How Secrets from
JB: The biggest changes are in where, why, and
Nature Can Help Us Fight Terrorist Attacks, Nat-
how biomimicry is happening. When I wrote
ural Disasters, and Disease. I love titles like The
the book, biomimicry existed primarily in aca-
Nature of Business, The Shark’s Paintbrush, Dar-
demia, with funding from defense, space, and
winian Agriculture, the upcoming Nature of In-
a few governmental agencies like energy. While
vesting, and Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach
research in academia still thrives, biomimicry as
Us about Health and the Science of Healing. Find
a design methodology has moved to corporate
a human endeavor, and biomimicry is starting
innovation departments and independent de-
to weigh in.
sign and architecture studios. Today, the practi-
tioners who make our world are more likely than There are great statistics showing the blooming
ever to ask “How would nature solve this chal- of biomimicry. The number of research papers is
lenge?” and they have more access to tools like doubling every 2-3 years, against a background
AskNature. Thanks to the Internet and person- rate of other scientific papers doubling every 13
al (3D) manufacturing, everyone is a potential years. Biomimetic products are doubling annu-
inventor, a potential maker. I think this genera- ally. You’re starting to see financial projections
tion’s sustainability breakthroughs are going to about the impact of biomimicry, such as stud-
start in garages, with a window looking out to ies done by Point Loma Nazarene University [The
the natural world! Economic Impact of Biomimicry], producers of
the Da Vinci Index. The fact that biomimicry is
winning awards like the Smithsonian National
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Octopus marginatus hiding between two shells
Photo: Nick Hobgood, 2006 | Wikimedia Commons

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Design Mind award and landing on the pages of guidelines] in scoping, creating and evaluat-
Forbes and the Harvard Business Review shows ing designs. We’re not just looking to emulate a
its growing acceptance. Investors are starting to particular technology but also looking at overall
see biomimetic products as good investments, best practices in the natural world as a model. In
simply because they are biomimetic. Usual- the past, nature’s code of conduct was not con-
ly investments are grouped by product or sec- sulted as much as nature’s technical blueprints
tor – water purification, energy, etc. – but here and recipes. I think that’s a big change in the
you have people investing in an innovation ap- discipline since when I (first) wrote about it.
proach. This may be the world’s first investment
category based not on what you make but on
where you looked for inspiration. MS for ZQ: What are the major scientific, cultural,
and environmental trends that you see shaping
Another big part of the story is that we are go-
our world to come and how will they affect the
ing global. We are seeing people who have
way that we practice bio-inspired design?
been trained in biomimicry beginning regional
networks in Austin, Portland, NYC, San Francis- JB: Scientifically, we’re beginning to understand
co, the Netherlands, China, Japan, South Africa, a little better how nature works, how life has
and more. This is exactly what nature would do – managed to perform its miracles all these years.
build a network of nodes that localize biomimic- And that’s simply because we have better instru-
ry, but stay connected in a way that allows them mentation, better IT tools to do modeling and
to share genes, or memes in this case. So we’ve analysis, and more scientists – look at China! –
become a network of networks, localizing bio- joining the conversation. Every year that goes by,
mimicry globally. we’re seeing through the glass a little less darkly.
Also, you now don’t have to wait to be a prac- Culturally, I think that we’re able to transmit that
titioner to do biomimicry. Students are begin- knowledge to each other like never before, so
ning to think with a biomimicry lens during what we know spreads and snowballs. The en-
their schooling. That was just not happening abling technologies to emulate nature are really
when I wrote the book. You had academics do- improving as well. We now have, for instance,
ing things like studying mussel glue and trying additive manufacturing (3D printing) instead of
to figure out how to emulate it. But you did not subtractive manufacturing – that’s a huge en-
have undergraduates in the design, engineering, abling technology that allows us to do what na-
architecture, or business schools trying out the ture does, which is build to shape. Self-assembly
biomimicry methodology as part of their educa- research may lead to printers that manufac-
tional curricula. Who knows what could emerge ture without heat, beat, and treat. Some of the
from that? things I talked about in the book, the enabling
technologies, are starting to come to fruition.
Finally, I believe biomimicry has been deepened
by a sustainability code of ethics and by the use As far as the environment, I think there’s an
of “Life’s Principles” [Biomimicry 3.8’s design understanding that no institution is going to
Page 44 of 148
be able to fully opt out of being a good environ- ley, and even here, most of our restaurants tout
mental citizen. More and more companies, as locally grown food. We have farmer’s markets in
Amy Larkin has documented so well in her book every tiny town, and produce stands between
Environmental Debt, are beginning to create the towns, fresh sweet corn on your way home!
metrics that show their true impact and depend- Cutting the miles from farm to fork happened
ence on natural capital. They’re doing it as an in- relatively quickly, and I think it’s the signal of our
ternal accounting exercise because they realize society turning a corner.
that the resources they need are not guaranteed.
Now we have to say, what would it look like to
We are reaching peak everything, whether it’s
replicate the local food movement with other ac-
peak oil, peak soil, peak water, peak clean air. I
tivities? How about manufacturing? I honestly
think there’s a grudging consensus that we’re
think the next insanely great-distributed thing
starting to strain against the earth’s limits, and
is going to be local manufacturing. Manufactur-
in many cases, we have overshot. We are living
ing in your watershed. Things like commercial-
in a sea of unintended consequences, emergen-
scale 3-D printing will allow for neighborhood
cies of our own making. Companies realize that
manufacturing and retail on-demand printing.
we need radical innovation to squeeze through
At Famous Footwear, you’ll walk in, and instead
this evolutionary bottleneck, and this time, we
of 5000 boxes of shoes in a warehouse, you’ll
had better get that innovation right. So there’s
see 15 printers. Designs will crisscross the globe
a receptivity to biomimicry because we realize
instead of products. And you’ll be proud to say it
that we can’t take the risk of making it up as we
was manufactured not just in your country, but
go along anymore. We need a vision of a world
in your city or neighborhood. We’ll talk about lo-
that works and a practical way to get there. A
cal products in the same way that we talk about
friend of mine sat next to a guy on a plane who
local food – with pride.
was reading Biomimicry. She asked why and he
said his boss was requiring him to read it. “I’m I think biomimicry has a major part to play in
out of new ideas,” the guy said, “and evidently this new story of stuff. If manufacturing is com-
nature doesn’t have that problem.” ing back home, we have to make sure that it is lo-
cal, safe, and cyclical from the start. We have to
The other thing that is happening culturally is
source the printer feedstock locally, we have to
the move to localizing and to what I would call
make sure the printer chemistry is safe, and we
“distributed everything”. We’ve watched energy
have to make sure the material is unzippable at
generation move from being very centralized,
the end of its life so it goes to the printer rather
and now more and more people are investing
than the landfill. Life builds its incredible divers-
in neighborhood- or building-scale energy. The
ity with a handful of natural polymers. It adds
next step is how can our buildings do distrib-
design to the simplest materials to grant per-
uted water harvesting, and even local water
formance such as strength, abrasion resistance,
treatment. If you want to see a distributed suc-
elasticity, etc. Take a beetle’s exoskeleton, for in-
cess, look at how quickly the local and urban
stance. It’s a simple chitin composite, laid up in
food movement has risen! I live in a rural val-
a plywood hatch to give it strength, structured

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with pores to give it breathability, etc. Struc- What if the engineer who built the kingfisher-
ture is something we can direct with a digital beak train in Japan had been able to go to Ask-
build file to the printer. So the goal of 3D print- Nature, download someone’s scanned-in 3D
ing should be a small pallet of locally-procured, model of the beak, place it on the train body, and
waste-sourced materials, enhanced through bio- test it immediately, in silico?
inspired internal structure, and then unzipped at
I think that’s where we need to go. We need to
end of their life to be upcycled. Nature gives us
collect life’s best ideas, as we do on AskNature,
existence proof that this kind of circular econ-
but then analyze the diversity to find the unify-
omy is possible.
ing patterns, the design principles, and embed
these into actionable tools – algorithms and 3D
models – accessible from the digital CAD/CAM
MS for ZQ: What are the three most important
tools that designers use every day. That’s how
tools that bio-inspired designers and problem
we’ll make biomimicry ubiquitous, creating
solvers should have at their fingertips within the
beauty while using far fewer toxins, materials,
next five years? Why are they important? To what
and energy.
level have they been developed today?
Imagine if, while designing a roofing system, an
JB: That’s a great question.
architect wanted a truss based on nature’s ap-
1) “Life’s Principles” More of us need to work on proach to managing compressive forces. Today,
getting a really thorough and nuanced under- that architect would have to read the biologic-
standing of “Life’s Principles,” digging into the al papers, discern a general principle, and then
science behind each one, and creating lists of work with an engineer to build the truss. What
examples to give people a start in how to apply if, instead, that architect could simply download
them. Imagine an app that walks you through a biomimetic 3D truss from an AskNature app
the design process, using “Life’s Principles” in and import it into the digital design? While lay-
scoping, creating, and evaluating. We would ing out the HVAC system, he or she could run a
love to see something like that built for Ask- branching algorithm to generate a fluid distribu-
Nature. tion system that keeps frictional losses to a min-
imum. Framing designs could be lightweighted
2) AskNature.org and its apps! We are in the pro-
with the use of bone-inspired software. A gen-
cess of building AskNature 2.0 with an open API,
etic algorithm could optimize the entire design
which will give people the ability to write apps
via natural selection protocols, all within the
on top of the data in AskNature. Imagine an app
same program.
that allows you to take a picture of something
in the natural world, and then AskNature data Different disciplines will have different down-
pops up. Imagine an app that allows people to loads. If you’re looking for nature’s intelligence
upload 3D models of natural objects that they about leadership, you’ll want to download an
scan with handheld cameras (scan jams in all exercise, a PowerPoint, or an assessment tool
the natural history museums around the world!). based on “How does nature cooperate?” If
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Cholla cactus skeleton
Photo: j.arsenault, 2007 | Flickr cc

