BIOMIMICR

Designers and engineers are constantly searching for inspiration to solve their problems. One source of inspiration that has been used to
some degree for centuries is nature, which has helped solve many problems of humanity through biological forms, mechanisms, systems,
and analogies. In the industrial design-world this trend has previously not been too evident, but lately there have been serious attempts to
tap nature for design-inspiration. This practice is referred to as “biomimicry”; innovation inspired by nature.

Sayali Said
Sr.no-59
WHAT IS
BIOMIMICRY?
Biomimicry or biomimetics is the imitation of
the models, systems, and elements of nature for
the purpose of solving complex human
problems.

‘From my designer’s perspective, I ask: Why can’t I design a building like a tree? A
building that makes oxygen, fixes nitrogen, sequesters carbon, distils water, builds
soil, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates
microclimates, changes colours with the seasons and self replicates.
This is using nature as a model and a mentor, not as an inconvenience.
It’s a delightful prospect…’
(McDonough and Braungart, 1998)
BIOMIMETIC ARCHITECTURE

Biomimetic architecture is a contemporary philosophy of architecture that seeks solutions for sustainability in nature, not by replicating the
natural forms, but by understanding the rules governing those forms. It is a multi-disciplinary approach to sustainable design that follows a set of
principles rather than stylistic codes. It is part of a larger movement known as biomimicry, which is the examination of nature, its models,
systems, and processes for the purpose of gaining inspiration in order to solve man-made problems.
HISTOR
Y
Throughout history, architects have looked to nature for inspiration for building forms and approaches to
decoration. Biomorphism, or the incorporation of natural existing elements as inspiration in design, originated possibly with
the beginning of man-made environments and remains present today.

•The Sagrada Familia church by

Antoni Gaudi begun in 1882 is a
well-known example of using nature’s
functional forms to answer a
structural problem.

•He used columns that modeled the

branching canopies of trees to solve
statics problems in supporting the
vault.
Greeks and Romans- natural motifs into
design such as the tree- inspired
columns.

Late Antique and Byzantine- arabesque tendrils are stylized versions of the
acanthus plant.
The TWA terminal at John F Kennedy Airport, New York, in
which Eero Saarinen used biomorphic forms to capture the
poetry of flight.
Frank Lloyd Wright likened the columns in the Johnson Wax
building to water lilies and, while they create a spectacular space,
they have nothing functionally in common with lily leaves.

Le Corbusier appears to
have made deliberate
reference to the cleansing
function of kidneys in
Burdock burr were the source of inspiration for George de the design of the
Mestral – the Swiss engineer who invented Velcro. Apparently after washrooms for the
some recent frustration with zips, he noticed the way that burdock inbuilt Olivetti
burrs clung to his dog’s coat and, after studying them with a Headquarters project.
magnifying glass, designed the first version of the now ubiquitous
fastening.
APPROACHES TO
BIOMIMICRY
Approaches to biomimicry as a design process typically fall into two categories:

1.Defining a human need or design problem and looking to the ways other organisms or ecosystems solve this, termed here design
looking into biology

2. Identifying a particular characteristic, behavior or function in an organism or ecosystem and translating that into human designs,
referred to as biology influencing design

BIONIC CAR
1. DESIGN LOOKING INTO BIOLOGY BY DAIMLER
• The approach where designers look to the living world CHRYSLER
for solutions requires designers to identify problems and
biologists to then match these to organisms that have • In looking to create a large
solved similar issues. volume, small wheel base car,
the design for the car was based
• Biological analogues are matched with human identified on the boxfish (ostracion
design problems but the issue of how buildings relate to meleagris), a surprisingly
each other and the ecosystems they are part of is not aerodynamic fish given its box
examined. like shape.
• The chassis and structure of
DISADVANTAGE: the car are also
biomimetic, having been
designed using a computer
Designers are able to research potential biomimetic solutions modeling method based upon
without an in depth scientific understanding or even how trees are able to grow in a
collaboration with a biologist or ecologist if they are able to way that minimizes stress
observe organisms or ecosystems or are able to access concentrations.
available biological research. • The resulting structure looks
With a limited scientific understanding however, translation of almost skeletal, as material is
such biological knowledge to a human design setting has the allocated only to the places where
potential to remain at a shallow it is most needed
level.
2. BIOLOGY
INFLUENCING DESIGN

When biological knowledge influences

human design, the collaborative design
process is initially dependant on people
having knowledge of relevant biological or
ecological research rather than on
determined human design problems.

ADVANTAGE:

Biology may influence humans in ways that

might be outside a predetermined design
problem, resulting in previously unthought-of
technologies or systems or even
approaches to design solutions.

