GUIDED BY :
PROF VIJAY MATAI
JAHNAVI BHATT (02)
NAYRUTI MISTRY (10)
AASHKA PATEL (17)
SAMVIDA RAI (24)
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.
Fro y desig er s perspe tive, I ask: Why a t I desig a uildi g 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 prospe t…
(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.
HISTORY
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 Família church
by Antoni Gaudi begun in 1882 is a
well-known example of using
ature’s fu tio al for s to a s er a
structural problem. He used columns
that modeled the branching canopies
of trees to solve statics problems in
Greeks and Romans- natural motifs supporting the vault.
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
Burdock burr were the source of inspiration for George de Le Corbusier appears to have
Mestral – the Swiss engineer who invented Velcro. made deliberate reference to
Apparently after some recent frustration with zips, he the cleansing function of
oti ed the ay that urdo k urrs lu g to his dog’s oat kidneys in the design of the
and, after studying them with a magnifying glass, designed washrooms for the inbuilt
the first version of the now ubiquitous fastening Olivetti Headquarters project
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 to 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
1. DESIGN LOOKING TO BIOLOGY BIONIC CAR
• The approach where designers look to the living world BY DAIMLER CHRYSLER
for solutions requires designers to identify problems
and biologists to then match these to organisms that • In looking to create a large
have solved similar issues. volume, small wheel base car, the
• Biological analogues are matched with human identified design for the car was based on
design problems but the issue of how buildings relate to the boxfish (ostracion meleagris),
each other and the ecosystems they are part of is not a surprisingly aerodynamic fish
examined. given its box like shape.
• The chassis and structure of the
DISADVANTAGE: car are also biomimetic, having
Designers are able to research potential biomimetic been designed using a computer
solutions without an in depth scientific understanding or modeling method based upon
even collaboration with a biologist or ecologist if they are how trees are able to grow in a
able to observe organisms or ecosystems or are able to way that minimizes stress
access available biological research. With a limited concentrations.
scientific understanding however, translation of such • The resulting structure looks
biological knowledge to a human design setting has the almost skeletal, as material is
potential to remain at a shallow level. allocated only to the places where
it is most needed
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 applications.
LOTUSAN PAINT
BY STO
The scientific analysis of the lotus flower emerging clean from swampy
aters, hi h led to a y desig i o atio s 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.
• Matthe Parkes of KSS Ar hite ts’ io i i ry at the orga is le el.
• 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 runways and improve dehumidification equipment.
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.
EASTGATE CENTRE
• Large office and shopping complex in Harare,
Zimbabwe.
• To minimize potential costs of regulating the
uildi g’s i er te perature, 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.
THE QATAR CACTI BUILDING
• Uses the a tus’s relatio ship to its e iro e t as a odel for uildi g i 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.
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
LAVASA
• 8000-acre city planned for a region of India subject to monsoon flooding.
• Site’s origi al e osyste as a oist de iduous forest efore it had e o e a arid la ds ape.
• 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.
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.
OJA DEL “OL YEN
The 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.
• 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.
STRUCTURE
• 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
seagull's bone
• The continuous ellipse wall forms an marrow to create
extremely durable shell. ( Lateral rigidity) an overhead truss
system, minimizing
material usage and
making it light
weight and strong.
COEXISTANCE WITH NATURAL FORCES
The exterior walls are angled inward at 4 degrees to create a compressive structure with a low centre of gravity,
further aiding in the resistance to lateral turnover forces produced by strong earthquakes.
THERMAL REGULATION
Conceived by study of the bone and Subsurface solar air tubes are positioned on the roof which
capillary structures of Dinosaurs. covers much of the upper level of the house, aiding passive
The sail like plate structures are surrounded solar heating. Over the entrance(north), there is a laminar
by densely packed configured blood projection which also contains subsurface solar air tubes
vessels, warmed by sun rays, regulate the that are heated throughout the day and the stored heat is
body temperature. radiated back in the interiors at night.
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.
STRUCTURE
• 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 RESIDENCE ULTIMA TOWER
MICHAEL PAWLYN
BIOMIMICRY- INTERPRETATION
•Adapt 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.
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.
NATURAL APPROACH
RETURNED AIR
WATER CONVERTED INTO
HEATED
ALLOWED TO WATER HEATED ELECTRICITY
BROUGHT BACK
PERCOLATE INTO UPTO 150 deg THROUGH HEAT
TO SURFACE
HOT ROCKS EXCHANGERS
•Spare heat used to heat the nearby buildings
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
FORM
•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 weight less use More light Less energy Weight less than that of
structure of steel structure consumption contained air inside
structure
THE SAHARA FOREST PROJECT
•Main aim of project was to intervene at the
forest and desert boundaries to reverse
desertification
•Green house that rely on solar energy only.
•Zero waste system
•Project works on ecosystem level with some
cyclical system.
INSPIRATIONAL APPROACH
•NAMBIAN desert beetle used as an
inspirational approach.
•PRINCIPLE
BEETLE’s a ility to self-regulate its body
temperature by accumulating heat by day
and to collect water droplets that form on
its wings.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Two methods are used for humidification in arid zones like Sahara desert:
•Concentrated solar power system
•Seawater green house
CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER SYSTEM
Utilizes thousands of mirrors to focus
sunlight upon a water boiler, heating
it to over 1,000 Fahrenheit. This
generates steam, which in turn drives
a turbine to produce energy.
MIRROR
REFLECTANCE AND HEATING UPTO STEAM ENERGY PRODUCED BY
FOCUSING ON 1000 F. GENERATION TURBINES
BOILERS
SEAWATER GREEN HOUSE
SEAWATER HEATED BY COOLS DOWN FOR RETURNS IN FORM OF
EVAPORATION
SUNRAYS CLOUD FORMATION RAINFALL
REFRENCES
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