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you’re a chemist, it will be the download of a designs. Learn/ideate/create. That’s what we’re
biomimetic synthesis as an alternative to an in- planning for. You’ll go from being inspired by a
dustrial one. If you’re a developer or a city plan- cool biological phenomenon to creating your
ner, you’ll want to access geo-coded or place- own designs using a downloadable tool. I can’t
based intelligence. At Biomimicry 3.8, we have wait.
a Genius of Place process that describes the eco-
3) The third tool, I would have to say, is a way to
logical realities of a place, catalogues the way
continually learn from nature. We want to build
organisms meet their functional needs, and
a Biological Intelligence Service, a Lexus-Nexus
then creates a set of metrics called Ecological
that brings scientific updates to you easily, or-
Performance Standards. EPS metrics challenge
ganized by your industry, your interests, even
cities to produce the same level of ecosystem
your local biome. The science is changing so
services as the native wildland of that region.
quickly, we can’t let our understanding of how
It gives developers or city managers an annual
nature works stagnate. I am very struck by a sim-
goal – amount of water stored, air filtered, soil
ple ah-ha insight that many people helped me
built, diversity supported, carbon absorbed, etc.
see: biomimicry is not a set of knowledge that
It’s a measure of the generous city. We’d like to
you learn once. It’s not an educational down-
see this built into a GIS (Geographic Information
load. It’s not a degree on the wall. It’s a prac-
System) layer that cities can use to create coher-
tice. And a practice needs lifelong learning. So I
ent sustainability programs, and, on a building
think a great tool would be a way to continually
scale, we’d like it incorporated into BIM (Building
learn about the latest developments in your “25
Information Modeling) software.
top functions” – the new science behind how
Here’s what we believe: every inventor, any- nature operates, from the technical all the way
where in the world, should be able to learn from up to the systemic level. I would love it if that
nature’s wisdom at the moment of creation. kind of learning was available friction-free, in a
That’s the idea behind AskNature. As a biological sort of iTunes of learning modules, or a Lexus-
intelligence organization, our next big step is to Nexus subscription to biomimicry intelligence.
create downloadable tools that embed nature’s We should make it as fascinating to learn life’s
elegant and optimal solutions right inside your latest lessons as it is to read Zygote Quarterly!
Feather locking | W R Ogilvie Grant, 1921
Page 48 of 148
MS for ZQ: You have done a lot of consulting to that turned into Tactiles, which was a way of at-
corporations over the years. Can you tell us what taching the carpet tiles to each other via a coast-
you consider your most successful problem-solv- er-sized sticker at the intersection of four tiles,
ing accomplishment and why? What role did na- with a bit of releasable adhesive on both sides.
ture play in this success? What was the specific You connect the carpet tiles to each other, you
challenge and how did you solve it? Why did you lay them down, you create a broadloom, and,
solve it that way? voila, gravity holds it down.
JB: I thought one of the really creative projects, This was able to reduce their environmental im-
one that had a unexpected impact actually, was pact by 95% on all of their carpet tiles. It intro-
when Interface asked us to rid them of one of duced an entirely new way to install carpet tiles.
their main environmental hazards, which was
Interestingly, it also paved the way for a brand
gluing their carpet tiles down. There were work-
new market, because it made it possible for
er health issues and occupants had to vacate
homeowners to install their own tiles. Out of
the premises during installation because of the
that came the introduction of Flor, their residen-
volatiles. Plus, the glues completely interfered
tial area rug company. Now you can buy a box of
with their main sustainability value proposition,
carpet tiles and some Tactiles and create an area
which was to return the carpet tiles to the manu-
rug yourself. You can switch up the colors in your
facturer for recycling. They were glued down!
carpet every season or even for a party, and all
So we had this workshop in which we asked because they were attaching the carpet tiles to
“How does nature adhere?” And we were look- each other instead of gluing them to the floor.
ing at geckos, flies, all kinds of organisms that
I love that story because of the environmental
reversibly adhered. We realized that gravity
savings, but also because it shows how creativ-
played a starring role, especially when, for in-
ity can happen. This is the kind of brainstorm-
stance, the gecko was pushing its bristles down
ing where you don’t have to create a new thing,
into a surface to get the connection via van der
necessarily. I mean, Tactiles were new, but you
Waals forces. Anyway, we were talking about
didn’t have to change the carpet in any way. The
gravity, and at the next table they were talking
manufacturing process remained the same.
about “How does nature connect without fas-
teners?” They were working on a different prob- The biggest win at Interface by far has not been
lem. How do you get rid of things like zippers or the two products we’ve brought out, Entropy (I2)
other kinds of fasteners? And they were look- and Tactiles, but rather, the win is in how they
ing at bird feathers, and how the barbs and the think, in creating a company that strives to func-
barbules zip together as a self-healing structure. tion more like a forest than a machine. That’s a
The two groups overheard each other and some- long-lasting outcome, one that keeps on giving.
body stood up and said, “You know, if we con- I increasingly understand that “Life’s Principles”
nect the tiles to each other along the edges, like is as valuable as the individual technologies that
bird feathers, we’ll essentially create a broad- we inspire.
loom carpet and gravity will hold it down.” And

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Baitball! Kona, Hawaii

Photo: SteveD, 2010 | Flickr cc
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MS for ZQ: Other than one of your own accom- duce ten times more wind power and use much
plishments, can you give an example of a bio-in- less land. I find that really interesting, because
spired product or service that most completely fits again, it didn’t require a new technology, just
your criteria for success? Why do you choose this? a new way of thinking inspired by the natural
world. And obviously it has potential, I think, to
JB: A complete success would be a product or a
preserve land and bring smaller wind farms clos-
service that, from its inception, is designed to fit
er to cities.
“Life’s Principles”. It would be sourced from local
materials, designed for return and disassembly, I also like, in terms of impact, Nova Laborator-
it would be capable of self-healing, of learning ies and Biomatrica, two companies that are
through feedback loops, of adapting in real time mimicking brine shrimp, tardigrades, and other
and evolving from one generation to the next. It organisms that are capable of anhydrobiosis:
would be self-assembled and modular, able to preserving their cell contents despite extreme
integrate development with growth. It would be desiccation. These companies mimic this pro-
manufactured benignly, using very little energy cess to encapsulate vaccines, proteins, and other
in its making and in its use cycle, it would be kinds of biologicals like blood samples, elimin-
completely without toxins, it would be able to ating the need for refrigeration. It’s a radically
be manufactured locally, it would be designed new preservation system with a great deal of so-
to be upcycled at the end of its life, living within cial benefit. Fifty percent of intended recipients
in an ecosystem of products that reinforce each don’t receive their vaccines because of a break
other, and those products would build prosper- in refrigeration. It eliminates that [problem] and
ity for communities and produce ecosystem ser- so can save lives. But also, if you can imagine
vices equal to local native systems and on and unplugging the freezers in every hospital and
on and on. And oh, of course, and it would be laboratory around the world, or being able to
necessary, and so beautiful you’d never want to create shelf-stable products without toxic pre-
throw it away. servatives, then suddenly, the impact from these
minute organisms is tremendous.
Obviously that’s a very high aspirational goal,
and I think there are very few bio-inspired prod- As I said, I’m also fond of learning from nature’s
ucts and services that meet all the criteria at this optimization strategies and putting these into
point. We are still in the transition to that. So the digital tools that designers use every day. A
instead, the way I’d like to answer this is to look company called OptiStruct uses software based
at impactful products that are starting their bio- on how your bones reform in response to stress.
mimicry journey. It removes material from where it is not need-
ed and puts it where it is needed along lines of
I’m a big fan of the Caltech wind farm because it
stress. Optistruct was able to lightweight Air-
uses already existing technology in a fresh way.
bus’s rib and wing plane assemblies by 40%.
It takes vertical axis wind turbines, but puts
GM (bionic car) and other automakers are now
them in a tight cluster like a school of fish, so
using the software, not just for concept cars,
they can surf each other’s wind vortices and pro-
but for your car. It’s one of those “biomimicry

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Resurrection Plant, Rose of Jericho, Anastatica hierochuntica

Photo: hira zubairi, 2008 | Flickr cc
Page 52 of 148
inside” products that will become ubiquitous. The last one I’ll mention will be in agriculture.
We may not realize it, but we will be enjoying There’s a huge reboot of our understanding
more efficient computer routing thanks to the of how plants are able to defend themselves
simple rules learned from ant colonies, less traf- against pests, how they are able to resist drought
fic thanks to slime molds, and a smarter smart conditions, how they are able to live in salty soils
grid thanks to bees. or overly wet conditions. Challenging times are
coming with climate change, so it’s going to be
In the realm of energy, I’m still interested in ef-
incredibly important to figure out how we can
forts that turn “photons to fuel.” I’m looking
help plants be as resilient as possible. And I think
for artificial photosynthesis that doesn’t stop
what we’re realizing is that plants don’t do that
with an electrical wire but rather splits water
alone. So we’re looking at revolutions in the field
and takes CO2, minerals, and nutrients as a
of microbial ecology of soils and how mycorrhi-
plant does to create fuels and building materi-
zal fungi and other helper microbes allow plants
als such as cement. Solar-driven CO2-to-stuff
to grow with less water, allow plants to protect
could revolutionize our world. Rather than har-
themselves against pests, and more. It’s this
vesting plants for fuels or burning the fossilized
idea of creating conditions conducive to those
remains of ancient plants, I think we should be-
organisms, in turn helping a plant defend itself.
come more like living plants. Learning to create
For example, there’s a nonprofit called Symbio-
fuels and chemicals this way relieves agricultur-
genics (founded) by Rusty Rodriguez, which is
al soils, and brings us closer to being a true pri-
looking at inoculating seeds with helper fun-
mary producer. And, as it turns out, we have lots
gus that can help rice grow with half the water
of CO2 to work with!
needs. I think wisdom right now is coming from
I’m also watching for anything in the realm of the rhizosphere. It’s coming from soil commun-
biomimetic membranes, because I think filtra- ities, and the more we understand them, the
tion is extremely important, not just for desalin- better we’ll be able to help not just our crops,
ation but also for being able to separate out fine but all plants, survive in a climate-change world.
chemicals from organic waste streams. The bio-
mimetic processes that allow you to selectively
pull what you want out of something else, to be MS for ZQ: In your opinion, where are the bio-
able to chelate metals out of wastewater as or- mimicry research and development “hotspots” in
ganisms do, for instance; those will be quite im- the world, and why do you consider them to be
pactful. When you chelate metals out of waste- so important? What places or people are worthy
water, you not only cleanse the water – you mine of watching?
without mining. That ability to selectively filter
JB: When I look at biomimicry papers, patents,
is going to be essential to the circular economy.
and start-ups, I see a very productive pipeline
Think E-waste. You already have companies like
in Germany, Sweden, the US, the UK, Japan,
Aquaporin using forward-osmosis membranes
and Australia. China is doing an enormous
for desalination; it’s definitely a space to watch.
amount of research right now, and I’m waiting

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Baleen smile
Photo: Ryan Harvey, 2011 | Flickr cc
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for a product flow to start. Germany gives us a zona State University, where Innovation Space
great research-to-commercialization model in has been breaking new ground in design edu-
their Biokon Competence Network, which has cation, is about to announce some next-gen in-
produced a steady stream of innovations from itiatives in biomimicry for sustainable design, so
Lotus-effect, to Evologics’ dolphin-inspired stay tuned.
underwater acoustic modems, to Festo’s Fin
I would have to add our clients to the “hotspots”
Ray Effect®, to the Fraunhofer Institute’s stencil
list. They are pioneers in rolling biomimicry out
approach to embossing shark skin patterns into
to their companies, both in training and product
airplane paint. Biokon is a consortium of uni-
development. They see biomimicry as an innov-
versities, innovation companies, and economic
ation pathway that solves holy grails, leads to
development agencies that help pull these bio-
breakthrough products, and not coincidentally,
mimetic products from research to adoption.
builds sustainability into the process. A three-
Germany’s betting on biomimetics, and it’s
for-one. Our clients in the built world are real-
spending money like it means it.
ly fabulous; they’re revolutionizing city design
In terms of the centers in the U.S., I’m watch- by using place-based strategies, using “nature
ing the Wyss Center for Biologically Inspired as measure” in a way that humbles our design
Engineering (Harvard University). Almost every teams while making us more creative. I think the
month now they’re coming out with something biggest breakthroughs will come when these
new. They do a lot in biomedical but they’re companies start working together in research
also focused on new materials like Shrilk; it’s a consortiums. Biomimicry is a new look at the
clear, biodegradable plastic sourced from waste old problems we all share, a strange attractor
chitin and silk. It mimics the internal architec- for innovators from different industries to work
ture of insects to create a plastic that has the together.
strength of aluminum at half the weight. Their
Last but not least, I think vital leadership
center is about use-directed research, and that’s
will be coming from our local biomimicry
why they’re in the news every month. I’m also
networks. We recently had a Biomimicry 3.8
interested in what’s happening at the Mediat-
Global Summit where we invited our “network
ed Materials Lab at MIT. People like Neri Oxman
of networks.” Three hundred biomimicry
and Marcus Buehler are doing amazing things
educators, consultants, bloggers, corporations,
with functional gradients, structure-granting-
academics, fans, all of us, all in the room at
function, etc. Georgia Tech’s Center for BioIn-
once. Our Biomimicry Educators Network was
spired Design is innovating not just in research,
brainstorming right alongside our Client Network
but in new approaches to bio-inspired educa-
and our Biomimicry Regional Network. People
tion. Ashok Goel’s lab is doing evidence-based
from around the world were workshopping on
research that will help us measure whether or
Genius of Place, organizational development,
not the biomimicry design process leads to more
product innovation, resilient cities, materials,
creative or more sustainable outcomes, a very
important verification for the discipline. Ari-

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3D printing, and an AskNature hackathon that

lasted long into the night. After that, of course,
there was dancing.
It felt like a new collaborative nucleus was de-
veloping in biomimicry. Most inspiring to me
were the teams of students from around the
world who had won our Student Design Chal-
lenge. Amid the staid portrait galleries of the
Harvard Faculty Club, we awarded a People’s
Choice Award to four ecstatic women engin-
eers from Egypt who had used inspiration from
AskNature and “Life’s Principles” to create a new
water technology that the world sorely needs.
Students from 19 countries had found biomim-
icry on their own, enlisted a faculty advisor, and
climbed a rigorous learning curve to solve global
challenges. There they were, talking to investors,
spawning start-ups, and making it look like great
fun. I thought to myself, the future of biomimic-
ry is right here in this room. This next generation
of biomimics will bring us sustainable solutions
that are not only technically brilliant, but also
informed by the breadth and depth of nature’s
wisdom. That’s how we’ll become a welcome
species on this planet. ⊗
We thank Janine Benyus for sharing her insights and