DISADVANTAGE:

Biological research must be conducted and

then identified as relevant to a design
context. Biologists and ecologists must
therefore be able to recognize the potential of
their research in the creation of novel LOTUSAN
applications. PAINT BY STO
The scientific analysis of the lotus flower emerging clean from swampy waters,
which led to many design innovations like Sto’s Lotusan paint which enables
buildings to be self cleaning.
THREE LEVELS OF BIOMIMICRY

ORGANISM BEHAVIOUR ECOSYSTEM

 ORGANISM
•
LEVEL
Species of living organisms have typically been evolving for millions of years.
• Those organisms that remain on Earth now have the survival mechanisms that have withstood and adapted to
constant changes over time.
• On the organism level, the architecture looks to the organism itself, applying its form and/or functions to a
building.
• Functions and responses to a larger context have to be kept in mind too, as organisms are
a part of an ecosystem.

MATTHEW PARKES’ HYDROLOGICAL CENTER

• Mimicking of the Namibian desert beetle, stenocara.
• The beetle lives in a desert with negligible rainfall.
• It is able to capture moisture however from the swift moving fog that moves over the desert by
tilting its body into the wind.
• Matthew Parkes of KSS Architects’ biomimicry at the organism level.
• Inspired by the beetle, proposed fog-catcher design for the Hydrological Center for the
University of Namibia.
• Surface of the beetle has been studied and mimicked to be used for other potential applications such as to clear fog from airport
BEHAVIOUR
LEVEL
• Buildings mimic how an organism behaves or relates to its larger context.
• On the level of the ecosystem, a building mimics the natural process and cycle of the greater
environment.
• Not the organism itself that is mimicked, but its behaviour.
• Behaviour level mimicry requires ethical decisions to be made about the suitability of what is being
mimicked for the human context.
• Not all organisms exhibit behaviours that are suitable for humans to mimic
• The danger exists that models of consumption or exploitation could be justified on the basis of how
another species behaves.
• For example, mimicking the building behaviour (and outcome of that) of termites might be
appropriate for the creation of passively regulated thermally comfortable buildings.
• But, mimicking the social structure of termite colonies would not be suitable however if
universal human rights are valued.
ECOSYSTEM
LEVEL
• Building mimics the natural process and cycle of the greater
environment.

• Ecosystem principles follow that ecosystems

(1) are dependent on contemporary sunlight;
(2) optimize the system rather than its components;
(3) are attuned to and dependent on local conditions;
(4) are diverse in components, relationships and information;
(5) create conditions favorable to sustained life; and
(6) adapt and evolve at different levels and at different rates.

Essentially, this means that a number of components and processes make up an

ecosystem and they must work with each other rather than against in order for
the ecosystem to run smoothly.

ADVANTAGE

Potential positive effects on overall environmental performance.

• Operates at both metaphoric level and at a practical functional level.
• METAPHORIC LEVEL - general ecosystem principles (based on how most
ecosystems work) are able to be applied by designers with little specific ecological
knowledge.
• FUNCTIONAL LEVEL - in-depth understanding of ecology drives the design of
a built environment that is able to participate in the major biogeochemical
material cycles of the planet .
THE SAHARA FOREST
PROJECT
INDUSTRIAL EXAMPLES
OF BIOMIMICRY
 EASTGATE
CENTRE
• Large office and shopping complex in Harare,
Zimbabwe.
• To minimize potential costs of regulating the
building’s inner temperature, looked to the self-
cooling mounds of African termites.

• The building has no air-conditioning or heating.

• The structure, however, does not have to look like a termite
mound to function like one and instead aesthetically draws
from indigenous Zimbabwean masonry.

Termite mounds include flues which vent through the top and sides, and
the mound itself is designed to catch the breeze. As the wind blows, hot
air from the main chambers below ground is drawn out of the structure,
helped by termites opening or blocking tunnels to control air flow.
 1) THE QATAR CACTI
BUILDING
• Uses the cactus’s relationship to its environment as a model for building in the desert.
• The functional processes silently at work are inspired by the way cacti sustain themselves in a dry, scorching
climate.
• Sun shades on the windows open and close in response to heat, just as the cactus undergoes transpiration at night rather than during
the day to retain water.
• The project reaches out to the ecosystem level in its adjoining botanical dome whose wastewater management
system follows processes that conserve water and has minimum waste outputs.
 2) LAVASA

• 8000-acre city planned for a region of India subject to monsoon flooding.