Megan Schuknecht for coordinating and recording
the conversation. Megan Schuknecht is the Biomim-
icry 3.8 Director of Design Challenges.
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Water striders using water surface tension when mating
Photo: Markus Gayda, 2005 | Wikimedia Commons

Gilled fungi with Rose of Sharon
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Portfolio
Lisa A. Frank

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fall 2013 Portfolio Author:
Lisa A. Frank
Could you tell us about your background and how more powerful computer, a scanner and my first
you got started in the field of art and photog- digital camera. I had acquired an entirely new
raphy? set of skills.
When I was a young girl my father began a sum- During those few years of re-tooling, my favor-
mer stock theatre in rural Illinois. For the years I ite pastime was taking walks with my spirited
lived at home I was able to participate in many young dog, a German Shorthaired Pointer
phases of theatrical productions. I found that I named Caruso. In order to exhaust his irrepress-
particularly loved being around the people who ible energy the walks became longer and the
were building and painting scenery. After get- locations became wilder. I started to bring my
ting an undergraduate degree in art and im- camera with me to document what we would
agining my next years working in a restaurant, encounter. I began to bring home objects to scan
I decided that I would instead move to NYC and and photograph. From suburbia where I was a
learn to support myself as a professional scenic thirty minute drive to natural areas, I moved to
painter. After several years of internships I was a house in the Catskills where I could walk out
accepted into the United Scenic Artists union. I the door and find wildness all around.
began painting backdrops 3 stories high for the
This decision did not come as a surprise. Dur-
Metropolitan Opera, sets for Saturday Night Live
ing the summers when I was helping out at my
skits and scrims for Broadway shows. Fast for-
father’s theatre I was also going to scout camps
ward a few years and I was also gilding cross-
where I developed a comfort and deep love for
es and clock faces atop the highest churches in
being in nature. Now, with a very good dog to
New York City. I painted trompe l’oeil murals at
follow, my shelf full of well worn field guides
Saks Fifth Avenue and faux bois at Barney’s.
that I collected as a teenager, I began, once
As years went by I found myself working more again, to explore, notice, collect, and identify. I
quietly at a drafting table designing wallpaper felt like I had come home. With camera in hand
and textiles rather than up on scaffolding. Now and some woods to wander through, I rediscov-
using pencils and watercolors as my tools it was ered something essential.
becoming undeniably clear that I was struggling
with a tremor that was affecting my ability to
do hand rendered work. Soon I could no longer What kind of techniques do you use for your
produce the clean, accurate work that my career work? Do you use any software?
as an artist was built on.
These photographs are staged “scanographs”
Luckily this was occurring at the transitional meaning that the entire image has been com-
moment when computers were becoming a rel- posed directly on the glass of a flatbed desktop
evant design tool. I bought my first Mac (a very scanner. The technique is fairly straightforward
early model!) and took several digital imaging but a great deal of time is involved in placing
classes. Two more years after that, I bought a and positioning the subjects. I have built a sim-
ple scaffolding over the glass from which I can
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Pearl Oyster | Pleurotis ostreatus

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Lisa A. Frank
suspend objects slightly off of the glass. I do

this to promote a greater sense of depth and in
some cases an illusion of gravity (the falling tulip
petals in the Jack-in-the-Pulpit images are an ex-
ample), and I sometimes suspend a ‘backdrop’ of
patterns or texture over the entire composition.
My tools couldn’t be more ordinary: clothespins,
monofilament and chop sticks! I use a scanning
software called SilverFast, and for image editing
I use Photoshop and Aperture.
How has your art/style changed since you first

started?
I have several different portfolios of work, all ex-
ploring themes related to environment, nature,
pattern and place. There are a few references
that bear mentioning.
The collection of scanographs was inspired by
my interest in early botanical painting before
the advent of photography. Created by botan-
ists and artists alike such as Mark Catesby and
Jakob Hoefnagel, these paintings blended myth
and observation with varied levels of artistry.
Working directly from nature, subjects seemed
keenly observed but were often imaginatively
interpreted.
As an observer and a witness, I am repeatedly
stopped in my tracks to wonder, “How in the
world did this happen?” Some of these scano-
graphs are deliberately fanciful responses to
that question. Staged as “Just So Stories” in the
tradition of Rudyard Kipling’s “How the Elephant
Got His Trunk” they offer possible explanations
for how a plant evolved.
“These, I, Singing in Spring Collect...”

(Includes scanographs of jack-in-the-pulpits, skunk
cabbages, and fiddleheads) | 100.5” x 40”
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The Jack-in-the-Pulpit from this series is a truly painted from their imaginations with the help of
peculiar plant. In spring, its purple and char- life studies done throughout the year. They then
treuse striped hood is a bold and graphic de- reorganized the various components to create a
sign. This extraordinary hood is aroma-filled, at- world that could never exist in reality.
tracting insects to begin the task of pollination.
If deconstructed, my work too becomes a vis-
In late summer, the plant flowers again, this
ual journal of separate studies. Flowers exist in
time with chunky green berries that change, in
a state of perfection that does not conform to
turn, to a jaw-dropping red in the autumn. Most
time or season. Instead they break that bond
incredibly, once mature, this plant is able to
between humans and nature, and coexist in a
choose which sex to be the following year based
sovereign fantasy world. The “natural” is im-
on the amount of water and nutrients received
posed on “nature”. Although snakes, birds and
during the previous summer. The real life cycle
insects all enter into the same artificial scene, it
of this plant is so spectacularly odd, it seems just
appears as if we have just happened upon them,
as plausible that the hood was created by the
catching them by surprise. The moment is then
impact of falling purple tulip petals.
frozen and time is permanently suspended.
As the scanograph series developed, I began
In 2011, I began working with computer scientists
combining them with close-range photographs
to transform my artwork into walk-about virtual
to construct large-scale, complex patterns.
reality environments. This unusual project was
Densely ornamental, this work refers to the in-
funded by the Wisconsin Institutes for Discov-
terior decoration documents of Britain’s Aes-
ery, the Living Environments Laboratory, and the
thetic Movement of the late 19th century. The
University of Wisconsin Design Gallery (all at the
designer, William Morris, is particularly relevant
University of Wisconsin-Madison). Blurring the
for the ways his design work drew upon similarly
lines between art and technology, I created the
themed subject matter, showing a love for all
exhibit, <1>:”der”//pattern for a virtual environ-
natural things and designing with an assurance
ment, a fifteen minute immersive experience
gained from observing nature first hand. These
that features six explorable environments that
photographs are presented in several different
reference natural history dioramas as well as the
ways: as solitary repeating patterns, as stand-
experience of walking in the woods.
alone tapestry-like designs and as floor-to-ceil-
ing “sections” that combine repeating patterns I am often asked how I reconcile my love for wil-
with elaborately constructed “trompe l’oeil” derness with the fact that I share some of those
mouldings that include wainscoting, friezes, experiences using expensive visualization equip-
borders, swags and other architectural detailing. ment. Since it is somewhat unusual, I would like
to add additional information about the part of
My recent still life compositions are constructed
my work that involves advanced digital imaging.
almost entirely from unique individual photo-
graphs and rarely use two objects from the same My purpose with all of my artwork is to bring
image. They refer to the Dutch still life painting something to viewers that they wouldn’t nor-
of the 17th–18th centuries. These Dutch artists mally be able to experience. In my virtual real-

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Lisa A. Frank
ity work, the potential is compounded. Viewers walks in the woods where my senses and intel-
can fly through an expansive landscape or land lect are engaged differently. Nurturing a “hybrid
in a macro world, down in the dirt with mush- mind” becomes my goal. This is a multi-tasking
rooms and electrified mycelia. They can discover ability to experience both natural and virtual
themselves up in a nest cradled in the branches worlds. With my photography, I want to promote
of a tree and go inside of an egg held therein. I real-world experience but I will put digital tech-
have seen how this ability to access inaccessible nology and virtual experience to service to arrive
or unusual spaces delights viewers: to change at a related end. I hope that my photographic ob-
scale in our world, to have unexpected abilities, servations – even as they are translated via layer
to live in the world differently can evoke wonder, upon layer of digital manipulation – reflect an
and I think that’s a powerful tool. It is my hope experience of the natural world that many crave
that I am fostering or reinforcing a connection but have no access to.
to nature, particularly among children.
This reveals a rich paradox. Virtual reality is
How does photography influence the way you see
certainly not a natural space but there is clear
the world? Do you feel that you see things around
potential to explore virtual environments as a
you differently?
path to better and deeper connections between
people and nature. In fact, in some ways the Bearing witness to haphazard wonders, the ac-
novelty of a virtual reality experience can bring tivity of taking pictures as I walk in the woods
new focus and fresh attention to elements of makes for a visual diary – it illuminates my
our world that are unseen. In this anti-natur- position within the natural world while docu-
al environment, an awareness can be boosted menting changing evidence of the ordinary
of what we have become immune to. Can this and the astonishing. The inter-relationships be-
type of imaging be used to make observers more tween all of nature’s corresponding parts create
ecologically aware of what it means to be in the the true “pattern” of my work. Season after sea-
world, and – by extension – what the value is of son I trace nature’s comforting repetition. The
protecting it? I think this is a very good ques- resulting subject matter for my photos chan-
tion to continue asking myself. My thinking is ges with the calendar taking notice and mak-
this: we live in a world where technology evolves ing patterns of icicles one week and morels just
minute-to-minute, allowing us to process infor- a few weeks later. My artwork is connected to
mation in ever faster and more complex ways. As the “wildness” in nature even while it is taming
an artist who is interested in creating a connec- it with formal patterning. All things are equal:
tion between viewers and nature, I want to be I am as captivated by the full and magnificent
realistic about what the terms are for the world bloom of autumn color as I am to the existen-
we live in. I personally accept and celebrate my tial challenges implicit in its fade and decay. A
relationship to technology, but it co-exists with personal, arbitrary, asymmetrical time chart is
a realization that I need to balance it with
Page 64 of 148
Beginning work on the “Mushroom Diorama” with UW-Madison computer science graduate student, Nathan Mitchell
Exhibition title:<1>: der //pattern for virtual reality
First seen at the UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, December 2011
Photo: Leslie Frank Taylor, 2011

Attendees experiencing one of the virtual reality environments | Exhibition title: <1>: der //pattern for virtual reality
Page 66 of 148
| First seen at the UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, December 2011 | Photo: Stephanie Nutt, 2013

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Lisa A. Frank
formed that is deeply resonant for me and key to tual reality environment. One simulates a walk
my understanding of what it means to be alive in the woods, the other a walk in an urban en-
and of this world. vironment. Using a treadmill we will be exam-
ining the effects of these virtual environments
I choose to bring attention to discoveries that
on different aspects of cognition including mem-
are not commonly seen or appreciated. Creat-
ory and attention, as well as the role of physical
ing a context for connection, it is my purpose to
activity on the beneficial effects of exposure to
draw the viewer into a local world as it hasn’t
nature. Finally, we’ll be looking at the rehabili-
been witnessed before - charged with wonder
tative potential of a virtual nature environment,
- rich, complex and changeable while being in-
particularly for those suffering from PTSD.
clusive and accessible.
As an aside, I am not a particularly good bird-
watcher because my eyes are always trained to What is the last book you enjoyed?
the ground. I have over 10,000 photos of mush-
The Rediscovery of the Wild, edited by Peter H.
rooms as a result.
Kahn, Jr., and Patricia H. Hasbach (2013, Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
MA) This book explores the idea that we need
Who/what inspires you creatively? What do you
contact with “wild” nature that is unmanaged,
feed on most?
unencumbered and untamed by humans and
Thoughtful exhibitions like “Hiding Places: unmediated by technological artifice.
Memory in the Arts” at the John Michael Kohler
On a lighter note, I enjoyed William Wegman’s,
Arts Center here in Wisconsin. “Moonrise King-
Hello Nature: How to Draw, Paint, Cook, and
dom” and “The Tree of Life”. A new picture book.
Find Your Way (2012, Prestel USA). Although his
Walking in Muir Woods. The Metropolitan Opera
dogs are thankfully still present, Wegman uses
production of “Satyagraha” by Philip Glass. A
vintage Boy Scout manuals and field guides as
new camera lens. Rereading Pilgrim at Tinker
source material for his new artwork. For me, it
Creek. The artwork produced by my friends and
was a nostalgic reference to my first outdoor ex-
my students, and collaborating with unlikely
periences at summer camp.
partners.
What are your favorite 3-5 websites, and why?