• Site’s original ecosystem was a moist deciduous forest before it had become an arid landscape.
• In response to the season flooding, the building foundations were designed to store water like the former trees
did.
• City rooftops mimic the banyan fig leaf looking to its drip-tip system that allows water to run off
while simultaneously cleaning its surface.
• The strategy to move excess water through channels is borrowed from local harvester ants, which use
multi- path channels to divert water away from their nests.
3) BEIJING NATIONAL
STADIUM
INSPIRATION: BIRD’S NEST
Drawing from the structural strength
and beauty of natural objects is a
growing trend as architects and
designers today have become
increasingly interested in the efficient
use of energy and materials. Beijing
national stadium, designed by Swiss
architects Herzog and de Meuron, is an
excellent example of the use of these
bio-metric principles in
modern architecture. As implied by its
nickname a “birds nest”, the stadium
rises out of the landscape in the shape
of a giant upturned bird’s nest. The
seemingly random pattern of the steel
structural members as the twigs is
actually governed by advanced
geometrical rules to ensure a compact
and optimum design, the seating bowl
was established first, with the outer
facade wrapping around it. The design
ensures that all spectators are as close
as possible to the action and have a
clear sightline.
DESIGN CHALLENGES

1. TO PROVIDE THERMAL
COMFORT IN THE
STADIUM

• The exterior shell – inflated

cushions as a filler Just as a birds
stuff the spaces between the woven
twigs of their nests with a soft
filler, the spaces in the structure of
the stadium are filled with
inflated ETFE cushions.
• On the roof, the cushions will be
mounted on the outside of the
structure to make the roof
completely weatherproof.
• Whilst the rain is collected for
rainwater recuperation the sunlight
filters through the translucent roof
providing the lawn with essential
UV– Radiation.
• On the facade, the inflated
cushions will be mounted on the
inside of the structure where
necessary, e.g. to provide wind
protection.
2)PROVIDE BEST POSSIBLE
SPECTOR VIEW FROM ALL
DIRECTIONS
Sightlines and spectator Viewing: The
almost circular footprint optimizes the
viewing and atmosphere by bringing all
the spectators as close to the action as
possible. The stands are designed
without any
interruption to evoke the image of the
bowl. This evenly constructed shape
serves to focus attention on the
spectators and the events on the field.
The human crowd forms the
architecture.

3) COMPLEX STRUCTURAL
DESIGN
Since the entire structure is constructed
of steel and concrete with a combined
weight of around 50,000 tonnes. Hence,
computer simulation, synchronized
control, and structure monitoring
techniques

were all used to ensure

accurate operation, even
unloading and timely
observations. All these provided for a
structure that mutually supported each
other and converged into a grid-like
formation-almost like a bird’s nest
with its interwoven twigs. To form a
structure largely dominated by large
spans and digital screens.
4. EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE

Due to the fact that Beijing is located in an earthquake

zone, it was imperative to be able to withstand the earth’s
movement. By building the stadium in two separate parts,
including a steel lattice structure and a concrete bowl
separated by 50ft, the designers were able to create a
structure flexible enough to handle the considerable
seismic activity. The bird’s nest is prepared to withstand
an earthquake of up to magnitude 8 on the Richter scale.
The Stadium is the centrepiece of the Olympic Green, on an irregular
quadrangle of approximately 20.4ha. The terrain is relatively flat, with
ground elevations ranging from 42m to 47m, highest at the south-west corner
and lowest at the north-east corner. The position was chosen so that there
would be a gradual rise in level from the city road in the north-east,
forming a gentle slope up to the stadium plinth. The plinth connects
to the main concourse, level 1 of the stadium.

The temporary seats, which are mainly to the rear of the top tier, have
the least-favourable views and are located in zones that can be converted to
other revenue- generating use in the legacy mode.
The steel structure is painted light grey, contrasting with the red- painted
external concrete wall of the bowl, which is clearly visible through the
façade. This creates a variety of impressive visual effects, particularly when
lit at night.
 ARCHITECT EUGENE
• TSUI
Eugene Tsui is an architect based in California.
• Tsui is perhaps the first architect/designer in history to profoundly study, analyze and
implement the workings of natural phenomena, through an interdisciplinary approach, as a
basis for design at all scales including construction materials and methods.
• Tsui specializes in nature-influenced architecture, preferring shapes and forms
inspired by living creatures and natural constructions to standard rectilinear designs.
STRUCTURE 1-“OJA DEL SOL
YEN”
• Oja Del Sol Yen in California is the residence of the Tsui
Family, Designed by Eugene Tsui.

• It implements the evolutionary practices of nature as a

synthesis of a billion years of evolution applied to
immediate needs and circumstances of form, function and
purpose.

FORM
• The form is abstracted form the morphology of Tardigrade, which are a minor phyla of microscopic invertebrates also named water bears.

• They have 4 pairs of stumpy legs but are most closely related to certain worms.
• They can survive extreme of droughts and temperature even down to absolute zero and live for almost a century

•Tsui draws the geometry of the Tardigrades carapace (shell) – elliptical in plan with upper parabolic and lower catenary curves in
section.
•The roof comprises of a series of sprayed concrete parabolic arches supported on stressed wooden frames. It can
with stand extreme shocks such as earthquakes.