What are you working on right now? Any exciting
projects you want to tell us about? There are two photography-based websites that
I’d like to mention. The Typologist: Collector of
One of my collaborative projects is a research
Collections” (http://thetypology.com/THE-TYP-
study led by a team of scientists from the Beck-
OLOGIST-BLOG) features curated photographs of
man Institute at the University of Illinois Ur-
bana-Champagne. I’m providing them with 3D
videos that will be used in a fully immersive vir-
Page 68 of 148
object and photo typologies. Subjects vary from Opinionated site (http://www.tomandlorenzo.
Duppi Hats from Uzbekistan to my own photo- com) for its enjoyable banter about fashion de-
graph of magnolia warbler taxidermy. sign.
Despite its provocative name, http://cabinporn.
com is truly “inspiration for your quiet place
What’s your favorite motto or quotation?
somewhere”. The photographs thoroughly feed
all of my escapist fantasies. I refer to the New York Lottery every day: “You
gotta be in it to win it.” This is my lowbrow ref-
I have found the Museum of Modern Art’s web-
erence to a more thoughtful quote by Annie Dil-
site to be a deep, exhaustive, and very handy re-
lard, “The answer must be, I think, that beauty
source: http://www.moma.org
and grace are performed whether or not we will
I enjoy designboom for its interest in the future or sense them. The least we can do is try to be
of architecture and design with specific atten- there.”
tion on emerging talent: http://www.design-
This provides me with a reminder: if I don’t pull
boom.com
myself away from the computer, put the camera
And my friends tell me I should confess to regu- and dog into the Subaru and find some nature to
larly visiting the Tom + Lorenzo: Fabulous & be in I will miss the red-winged blackbird riding
on the back of a sandhill crane and the line-up
of eleven painted turtles on a log. ⊗
Blue Turkey Tail Fungi | Trametes versicolor

Digital Photograph | Lisa A. Frank | 2010

Morels and Fiddleheads | Morchella esculenta
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Morels and Fiddleheads | Morchella esculenta

Farmer’s Market, Madison WI
Page 72 of 148
Market Mushrooms with Snap Dragon

Jack-in-the-Pulpit’s Berries with Two-coloured Bolete | Arisaema triphyllum / Boletus bicolor
Page 74 of 148
Lactarius with Bellflowers (Peppery Milkcap) | Lactarius piperatus / Campanula rapunculoides

Fiddleheads
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Fiddleheads

Russula in October
Page 78 of 148
Russula

Jack-in-the-Pulpit with Tulip Petals | Arisaema triphyllum
Page 80 of 148
Jack-in-the-Pulpits with Tulip Petals | Arisaema triphyllum

Bloodroot Diorama | Sanguinaria canadensis
Page 82 of 148
Nested Skunk Cabbages | Symplocarpus foetidus

Smooth Sumac Fruit in Fall | Rhus glabra
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Autumn Red Fruit

Trout Lily Diorama | Erythronium americanum
Page 86 of 148
Yarrow with Creamy Wild Indigo | Achillea millefolium / Baptisia bracteata

Decaying Leaves
Page 88 of 148
Mushroom Diorama
Page 90 of 148
Spiderwort and Prairie Smoke | Tradescantia occidentalis / Geum triflorum

Monarch caterpillar
Photo: sBegin, 2005 | Flickr cc
Page 92 of 148
People
Interview with
Markus J. Buehler

Naturally occurring shells as biomaterials, and 3D printed bio-inspired composites. The image shows a manifestation of a
hierarchical biological material rebuilt using engineering polymers, to achieve composites with greatly enhanced fracture
toughness. It shows that simple building blocks can be used to create complex material functions, exploiting the design
paradigm of structuring materials in complex geometric patterns. The different colors in the composite indicate regions
of stiff and soft materials, respectively. | Photo courtesy of Markus J. Buehler and Graham Bratzel (MIT)
Page 94 of 148
Interview
Markus J. Buehler

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fall 2013 People: Author:
Interview Markus J. Buehler
Markus J. Buehler is a Professor and the Head of the Soc. Interface, PLoS ONE, Int. J. Appl. MechJ. Mech.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Beh. Biomed. Mat., J. of Engrg. Mech., and BioNano-
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Science (as Editor-in-Chief). He is the founding chair
where he directs the Laboratory for Atomistic and Mo- of the Biomechanics Committee at the Engineering
lecular Mechanics (LAMM). Buehler is a leading schol- Mechanics Institute of ASCE, a member of the U.S.
ar in the field of bio-inspired materials and founded National Committee on Biomechanics, and Co-Chair
the field of biomateriomics. He has published more of the Nanoengineering in Biology in Medicine Steer-
than 200 articles on biological and bio-inspired ma- ing Committee of ASME. He has participated in sev-
terials, authored two monographs, and given sever- eral K-12 educational programs and is committed to
al hundred invited, keynote and plenary talks. He is diversity at all levels.
best known for his seminal contributions in multi-
http://web.mit.edu/mbuehler/www/
scale modeling of hierarchical materials, and his work
in linking experiment and computation towards the http://web.mit.edu/mbuehler/www/group/Markus_
rational design of novel materials. Buehler-biosketch.pdf
Buehler has received many awards for his research,

including the TMS Hardy Award, the IEEE Holm Con-
What are your impressions of the current state of
ference Mort Antler Lecture Award, the Materials
biomimicry/bio-inspired design?
Research Society Outstanding Young Investigator
Award, the Society of Engineering Science Young In- Biomimicry is in an exciting stage as we learn
vestigator Medal, the Thomas J.R. Hughes Young In- about the way nature designs and manufactures
vestigator Award, the Sia Nemat-Nasser Medal, the materials and structures at all scales, from the
Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award, the Stephen atomic to the macroscopic level. The field has
Brunauer Award, the Alfred Noble Prize, and the Leo- moved from traditionally empirical approaches
nardo da Vinci Award. He also received the National to more systematic methods, owing in part to
Science Foundation CAREER award, the United States the emergence of mathematical models. For ex-
Air Force Young Investigator Award, the Navy Young ample, molecular modeling has paved the way
Investigator Award, and the DARPA Young Faculty to link the structure of molecules to the prop-
Award, as well as the Presidential Early Career Award erties of a material or structure, which has en-
for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). He was an in- abled the rational design of materials inspired
vitee and plenary speaker at several National Acad- by nature. Moreover, the design of materials and
emy of Engineering-Frontiers in Engineering Sympo- other systems has been infused with creative ap-
sia. In 2010 he received the Harold E. Edgerton Faculty proaches that have blurred the boundaries be-
Achievement Award for exceptional distinction in tween art and science.
teaching and in research or scholarship, the highest
honor bestowed on young MIT faculty.
What do you see as the biggest challenges?
Buehler is dedicated to service to the academic com-
munity, and serves as a member of the editorial board Bridging the scales in length and time remains a
of several international publications including: Roy. core challenge. This includes both understand-
Page 96 of 148
Image of a mussel attached to a rock. The byssal threads connecting the mussel to the rock are made from a protein ma-
terial that features remarkable impact tolerance properties.
Photo courtesy of Zhao Qin (MIT)

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ing the structural foundation and how to ac- engineers, but is achieved in nature by many sea
tually construct the kinds of structures we see in animals such as diatoms or deep-sea sponges.
many natural systems, which are often complex
hierarchical geometries. While engineers have
traditionally created things by carving away ma- What areas should we be focusing on to advance
terials – hence called subtractive manufacturing the field of biomimicry?
– nature typically uses additive manufacturing
A more systematic, mathematic and model-
and makes materials by assembling them mol-
ing driven approach that relies on quantitative
ecule by molecule. New methods of manufactur-
methods. Currently, there is a lot of ad-hoc and
ing need to be developed that allow us to build
inspirational design happening, some very suc-
the structures we observe in nature.
cessful, but we want to apply the power of en-
We know that the basic code of life is DNA and gineering and science to this field. While some
that proteins, sugars, and similar molecules are advances have been made, more rigor is needed.
the universal building blocks of materials in the This also raises the question of education, which
living world. However, how we connect mol- should play a more prominent role. What about
ecules to generate materials, organs or organ- educating our undergraduate engineering stu-
isms that work in a certain way remains a big dents in new ways of thinking about materials,
challenge. For example, while we can make the to consider the holistic balance of raw materi-
proteins that comprise a spider web in the lab, als, energy, byproducts, and durability? These
we currently have very limited ability to create a and other fields pose interesting challenges and
complex structure like a spider web or a cocoon give opportunities to lead new educational pro-
in the lab. grams.
Many current efforts rely on existing organisms
that are altered to produce certain materials, or
How have you developed your interest in biomim-
that do so naturally, such as wood or materials
icry/bio-inspired design?
extracted from plants. In the future, we want to
find our own ways to produce complex function For many years I have been intrigued by the di-
from simple chemical molecules, with a similar versity of materials nature produces and uses –
elegance to what nature does, while harvesting from wood to bone, spider silk to organs or cells.
matter that exists in abundance. What about Yet, these materials are made from some of the
taking silica from the sand at the beach, mix- most basic chemicals known, at low energy,
ing it with proteins from soybeans, and build- low temperature, and in water. Engineers are
ing an airplane all at room temperature and in far from replicating these processes and rely
an aqueous solution that does not involve any on much different methods. To make steel, we
toxic chemicals? Turning the weakness of silica need a steel plant that relies on iron ore and sub-
or glass into a strong material is impossible for stantive amounts of energy. Spiders produce silk
threads with the strength of steel at low energy,
Page 98 of 148
Experimental setup in which the 3D printed composite material is tested under extreme mechanical loading. This setup is
used to extract strength and toughness and other mechanical properties of the material.
Photo courtesy of Markus J. Buehler and Graham Bratzel (MIT)

A mussel attached to a rock, displaying the amazing strength of mussel threads and their adhesion pads. These ma-
terials not only serve as adhesives under dry conditions, but also work extremely well under water, a remarkable feat.
Photo courtesy of Zhao Qin (MIT)
Page 100 of 148

locally, and with simple protein building blocks. I am fas-
cinated with identifying what these mechanisms are that
turn simplicity to complexity in such a way that a material
generated serves an array of complex functions.
What is your best definition of what we do?

I see the field of biomimicry as a nucleus to a much bigger
step in our evolution of science and engineering, where
we begin to understand and synthetically create materials
and system with a level of complexity, in a controlled way
and with the ease that we observe in nature.
By what criteria should we judge the work?

A critical measure is whether we can develop new prod-
ucts that have added value and provide better function at
lower cost with reduced environmental impact. The intrin-
sic added value of what we provide and innovate is critical.
What are you working on right now?

Much of our specific work deals with turning proteins into
materials with diverse functions and combining natural
proteins like spider silk and elastin or collagen into new
types of materials with a host of new functions. We aim to
achieve the rational design of materials for tailored func-
tions through the use of big computers, advanced mod-
eling and mathematical tools. The simplicity of building
blocks requires us to create complex hierarchical struc-
tures at multiple length-scales, which is an exciting fron-
tier in materials science that involves multiple disciplines
to work together effectively.
How did you get started in biomimicry/bio-inspired design?

It all started by asking simple questions – such as address-
ing the challenge of how to replicate a simple protein like
silk in a synthetic environment in order to create a thread
or fiber that matches the natural form. We quickly realized
that this paradigm opens the door to many other materials
that are constructed with similar principles.

zq07
Which work/image have you seen recently that

really excited you?
Recent efforts to hierarchically structure materi-
als at all scales, from molecules to the 3D printed
architecture of a large-scale structure. Several
groups have embarked on work at this interface,
led by new insights from modeling, which pro-
vided substantial evidence for the powerful im-
pact this multiscale approach can have.
What is your favorite biomimetic work of all

time?
I see this very much as an evolution which is cur-
rently in progress. I always found that adhesion
inspired by geckos is an amazing topic with great
practical relevance. But, I think the best is yet
to be!
Who do you admire? Why…

There are many heroes in the world. I admire
people with principles and perseverance and
those who sacrifice for others. Too often, we for-
got to be thankful for the opportunities we have,
and our own responsibility to contribute.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Spending time with my wife and kids, hiking in
the woods or taking a long walk at the beach, on
a sunny fall day in New England. And, watching
the wonders of nature and the way materials are
produced, used and break down under controlled
conditions. I find much inspiration and ideas for
new research by watching our environment. ⊗
Different visualizations of a spider web, showing the molecular structure of a key protein that controls the assembly of
silk within the spider’s spinning duct. A spider web is an intriguing structure that features designs at all scales - from the
atoms to the web, and each of them contributing to enhancing the overall properties.
Images courtesy of Markus J. Buehler
Page 102 of 148

Molecular structure of folded graphene. A synthetic material, graphene can be used effectively to construct complex hier-
archical materials. Here, the material is used to mimic the nanostructure at the surface of superhydrophic materials as
found in Lotus leaves.
Image courtesy of Markus J. Buehler and Seunghwa Ryu (MIT)

Page 104 of 148
Book
Architecture
Follows Nature:
Biomimetic
Principles for
Innovative Design
Reviewed by Colleen
Mahoney

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fall 2013 Book Reviewed by:
Architecture Follows Nature Colleen Mahoney
Architecture Follows Nature

– Biomimetic Principles for
Innovative Design
“If inspiration is taken from biology it is easier The book is organized into two parts. In Part
to understand nature’s importance and to find I, Mazzoleni introduces design principles in-
meaningful design examples”, states author spired by nature and biological concepts that
Ilaria Mazzoleni in the introduction of her new inform architecture. I found Part I to be too
book, Architecture Follows Nature - Biomimet- academic and long for my liking, but I appreci-
ic Principles for Innovative Design. Mazzoleni ate the effort to spread the meme. I was anx-
takes us on a journey specifically investigating ious to delve into the case studies that were to
animal skin in both a climatic and ecological follow. Part II explores four sets of case studies
context. Looking at animal coverings including with each investigating a particular function of
fur, feathers, scales, exoskeletons, and shells, skin: communication, thermoregulation, water
she guides the reader from natural inspirations balance, and protection. Each study begins by
to biomimetic case studies. This book has introducing the reader to a select animal and
educational content for designers and archi- its skin functions, and then introduces theor-
tects wishing to look at biological inspiration etical “proto-architectural” projects. A rich
for flexible and dynamic building envelope combination of pictures and concept sketches
design. Mazzoleni asks, “How can architects help to communicate details about each ani-
and designers move beyond the formal imita- mal, its habitat, and a description of its unique
tion of nature to more sophisticated, nature- skin structure. After looking at the genius of
inspired, performance-based building design?” skin we are introduced to conceptual design
As a practicing commercial and residential solutions which Professor Mazzoleni’s students
architect, I am intrigued by the idea of dy- have explored. Some of the design solutions
namic building facades – and specifically using in this book have merit and architects may see
biomimicry in our effort to find solutions. Un- possibilities for design and patterns for build-
fortunately, I did not find the inspiration I had ing skins, but some are just too far fetched, in
hoped for in this book. my opinion. An example is the inflatable pods
Page 106 of 148

hovering: access to flowers muscles: packed with beak: needle shape allows
without having to use a perch. mitochondria for cellular the bird to retrieve nectar
energy production. from deep inside of a flower
without destroying it.
body structure: super

light skeleton with 12cm length: 10 cm
wingspan. wings beat weight: 3.2 g
up to 200 times per
second.
coloration: males have a ruby torpor t 8-10° on t 40° C
colored throat that is primarily
a physical structure rather
than chemical.
fat accumulation: almost doubles
its body weight by fat storage prior
to a long migration. sleep hrs:
heart: Beats at a rate of 250 8-14
times per minute while at rest,
and about 1220 per minute efficency efficency
intestines: rapid absorption of while flying. 5% 100%
glucose. feet: adapted to allow the
bird to secure itself to tree
branches and other perches
50 heart beats 1200 heart beats
while sleeping. per minute per minute
habitat: torpor:
Neotropical migrant bird most commonly found The ability to undergo a short-term “hibernation”
in the Eastern U.S. and Southern Canada during usually at night. This is characterized by a
the summer breeding season. Can be found dramatic decrease in metabolic rate and results
wintering in Central America. in a large drop in body temperature, respiration
rate, heart rate, and most other body functions.
During spring these birds migrate north roughly Thus torpid animals can conserve significant
following the 1.7°C isotherm (avg. nightly temp.). amounts of energy over what they would have
During autum many gather in the Southern U.S. normally expended. Torpid animals appear to be
in mid-September before flying across the Gulf. in a deep trance and cannot easily be aroused.
sun rays sun rays
pv micro cells
pv micro cells
summer
mobile, ipod charger
night lights
0 km
400
mobile, ipod charger

southwest orientation
“flower sun brellas”
winter “flower sun brellas” city racks
IM Studio MI/LA | principal: i.mazzoleni w/ j.chavez, biologist; design team: a. colli, s. proudian, r. molina
Image courtesy of im studio mi/la - ilaria mazzoleni

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fall 2013 Book Reviewed by:
Architecture Follows Nature Colleen Mahoney
suspended under a Santa Monica pier concept. structure that follows principles established by
This is not a biomimetic design solution that I Buckminster Fuller plus an outer layer that can
find inspiring or practical. expand and contract. I found this design to
have the beauty and elegance that we should
I am not sure where the voice of Shauna Price,
expect in biomimetic solutions. Taking this
Mazzoleni’s biologist/co-author is in the case
idea further, the team might show the reader
study solutions. “The architectural rendition of
ideas for structural support - perhaps a fiber
biology is simplified and selective as it draws
and matrix composite material?
from biological solutions to environmental
challenges in nature and describes them in a
language that traditionally pertains to archi-
•
tecture and design” states Mazzoleni. As I
looked closely at each case study and its de-
sign solution I didn’t find the clear integration
The book gives a few good examples of design
or optimization of biological strategies. One
solutions that minimize the use of materials to
of the case studies that explored skin as pro-
get the job done. The proposed solutions don’t
tection proposes the design of an emergency
seem to use construction methods that are
pavilion for post natural disaster or war zones.
locally attuned and the proposed materials do
The proposed shelter would be packed into
not demonstrate the efficient use of resources.
kits made of photovoltaic panels, flexible and
I found myself asking with every design solu-
translucent fabric, and a connecting umbrella-
tion and its materials - does it use life-friend-
like structure. While the supporting structure
ly chemistry? In the words of Janine Benyus,
“will maintain a rigid tactility through princi-
author of Biomimicry Innovation Inspired by
ples of tensegrity” the actual skin system is not
Nature – “Will it fit in? Will it last? Is there a
clearly explained. My recent training has been
precedent for this in nature?” This book will
in biomimicry as taught by the Biomimicry 3.8
challenge any architect or engineer to answer
organization in which several concepts called
these questions. As we look to nature for solu-
“Life’s Principles” are outlined. The structure
tions to design challenges, I think it is critical
proposed by Mazzoleni does not appear to fol-
that the biological background is integrated
low a couple of these principles. It does not
into the proposed design. Structures should be
propose the use of any materials that would
faithfully coupled with function. As an archi-
be resourced locally, nor do any of the ma-
tect, I would like to see more case studies that
terials appear to be compostable (use of life-
demonstrate the fit of form to function and set
friendly chemistry).
a high biomimetic benchmark.
In another case study, Mazzoleni and team
How we revolutionize biomimetic design ideas
chose the dense and insulating fur of the snow
that can be applied in the real world is the
leopard to exemplify thermoregulation. The
most vital challenge for the design profession
case study solution was designed for a moun-
tainous site and proposed an inner geodesic
Page 108 of 148

today. This book is a good start for that conver-
sation, and a good resource for the collabor-
ators in biology and design. ⊗
Colleen Mahoney has been a practicing architect in

the San Francisco Bay Area for over 25 years. She is
enrolled in the current Biomimicry 3.8 Institute Spe-
cialist Certification program and has just returned
from the cohort’s second retreat in Marin County
where she lives.
Architecture Follows Nature – Biomimetic Prin-

ciples for Innovative Design
Author: Ilania Mazzoleni in collaboration with
Shauna Price
2013 CRC Press
Hardback
Color and black and white plates
Price – $99.95 eBook $69.00
ISBN 9781466506077
IM Studio MI/LA | principal: i.mazzoleni w/ j.chavez,

biologist; design team: a. colli, s. proudian, r. molina
Image courtesy of im studio mi/la - ilaria mazzoleni

Berlin
Photo: francescocarcano, 2012 | Flickr cc
Page 110 of 148

World
Interview
Biomimicry Germany

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fall 2013 World: Author:
Interview Prateep Beed and Arndt
Pechstein
How did you get started? ground and his desire to create innovative
and sustainable solutions lead him to study
There were three parallel plots co-evolving the
biomimetic approaches. In 2012, Prateep and
past years and it was not before 2012 that they
Arndt reconnected via a discussion about bio-
converged:
mimetic design.
1. As a biochemist and neuroscientist, Arndt
In January 2013, Arndt, Prateep, and Gerard or-
Pechstein has been working in basic research
ganized the foundation of Biomimicry Germany
since 2004. While he enjoyed working in this
e.V., a not-for-profit organization aimed at intro-
intellectually stimulating, hypothesis-driven
ducing biomimicry as an innovative, pro-active
environment he also wanted to apply his fas-
mind-set for a future society. The foundation
cination for technology, science, and biology
grew with other members joining shortly after.
as well as his knowledge and skills towards
more tangible projects. In 2010 he started to
dive into novel creativity concepts, innovation
What is your mission statement?
methods, and biomimicry, eventually gradu-
ating as a Biomimicry Specialist in 2012. Our mission is to sustainably innovate and trans-
form our society sustainably through a lateral
2. In 2011, at a house party of a friend, Arndt
problem-solving method that values and emu-
met Gerard Webb, an architect and leading
lates biodiversity. Through strategic partner-
IT developer. When they began discussing a
ships, educational programs, and research, we
resilient urban concept Gerard was working
inspire and create well-adjusted solutions with
on, they immediately knew this would be a
zero-negative impact on the environment.
start of something lasting. As soon as Arndt
introduced the concept of biomimicry, Gerard
suddenly realized that this might solve some
Who is part of the group? How many members
of the challenges he had been continuously
do you have? Are there different types of mem-
struggling with. Arndt and Gerard met on
bership? Are you structured via a specific organ-
regular terms from then onwards.
izational model?
3. Later, in 2012, Prateep Beed became the
We are a team of multi-disciplinary experts using
third pioneer of Biomimicry Germany. Seren-
biomimicry as a creativity and innovation tool to
dipitously, Prateep and Arndt had known each
create sustainable, tangible designs, products,
other for quite some time as they had both
projects, and organization structures which are
completed their PhDs at the same graduate
aligned with life’s principles. The founders’ team
school. Starting as an industrial engineer, Pra-
consists of:
teep’s interest was sparked in networks and
the parallels between nature and technology. Dr. Arndt Pechstein: In 2012, having spent
Prateep completed his masters in cognitive more than a decade in academic research,
psychology before continuing on to specialize Arndt Pechstein decided to co-found Bio-
in neuroscience. His inter-disciplinary back- mimicry Germany. Arndt received a PhD with
Page 112 of 148

Vertical Autumn
Photo: Passetti, 2011 | Flickr cc

Page 114 of 148
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Pechstein
honors in Biochemical Neuroscience from the thematically focusing on spatial navigation