STRUCTU
RE
• The structural system is of recycled The upper floor
Styrofoam and cement blocks reinforced level trusses are
with steel and light weight concrete. modeled after a
• The continuous ellipse wall forms an seagull's
extremely durable shell. ( Lateral bone marrow to
rigidity) create an
overhead truss
.
system,
minimizing
material usage
and making it
light weight and
strong.
STRUCTURE 2- REYES
HOUSE
The Reyes House is residence in Oakland
deigned by
Eugene Tsui.

The building is dynamic and responds the

changing environment to maintain interior
conditions.

FORM
• The solarium is roofed with a pair of 6mt long
translucent fiber glass wings like those of dragonfly.
• They open and close responding to the exterior
environment to create a comfortable microclimate.
• From the outside, the structure stimulates a giant
insect/fly flapping its wings.
•The solarium is a glass, wood and stone structure
shaped into a truncated cone with winged roof the
opens and closes with the turn of a crank.

•The conical structure is interpreted from Barnacle,

organism that fixes itself to the rocks on the sea shores.

•The conical structure can resist and dissipate the

overturning forces.

• The dragonfly wing structure consist of primary rigid

elements at periphery and secondary cross bracings at the
interior.

• Curvilinear forms that are used are much more resistant

because of their resistance to tangential forces and they
also use less materials.

COEXISTANCE WITH NATURAL FORCES

• The conical shape from the Barnacle is one of the strongest shapes found in nature and can resist shocks. Thus, the
Reyes House has efficient resistance to earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes.

• The overturning forces are avoided due to its shape, lowering the center of gravity.
THERMAL
REGULATION
•The opening roof allows
cool air and sunlight to enter
the room directly and
maintains a comfortable
temperature.
•The conical form is also very
efficient in cooling as the
rising hot air is quickly
funneled out of the space.

SOME OTHER
EXAMPLES

WILSON ULTIMA
RESIDENCE TOWER
ARCHITECT MICHAEL
PAWLYN

BIOMIMICRY- INTERPRETATION
• Adapts ideas from natural organisms that have evolved responses to resource-
constrained environments.

APPROACH
• Self sustained, light weight structures.
• Used of light weight material.
• Use of various by-products as building material.
STRUCTURE 1 - THE
EDEN PROJECT
(ENGLAND)
• Largest botanical garden in the world
• Combines ecology, horticulture,
science, art and architecture.
• The challenge for this project was to
design buildings that provide the
environment to create different
microclimates.
GEODISC DOMES AS BIOMES
INSPIRATIONAL APPROACH
• Organism used as an approach to
biomimicry in architecture.
• Dragon fly wing – An element to interpret
organism
• The hexagonal pattern of biomes reflects to
the hexagonal impression of dragonfly wing.
• Spare heat used to heat the nearby buildings

NATURAL APPROACH
RETURNED AIR
WATER CONVERTED INTO
HEATED
ALLOWED TO WATER ELECTRICITY
BROUGHT BACK
PERCOLATE HEATED THROUGH HEAT
INTO HOT TO SURFACE
UPTO 150 deg EXCHANGERS
ROCKS
 DESIGN
• CONSIDERATION
Uninterrupted ground space needed on
ever changing ground surface of clay pit.
• Need for self sustained stable structure.
• light weight structure.
• Need for a self maintained and cleaning
structure.
• Need of maximum sunlight for
greenhouse effect.

• light weight structure.

•Need for a self maintained

and cleaning structure.

•Need of maximum sunlight

for greenhouse effect.

•WEB LIKE STRUCTURE WHICH

CAN STAND BY ITSELF
FOR
M
•Nature inspired the supremely
efficient structural form.
•Dragonfly wing used as interpretation for
hexagonal form.
•Geodesic dome considered to be the best self
sustaining form.
•The hexagonal pattern of biomes reflects to
the hexagonal impression of dragonfly wing.
• One of the lightest structures
•a building that is largely self-heating using
passive solar design principles.

STRUCTURE
•Dome shaped Hexagon membrane -
considered to be the most stable geometric
shape
• Use of Geodesic dome shaped
membrane.
• Light weight steel framing-
•weight of structure <the air
contained in structure
•ETFE membrane having weight less than
glass and more light.

Light less More Less energy Weight less than that of

weight use of light consumption contained air inside
structure steel structure structure
BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOK - BIOMIMICRY By - Sakthivel Ramaswamy

GRAPHIC DESIGN + BIOMIMICRY By - Margaret McKosky
BIOMIMICRY IN ARCHITECTURE BY - Michael Pawlyn

THESIS - AN EXPLORATION INTO BIOMIMICRY AND ITS APPLICATION IN

THE DIGITAL AND PARAMETRIC (ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN)

BIOMIMICRY AS A TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

DESIGN.

WEBSITES – www.wikipedia.com
www.eugenetsui.com
www.archdaily.com
www.exploration-architecture.com