Free University Berlin, specializing in neur- and decision-making. In 2011, he was awarded
onal communication. He also holds a diplo- the Tiburtius-Award for young investigators
ma in Biochemistry & Biotechnology from doing exceptional research.
the Martin-Luther University Halle. In 2010,
Through his interdisciplinary academic back-
he was awarded the Ernst-Reuter Award for
ground, Prateep started seeing the strength
outstanding research. At the Karolinska In-
in combining his seemingly independent
stitute in Stockholm, Sweden, he received
disciplines of study, thereby shaping a new
the Wenner-Gren Post-Doctoral Fellowship
kind of thought process – design thinking.
Award and a Swedish Research Council Grant.
In 2012, this gave way to the co-founding of
In 2012, Arndt moved back to Berlin where he
Biomimicry Germany. Prateep’s strengths are
accepted a position at the Leibniz Institute for
positive, critical thinking combined with an
Molecular Pharmacology (FMP). In the same
extreme curiosity and the desire to actively
year, he graduated as a Biomimicry Specialist
shape a better world. He currently lives in Ber-
through Biomimicry 3.8.
lin and is a passionate musician and highly
Arndt’s strengths are his infectious enthusi- talented photographer.
asm and positivity combined with efficiency,
Gerard Webb: In 2012, as an attempt to unite
discipline, perseverance and the desire to
his expertise in architecture and genetic logic
improve and innovate. He likes to challenge
Gerard Webb decided to co-found Biomimic-
views and enjoys seeing the world through
ry Germany. As a building architect, Gerard
a critical lens. With many years in academ-
began working on generative design systems
ic teaching and having worked as a person-
and was amongst the first to create 3D vis-
al coach for many years, Arndt is an experi-
ualization software decades ago. After hav-
enced teacher and educator. He currently lives
ing worked as an architect for five years, he
in Berlin and is a passionate traveler, outdoor
spent an additional twelve years as a soft-
enthusiast, climber, traceur, and cyclist.
ware developer and solutions architect, writ-
Dr. Prateep Beed: His bachelor’s degree in In- ing genetic logic at banks and energy com-
dustrial Engineering helped Prateep Beed to panies. During the past four years Gerard has
learn the basics of innovation and design. He re-focused on architecture once more. His
soon realized that machine design was far particular interests lie in smart materials and
from humanized design, noting that proto- organic structures that are controlled using
types often lack the individualism required to self-evolving genetic logic.
cater to the needs of everyone at an individ-
Gerard has written a generative WebGL-based
ual level. With a desire to better understand
modeling application and is now working on
and relate to the human mind, Prateep then
a novel 3D scanner and developing computer
pursued a master’s degree in Cognitive Psych-
numerical control (CNC) systems. Currently,
ology and Neuroscience. He later went on to
he is developing the next generation of web
complete his PhD in 2010 in Neuroscience,
Page 116 of 148

protocols together with the world’s largest Organization (Model):
IT corporations. Gerard’s strengths are an
Biomimicry Germany e.V. is a not-for-profit or-
almost infinite creativity combined with in-
ganization registered in Berlin, Germany. Our vi-
depth technological and analytical thinking.
sion is to stimulate and create a resilient, adapt-
He lives in Berlin and Stockholm and loves be-
ive, and thriving future inspired by nature´s best
ing outside, especially going rock climbing.
strategies. Pioneering this approach in Germany,
we catalyze a paradigm shift towards sustain-
able living by solving the core human needs:
Types of membership:
food, shelter, energy, water, health, and educa-
There are various types of members in our or- tion.
ganization. We have regular active members
that contribute on a frequent basis and actively
shape and plan the activities of the organization. What other organizations are you linked to?
Additionally, there are interns and student af-
With Arndt being a fellow of the Biomimicry 3.8
filiates that are peripherally associated and can
institute, we are happy and proud to follow, ex-
become active members if desired or be tempor-
tend, and further develop the footprints of B3.8,
arily associated and become alumni afterwards.
an organization that should be a role model for
Third, there are institutional members (other
societal development.
NGOs, organizations, institutions). They too, as
legal entities, can be members of the organiza- We are establishing vital links with educational
tion if there is an overlap in intention or joint institutions, other not-for-profit organizations
projects. Fourth, we have corporate members working towards similar objectives, centers of
comprising profitable bodies and companies biodiversity and collaborating with companies
with a fixed membership fee. Finally, there are offering manufacturing automation, architec-
supporters and sponsors (both private and cor- ture and product design.
porate) that financially contribute and support
Amongst our first partners is the Hasso Plattner
the organization’s vision and actions. At some
Institute: School of Design Thinking (D.School),
point there will be honorary members, individ-
Potsdam, Germany. The D.School aims at bring-
uals whose commitment were an exceptional
ing together students from diverse academic
example.
backgrounds to solve design challenges. Bio-
We are currently comprised of 10 active mem- mimicry Germany is happy to collaborate with
bers from different fields and sectors. Our ex- the D.School by adding an extra element to de-
pertise encompasses biology, biochemistry/ sign thinking through introducing concepts of
biotechnology, psychology, electrical engineer- nature-inspired innovations. This is a step to-
ing, IT, design, architecture, 3D printing, and bio- wards a strong symbiosis that can promote
resource engineering. Additionally, we have as- fruitful undertaking of projects by different or-
sociated organizations and partners with whom ganizations resolute at solving core needs and
we plan and execute joint projects.

Berlin, Botanischer Garten, 1.Mai 2005 | Photo: pansy burke, 2005 | Flickr cc
Page 118 of 148

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Pechstein
problems in our societies in a sustainable and ciate something if they (co)created it. If they
resilient way. understand that they are part of the same
system they will work to conserve it.
Another important partner is Europe’s leading
3D printing company with which we are cur-
rently planning joint projects, presentations and
What are your plans for the future?
workshops. With 3D printing being extrapolated
to become the third industrial revolution, a sym- We have set for ourselves some immediate and
biosis between additive manufacturing and bio- long-term goals to implement biomimicry in
mimicry seems vital to us, as many unforesee- different sectors. One major focus is to intro-
able consequences may surface. Amongst our duce the concept and scope of biomimicry to
top priorities is playing an active role in shap- inspire people and businesses alike to tap into
ing the development of the technology. This in- this priceless source of sustainable innovation
cludes the use of benign materials, applying it nature provides. Our intention is to link and inte-
to the right applications by drawing on the wide grate education, research, and implementation
potential biomimicry offers, while at the same and to become a primary generator of thought
time teaching and advertising the right mindset. leadership in nature-inspired innovation in Ger-
many. In parallel we are involved in a program
for children, providing them with role models, a
What initiatives are you working on? Can you first step into our intended direction of K-12 bio-
highlight exciting German research groups work- mimicry education. Furthermore, we are work-
ing in the area of bio-inspired design? ing on a regenerative city model here in Berlin
that would serve as a catalyst for a paradigm
Resilient Berlin City
shift towards sustainable living. Meanwhile,
This project is aimed at creating a regener- we are forming a network with other European
ative city based on natural ecosystems. By Biomimicry regional partners aimed at trans-
integrating transport, energy and product national projects and policy reforms. Following
streams with production, end-users and ser- the example of Biomimicry 3.8, we plan to estab-
vice providers Berlin may transform into a lish an innovation-for-conservation program to
resilient city that is part of and not separate conserve the organism-habitat-ecosystem upon
from its environment. which innovations are based, ensuring it is rep-
licable and adaptable for non-profits, cities, and
Berlin Open Office
companies.
This crowd-funding project is aimed at direct-
ly involving the residents of Berlin in shap-
ing their immediate environment. We believe What inhibitors to success have you experienced?
that people cherish and protect what they like
The main obstacles to success are the mindset
and that they are more apt to like and appre-
of people and a conservative attitude towards
change. Successful designs have an open inter-
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Sunset in Berlin
Photo: robokow, 2007 | Flickr cc

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Pechstein
pretation as to what success implies. The in- the number of members joining the organiza-
dustrial revolution has definitely helped man- tion from outside the capital is increasing. Meet-
kind to come up with technical solutions to ing places at this stage are based in Berlin, how-
many societal problems. However, if we look ever already our projects now transcend the city
an inch deeper, many of these solutions are not boundaries and we are travelling the country to
regenerative or, at the least sustainable. Addi- present at conferences, in media and on stage.
tionally, there is a lot of waste generated as we
have failed to attain closed-loop systems. The
way nature evolves is a fantastic way to observe What is the best thing that you’ve done within
cooperative systems at work incorporating re- the last year? Ever?
silient and adaptable designs. We need to learn
Amongst the great things we have done this and
from nature’s clever design strategies. We need
last year was sit down, plan, and formulate the
to change our mindsets from selfish to symbiotic
launch of Biomimicry Germany. Germany has
in order to interact with our immediate environ-
been at the forefront of technological innova-
ment, with nature, and therefore with ourselves
tions over the last decades and the time is apt for
in the most positive ways.
launching this innovative win-win methodology
that will inspire various fields including science
and technology, architecture, and the energy
How are you sustained financially?
sector. We are equally proud of having partnered
A plethora of funding opportunities exist and with the D.School, which is undoubtedly a great
we are approaching various organizations in the place to bring brilliant, multidisciplinary-trained
European Union as well as independent institu- minds together to solve design challenges. Our
tions interested in promoting and supporting biggest achievement in the industrial realm is
sustainable innovation and education. So far, our close ties to the 3D printing sector. ⊗
though, this is in the initiation/application
phase and we are glad to have amazing people
full of energy, commitment and passion contrib- Contributed by Dr. Prateep Beed and Dr. Arndt Pech-
uting to the development of our organization stein (founders at Biomimicry Germany e.V.)
and helping the movement gain momentum.
What is you geographical “reach” within Ger-

many, and where are your members, meeting
places, project locations?
While we are based in Berlin and so are some
of our partners, we do act throughout Germany
and have partners in other locations. Currently,
most of our active members live in Berlin, but
Page 122 of 148

German Research:
(i) Bionics | Technical University Berlin | Prof. Ingo
Rechenberg
(ii) Medical Engineering | Fraunhofer Institute for

Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) | Optimizing and
improving the functionality of PDMS structures
across previously inhospitable environments:
http://www.ibmt.fraunhofer.de/en/Fields-of-
work/ibmt-medical-engineering-neuroprostet-
ics/ibmt-medical-engineering-neuroprosthet-
ics-biomimetics.html
(iii) Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology

(ILT) | Creating biomimetic scaffolds to support
tissue growth:
http://www.invitrojobs.com/index.php/en/ak-
tuelles-archiv/182-fraunhofer-ilt-erzeugt-bio-
mimetische-hybridstrukturen-fuer-die-regener-
ative-medizin.html
http://www.kurzweilai.net/lasers-create-bio-
mimetic-scaffolds-for-growing-cells
(iv) Biomimetics-Innovation-Center (B-I-C) Wide

array of research in areas such as animal loco-
motion, fluid dynamics, functional surfaces and
biological materials: http://bionik.fbsm.hs-bre-
men.de/pages_english/bic_startpage.html
October in Berlin
Photo: ilya ginzburg, 2008 | Flickr cc

The Hague Beach
Photo: Kent Wang, 2005 | Flickr cc
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World
Interview
Biomimicry Netherlands
Zygote Quarterly: zq07 | Fall 2013 | ISSN 1927-8314 | Pg 125

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148
zq07
Interview Saskia van den Muijsenberg
Saskia van den Muijsenberg is the co-founder of bio- innovators to sustainably emulate nature’s 3.8
mimicryNL, owner of nododo, and a Certified Biomim- billion years of brilliant designs and strategies
icry Professional with over 15 years of experience in throughout the Netherlands.
marketing, change management and strategic innov-
ation. With a variety of Fortune 500 companies (e.g.
Lead GameChanger Innovation Workshop Program Who is part of the group? How many members
with Shell), Saskia catalyzes innovation by enabling do you have? Are there different types of mem-
others to explore life’s design strategies to develop bership? Are you structured via a specific organ-
new ideas into real business opportunities. izational model?
Currenly, she is involved in a number of innovation We are set up as a not-for-profit organization
projects. Saskia is also an instructor for Biomimicry (social entrepreneur would describe our activi-
3.8’s (8 month) European Biomimicry Specialist Pro- ties better but there’s no such legal entity in
gram. NL yet). We have no people on the pay roll, but
hire experts when and where needed, includ-
Born and raised on the coastal city of The Hague, the
ing ourselves. We essentially are a network or-
Netherlands, Saskia’s love of nature was born on the
ganization, forming cooperative relationships
beach, where you can find her especially on windy
as needed. We evaluate ourselves against the
days.
“Life’s Principles” on a regular basis.
How did you get started?

What other organizations are you linked to?
We, the three founders of biomimicryNL (Bas
Biomimicry 3.8 and its regional biomimicry net-
Sanders, Annette Schumer and Saskia van den
work alliance. We have strong relationships with
Muijsenberg) didn’t know each other before we
Technical University Delft, Ministry of Econom-
started our not-for-profit organization. The link-
ics, draaijer+partners (built environment), BELW
ing pin between the three of us was Biomimic-
Advies (ecological consultancy), Bionicacentrum
ry 3.8. Each one of us learned about biomimicry
Groningen, Biokon (Germany) and are currently
through either Janine Benyus or Dayna Bau-
building relations with MVO Nederland (CSR NL)
meister and expressed the wish to start some-
and ‘Het Groene Brein’ (= ‘The Green Brain’, net-
thing similar in the Netherlands and it was
work of scientists for a sustainable and regener-
Dayna who introduced us to each other.
ative economy).
What is your mission statement?

Our mission is very similar to that of Biomimicry
3.8 (but with a regional focus): to train, equip,
and connect biologists, engineers, educators,
architects, designers, business leaders, and other
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Terschelling | Photo: marcoderksen2013 | Flickr cc
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What initiatives are you working on? Can you organize our ‘consultancy’ work (should it be a
highlight exciting Dutch research groups working separate company etc.).
in the area of bio-inspired design?
We signed a ‘Green Deal’ with some parties
What inhibitors to success have you experienced?
(private and public) along with our Ministry of
Economics to develop a biomimicry knowledge Although everybody is interested in the field, it’s
infrastructure for the Netherlands, with the ob- hard to get businesses to really commit to bio-
jective of initiating 50 biomimicry projects by mimicry and start experimenting with it. I think
2020. We created a roadmap with a network of for most businesses the vision is exciting but
100 people interested in biomimicry from gov- they are not sure how to start. Finding ways that
ernment, industry, science, and education, fo- bring them value right now while taking small
cusing on 3 main areas: steps to a more desirable future state is the key.
1) promote nature-inspired innovation and Another issue, especially for education, is that
R&D through projects such as bio-climatic biomimicry is interdisciplinary and most insti-
buildings based on ecological performance tutions are not organized in that way. Breaking
standards; a life-friendly chemistry lab con- silos takes time. We also found that people think
necting scientists and business; a nutrients they should be able to practice biomimicry after
(phosphate) recycling project a 3-day workshop. The truth is that doing ‘deep’
biomimicry is pretty hard and requires practice.
2) embed biomimicry in education from K-12
Finally it is very hard to find financial support
to post university by influencing the Human
for ‘awareness’ activities, with which it all starts.
Capital Agenda of various top industry sec-
It’s also difficult to find funding for the first re-
tors, training educators, etc.
search phase, as there are no guarantees you will
3) connect relevant parties to each other and actually find something useful. Once you have
initiate new projects proof of evidence and are ready to build proto-
types it’s much easier to raise funding.
What are your plans for the future?

How are you sustained financially?
The implementation of our biomimicry roadmap
(until 2020) will keep us busy. Right now our net- We currently have an assignment from our Min-
work consists of mainly individuals interested in istry of Economics and some funding to put to-
the topic of biomimicry. We want to further con- wards additional fundraising, but we put a lot of
nect them and facilitate biomimicry projects. We free time and energy into it.
try to link our work with other networks and get
more people to ‘plug in’ biomimicry in their daily
work. Bringing biomimicry into education is an-
other big focus. Also, we’re thinking how to best
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What is you geographical “reach” within The Dutch Research:

Netherlands, and where are your members, meet-
TU Delft:
ing places, project locations?
Biomechanical engineering / bio-inspired med-
The Netherlands is small and we cover the whole
ical instruments (Minimally Invasive Surgery and
country. Members are in every thinkable indus-
Interventional Techniques, http://www.misit.nl)
try and all over the country.
– Paul Breedveld, endoscope based on squid ten-
tacles http://www.tudelft.nl/en/current/latest-
news/article/detail/vici-voor-verdere-ontwik-
What is the best thing that you’ve done within
keling-mechanische-inktvis-in-de-chirurgie/
the last year? Ever?
Pfft, too difficult a question. I’m proud of how
much we’ve achieved in a relatively short time. University Utrecht:
We got a lot of traction and found lots of people
Available Phd positions. There are many bio-in-
that want to bring it further. I’m also proud of
spired polymer and nanoscale energy conversion
how we work together. We started an organ-
positions: http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/
ization without knowing each other at all, yet
science/employer-directory/29533
it worked really well because of shared vision,
transparency of intentions and communication.
We are also proud of the fact that biomimicry is
Climate Design & Sustainability Onderzoeksgroep
now mentioned in our national nature conserva-
Green Building Innovation – Andy van der Dob-
tion policy and is getting some traction within
belsteen based on http://hetgroenebrein.nl/
various innovation agendas. ⊗
wetenschappers/andy-van-den-dobbelsteen/,
van den Dobbelsteen is the “Chair Climate De-
sign & Sustainability Research Green Building In-
novation” at TU Delft
Biomimicry and Philosophy: Vincent Blok – ex-

ploring the ethics of biomimetic innovation
through the analysis of the concept of one-to-
one transferability
“The Ethics of Ecological Innovation. Biomim-
icry and Biomimesis as a new way of Thinking
and Acting Ecologically” (V. Blok, B. Gremmen, S.
van der Hout), paper presentation at the annual
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meeting of the Onderzoeksschool Wijsbegeerte Adaptive building systems - Patrick Teuffel
(OZSW), November 15-16 2013, Rotterdam (The http://www.tue.nl/en/employee/ep/e/d/ep-
Netherlands) uid/20127209/
Technical university Enschede: Industrial Design Department: http://www.

nextnature.net/ Koert van Mensvoort
MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology
University of Groningen:
Development of cricket-insipred sensor (Crick-
ethair) for imaging entire flow patterns. ‘Non- Fluid mechanics and locomotion - Eize Stamhuis
resonant parametric amplification in biomimetic
http://bionik.fbsm.hs-bremen.de/pages_eng-
hair flow sensors: selective gain and tunable fil-
lish/gi_staffmembers.html
tering’ written by H. Droogendijk, C.M. Bruinink,
R.G.P. Sanders and G.J.M. Krijnen will appear in
Applied Physics Letters and has already been pub-
Businesses:
lished online by the journal.
O-foil, http://www.ofoil.nl/en/ (Bio-inspired
h t t p : // w w w. n a n o t e c h - n o w. c o m /n e w s .
wing propulsion for ships)
cgi?story_id=47088
Groasis, http://www.groasis.com/en (Beat hun-

Technical University Eindhoven:
ger and desertification inspired by nature)
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Tiilikkajärvi National Park, Finland | Southern and northern natural features mix in this park forming an ecotone of forest
and swamp types.
Photo: Janne, 2012 | Fotopedia Commons
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Proposal
Developing a
Common Ground
for Learning
from Nature
Norbert Hoeller, Ashok Goel, Catalina
Freixas, Randall Anway, Antony
Upward, Filippo Salustri, Janice
McDougall, and Kamelia Miteva

zq07
fall 2013 Tools Authors:
Developing a Common Norbert Hoeller, Ashok Goel,
Ground for Learning from Catalina Freixas, Randall An-
Nature way, Antony Upward, Filippo
Salustri, Janice McDougall,
and Kamelia Miteva
Developing a Common Ground

Background, Motivation and Goals seeking creative solutions for complex problems,
with sustainability being one among multiple
The potential for tapping nature’s storehouse
goals. While nature as the source of inspiration
of solutions, solution pathways and
is common to all, B3D would benefit from a con-
systems’ principles has captured the world’s
sensus on what B3D encompasses and what con-
imagination, especially after the publication
stitutes its ‘best practices’ in terms of methods
of Benyus’ Biomimicry, Innovation Inspired
and outcomes.
by Nature (1997). A growing number of
proponents have been using biomimicry, Perhaps the diversity of the B3D community is
biomimetics and biologically inspired design a consequence of its ambitious goals and rapid
(B3D for short, pronounced “B-cubed-D”) in growth. Nevertheless, it is clear that this divers-
diverse contexts and employing a wide range ity has a cost. Gleich et al. (2010) identified four
of approaches. The language and cultural recognized biomimetic networks with academic
issues that challenge effective communication roots in Europe (two in Germany and two in the
in the practice of B3D among experts in the UK) but found evidence for only low levels of col-
biological and technological domains are well laboration within and amongst these networks.
known. There are also communication issues A search on keywords associated with the broad-
within the B3D community itself, exemplified er concept of “learning from nature” identified
by the proliferation of terms used to describe extensive B3D activities in Britain, China, France,
what we do: biomimicry, biomimetics, Germany, Japan and the USA. These activities
bioinspiration, biologically inspired design, were often not associated with the official bio-
biologically inspired engineering, bionics, mimetic networks but instead were aligned with
biognosis, bioreplication, biomorphosis, and so traditional disciplines such as biology, chemistry,
on. B3D is intended to represent the common engineering, and material sciences. Again, these
elements underlying these diverse terms. groups were largely working independently. B3D
initiatives were often tied to specific institutions
Proponents of B3D often adopt very different
or even to specific individuals within those insti-
stances. Some are motivated by biophilia, a
tutions. Furthermore, limited collaboration was
term coined by E. O. Wilson (1984) that refers to
found between B3D practitioners in industry or
humankind’s “innate tendency to focus on life
business and researchers in academia.
and lifelike processes”. Some are keenly interest-
ed in sustainability, repairing society’s fractious Building a consensus on the essence of what B3D
relationship with nature and enabling “the pos- means could encourage a productive dialogue
sibility that human and other life will flourish on across disciplinary boundaries, increase collabor-
the planet forever” (Ehrenfeld, 2008). Others are ation and lay the foundation of a B3D commun-
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Mycena interrupta
Photo: JJ Harrison, 2010 | Wikimedia Commons

zq07
and Kamelia Miteva
ity. It could also help integrate the perceptual, increase the credibility of B3D by framing the
analytical, cognitive and affective aspects of B3D. development of a research-based body of B3D
Fragmentation impedes the effectiveness of B3D trans-disciplinary work that continues to pro-
practice by inhibiting the free exchange and dis- mote innovation supporting social, economic,
cussion of approaches, methods and tools. Shar- and environmental values.
ing and evaluating a broad range of approaches
to practicing B3D would help improve scalability,
repeatability and predictability, essential for de- Characteristics of a Common Ground for B3D
fining the best models, methods and tools ne-
It is important to recognize the diversity of views
cessary to establish B3D as a credible community
in B3D. However, it is equally important to iden-
of practice and a recognized discipline.
tify and build on the underlying unity of meth-
The lack of a generally accepted standard for ods and outcomes of learning from nature. We
research and evaluation can lead to claims of propose the following main characteristics of a
uncertain authenticity that challenge the cred- common ground for B3D.
ibility of B3D. A web search of “biomimicry”, “bio-
Inclusive: At this early stage of development of
mimetics”, “biologically inspired design” or simi-
B3D when there are many possible paths for-
lar terms yields a large number of articles and
ward, a wide diversity of B3D perspectives and
images including the Mercedes-Benz concept car
approaches need to be embraced.
mimicking the aerodynamics of the boxfish and
the Eastgate building in Harare (Zimbabwe) imi- Nurturing collaboration among scientists (such
tating ventilation in termite mounds. Questions as biologists, physicists and chemists), design-
have been repeatedly raised as to the depth of ers (such as architects, engineers, industrial and
the biological research involved in these cases organizational designers), entrepreneurs and in-
(Gebeshuber, Gruber & Drack, 2009), the com- novators (business and social) is fundamental to
pleteness of the biological model and accuracy B3D. Creating conditions that encourage bound-
of its transfer to design (Turner & Soar, 2008) ary or edge effects similar to an ecotone (http://
and whether nature was used to primarily ex- www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/178617/
plain, justify and communicate the designs after ecotone) can generate unexpected encounters
the fact. leading to novel ideas and new perspectives on
3 existing concepts. Julian Vincent et al. (2006),
In spite of the many genuine examples of B D
among others, emphasized the importance of
and the rapidly growing number of B3D pa-
convergence, not only in generating new con-
pers, patents and products (Bonser & Vincent,
cepts but also in identifying opportunities where
2007), dubious claims often found in parts of
B3D can demonstrate its unique value.
the popular media can damage the reputation
of B3D in the eyes of pragmatic members of in- Embedded: For B3D to be effective, proponents
dustry and business or researchers in academia. must actively engage supporters and critics in
Working towards a common ground based on institutional, industrial, regulatory, legislative
shared goals, values and practices would help and commercial settings. Effective internal and
Page 138 of 148

external feedback loops enmeshed within the which led to ways of improving the efficiency
complex networks of research, education and of LEDs. Although Bay et al. collaborated with
practice should be established. B3D needs to act- domain experts in biology and LED manufactur-
ively explore and strengthen its relationships to ing, her team’s unique knowledge of optics con-
the other systems on which its success depends. tributed new insights to both domains by apply-
ing practices that are distinct from those used in
Flexible: In its current stage of development,
either domain.
rapid advances in different aspects of B3D can
be expected. Instead of following a pre-deter- Linked to Related Research: The development
mined path forward, B3D should adapt and take of B3D could be accelerated by building two-
advantage of advances within its own and re- way linkages between B3D and other fields of
lated fields. research. This includes not only research in the
natural sciences (such as physics, chemistry, biol-
One example is the recent interest in additive
ogy and ecology) but also research in social, cog-
manufacturing and 3D printing to imitate some
nitive, design, systems, organizational and man-
of the assembly operations in nature. Another
agement sciences (including systems thinking,
involves fast-paced advances in nanotechnology
analogical reasoning, self-organization of com-
that may solve current limitations in developing
plex systems, as well as cultural diffusion and
hierarchically structured and adaptive materials.
economic impact of innovations). In addition to
Green chemistry is yet another promising area
bringing an established and recognized body of
for rapid growth.
knowledge to B3D, this collaboration could cre-
3
Trans-disciplinary: B D practitioners have trad- ate opportunities for both pure and applied/ac-
itionally focused on transferring or translating tion research in these related fields.
knowledge between the natural and techno-
Situated: The practice of B3D should be deeply
logical domains. For example, B3D is sometimes
situated in nature and grounded in the study of
understood in terms of “challenge-to-biology” or
dynamic, living systems. Nature is living: life in
“biology-to-design” pathways (http://biomimicry.
nature is not only situated in a context, but also
net/about/biomimicry/biomimicry-designlens/
evolves alongside the context. The products of
biomimicry-thinking/). While these pathways
B3D should connect with and live in their nat-
are useful, a complementary approach involves
ural and technological contexts. B3D encourages
identifying or creating shared spaces between
looking beyond the artifact being designed to
domains that integrate knowledge across disci-
explore its dynamic “relationship to place”
plines and inform both domains. In general, B3D
(http://www.regenesisgroup.com/Services/
enables innovation by engaging practices that
UnderstandingRelationshiptoPlace), not just in
span both biology and design, are distinct from
the present but over its entire lifecycle.
methods used in either domain and encourage
a deeper form of collaboration. It is important to recognize that humans are an
integral part of nature. Urbanization and indus-
Annick Bay et al. (2012) explored the optical
trialization have separated significant popula-
properties of the Photuris firefly’s abdomen

zq07
and Kamelia Miteva
tions from nature; B3D can reconnect us with signs. While the latter claim is intuitively appeal-
nature in ways that can help address the far- ing, supporting evidence is at present unclear.
reaching social, economic and environmental While it is important to embrace sustainability
challenges we face individually and collectively. as an aspirational goal, it is also important to
quantitatively demonstrate the sustainability of
Results-oriented: Emphasizing results encour-
B3D systems in practice.
ages the mobilization of knowledge to solve
real problems. B3D programs should reflect the Transformative: B3D has the potential to drive
needs of B3D practitioners by organizing resour- significant, multi-faceted innovation, encour-
ces around design practices. This in turn requires aging new ways of thinking about humankind’s
a deeper understanding of B3D practice that is relationship with the natural world (which in-
not only descriptive but also explanatory. Prac- cludes humans) and new approaches to driving
titioners must be empowered to act, recognizing change in society. Gleich et al. (2010) suggest
that the promise of success never comes with- that B3D is particularly well suited for dealing
out the risk of failure and that results have value, with complex challenges where existing ap-
whatever the outcome. proaches are no longer adequate. The practice
of B3D will benefit from research into how com-
Evidence-based: A commitment to building a
plex natural systems develop and adapt while
body of verifiable evidence relating to the pro-
remaining resilient. B3D can deliver not just a
cess (the ‘how’) and the outcomes or functions
novel building inspired by nature but also shape
(the ‘why’) of B3D will enhance its credibility. As
the building’s relationships to the community
described previously, some case studies often
3 and habitat such that the building plays a posi-
cited as examples of B D do not bear close scru-
tive, multi-faceted role over its lifespan.
tiny. In others, nature is used to explain or jus-
tify a design solution, rather than generate one. Interface, a carpet manufacturing company, is
A deliberate effort at documenting, reviewing an example of how B3D can deliver both en-
and re-evaluating the processes and results in vironmental and economic benefits (Anderson
the practice of B3D is critical. Developing met- & White, 2009). The PAX Streamlining Principle
rics relevant to the practice discipline would ap- (http://paxscientific.com/flow/) demonstrates
propriately recognize prevailing practice and en- that it is possible to leap-frog the small improve-
courage practitioners to exceed current levels of ments in efficiency often associated with mature
achievement. technologies. William McDonough and Michael
Braungart’s (2002) idea of creating a technical
For example, it is often claimed that nature is
metabolic stream has transformed the way
sustainable, in the sense that natural systems
products are designed in those countries that
appear to be more sustainable than technologic-
have adopted ‘manufacturer take-back’ legis-
al systems. Aside from issues of scale, this first
lation. John Todd’s (1984) Living Machines have
claim is sometimes extrapolated to assert that
helped break down the ‘just move the waste
therefore all B3D products, processes and sys-
elsewhere’ mentality. Odum (1969) advocat-
tems are more sustainable than traditional de-
ed the use of ecological succession in natural
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Beetle Lifecycle: Mealworm (Larva)
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and Kamelia Miteva
Characteristic Benefits
Inclusive Provides a common ground for discussion, research and action to create
opportunities for rapid learning and growth
Embedded Identifies and engages partners, builds strong feedback loops and seeks
3
constructive discourse in diverse settings to firmly ground B D within its
broader context
3
Flexible Adapts to and leverages rapid advances in B D and related fields,
encouraging a spirit of discovery and exploration
Trans-disciplinary Transcends the exchange of knowledge between disciplines towards a

true integration of methods and knowledge across disciplines that spurs
advances in both disciplines
Linked to related Accelerates progress through engagement in ongoing work of related
research research disciplines, creating mutually beneficial opportunities for
advancement
3
Situated Grounds B D through observing, understanding and responding to the
natural world, encourages recognizing and strengthening the relationship
of design solutions to the natural ecosystems and human communities in
which they are embedded
Results-oriented Encourages addressing real problems, focuses on practitioner needs and
3
reinforces the relevance of B D in a broad range of contexts
Evidence-based Requires documentation to support claims and replication of results,

3
increasing the credibility and relevance of B D
Transformative Encourages innovative ways of thinking about humankind’s relationship

with nature and new approaches to driving changes in society that
support growth, renewal and regeneration
Table 1: Characteristics of a Common Ground for B3D
Page 142 of 148

ecosystems as a principle for designing indus- This preliminary proposal seeks to create a net-
trial ecosystems. Namibia Breweries, in which work by engaging a broad spectrum of B3D pro-
the waste of one industrial ecosystem is food ponents, identifying areas of common interest,
for a related ecosystem, could be an applica- fostering a discussion of core principles and
tion of this principle (http://www.sdearthtimes. values, agree on an over-arching name and lay-
com/et0101/et0101s7.html). Whenever possible, ing the groundwork for developing a set of best
B3D practices that are similarly transformative practices through applied research. It also sug-
should be promoted. gests questions for further discussion and ex-
ploration through projects, studies, experiments
Table 1 summarizes the set of characteristics that
and results which might demonstrate that B3D
could become the basis of a common ground
leads to solutions that are more likely to be sus-
among B3D proponents for learning from nature.
tainable. Stimulating discussions and encour-
aging broad-based research in the field can help
build a stronger and closer B3D community that
Next Steps
not only promotes sustainability, but is itself
Thomas Kuhn (1962) famously described dif- more sustainable.
ferent stages in the development of a science:
Discussions are underway to plan for a face-to-
pre-scientific (no agreement on a paradigm or
face workshop that will attract a cross-section
commonly accepted methods), normal (a single
of the B3D community. The workshop will lever-
paradigm and related methods characterizing
age the diverse perspectives and expertise of the
the discipline), and revolutionary (accumula-
participants to identify key initiatives that will
tion of data conflicting with the current para-
further the goals outlined in this article. If you
digm leads to the emergence of a new para-
3 are passionate about building a B3D discipline,
digm). B D as an emerging field of inquiry and
please see http://bioinspired.sinet.ca/content/
practice is in the early, pre-scientific stage of
b3d-workshop-initiative for the current status
development. The ultimate goal is to become
and ways to get involved. ⊗
a credible and recognized discipline supported
by a network of trans-disciplinary research and
practice. Yet, it is also important that as a new
discipline B3D has room - and plenty of it - for
exploration, experimentation, serendipity, risk-
taking, and failure. Transformative work emer-
ges through challenging limits and reframing
the inevitable failures into opportunities. Com-
puter science is an example of a modern disci-
pline with a sound theory and well-established
communities of practice that has also supported
almost continuous discoveries, innovations and
revolutions.

zq07
and Kamelia Miteva
Acknowledgements: We thank our colleagues

Petra Gruber, Ray Lucchesi, Tom McKeag, Karen
Verbeek and Marc Weissburg for their contribu-
tions to the concepts explored in this article. We
also thank Chris Allen, Nikolay Bogatyrev, Wendy
Green, Shoshanah Jacobs, Philip Ling, Ana Mc-
Arthur, Sherry Ritter, Megan Schuknecht, Bry-
ony Schwan, Ethan Smith, Julian Vincent, Mike
Westdijk and Faye Yoshihara for their feedback
on drafts of the article.
Author Bio
The authors are members of a Think Tank supporting

the BID Community (http://bioinspired.sinet.ca) that
was launched in 2010 to serve a growing community
of practice. The BID Community is currently working
towards a consensus on the core elements of B3D in-
cluding an unambiguous way to investigate, define
and organize its practice and knowledge. The Think
Tank represents a wide range of perspectives and
views through our backgrounds in science, engineer-
ing, architecture, computing and design as well as
our roles as active B3D practitioners, educators and
researchers.
Xylem element in the shoot of a fig tree (Ficus alba)

Photo: Zaoui58, 2005 | Wikimedia Commons
Page 144 of 148

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Bay, A., André, N., Sarrazin, M., Belarouci, A., Todd, J. (1994). From eco-cities to living machines:
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lutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

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Zygote Quarterly: zq07 | Fall 2013 | ISSN 1927-8314 | Pg 5 of 148

Translation introduce a new section of our magazine that

Special Feature: “Looking back, looking forward”

People: Interview with

Book: Architecture Follows Nature

World: Interview with

Proposal: Developing a Common Ground for Learning

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Organisms from many dif-

The fossil coral Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus

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This biogenic process is hap-

Scanning Electronic micrography of deproteinized trabecular bone -

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In general, cells form the

Osteoclast in cell culture

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Spiny sea shell mollusk

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Brent Constantz has gone on to found three

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Jewels of the Desert

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Calcium oxalate in saguaro

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A Conversation with Janine Benyus, auth-

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Feather locking | W R Ogilvie Grant, 1921

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Baitball! Kona, Hawaii

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Resurrection Plant, Rose of Jericho, Anastatica hierochuntica

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3D printing, and an AskNature hackathon that

We thank Janine Benyus for sharing her insights and

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suspend objects slightly off of the glass. I do

How has your art/style changed since you first

“These, I, Singing in Spring Collect...”

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What are your favorite 3-5 websites, and why?

Blue Turkey Tail Fungi | Trametes versicolor

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