Biomimicry in Architecture

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.

‘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.

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 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

Burdock burr were the source of inspiration for George de Mestral – the Swiss engineer who invented Velcro. Apparently after some recent frustration with zips, he noticed the way that burdock burrs clung to his dog’s coat and, after studying them with a magnifying glass, designed the first version of the now ubiquitous fastening

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 the design of the washrooms for the inbuilt 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 for solutions requires designers to identify problems and biologists to then match these to organisms that have solved similar issues. • Biological analogues are matched with human identified design problems but the issue of how buildings relate to each other and the ecosystems they are part of is not examined.

BY DAIMLER CHRYSLER

DISADVANTAGE: Designers are able to research potential biomimetic solutions without an in depth scientific understanding or even collaboration with a biologist or ecologist if they are able to observe organisms or ecosystems or are able to access available biological research. With a limited scientific understanding however, translation of such biological knowledge to a human design setting has the potential to remain at a shallow level.

• In looking to create a large volume, small wheel base car, the design for the car was based on the boxfish (ostracion meleagris), a surprisingly aerodynamic fish given its box like shape. • The chassis and structure of the car are also biomimetic, having been designed using a computer modeling method based upon how trees are able to grow in a way that minimizes stress concentrations. • The resulting structure looks almost skeletal, as material is 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 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 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 •

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• •

Large office and shopping complex in Harare, Zimbabwe. To minimize potential costs of regulating the building’s inner temperature, looked to the selfcooling 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 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.

ECOSYSTEM LEVEL • • (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Building mimics the natural process and cycle of the greater environment. Ecosystem principles follow that ecosystems are dependent on contemporary sunlight; optimize the system rather than its components; are attuned to and dependent on local conditions; are diverse in components, relationships and information; create conditions favorable to sustained life; and 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 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.

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 SOL 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 Styrofoam and cement blocks reinforced with steel and light weight concrete. • The continuous ellipse wall forms an extremely durable shell. ( Lateral rigidity)

• The upper floor level trusses are modeled after a seagull's bone marrow to create 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 capillary structures of Dinosaurs. The sail like plate structures are surrounded by densely packed configured blood vessels, warmed by sun rays, regulate the body temperature.

Subsurface solar air tubes are positioned on the roof which covers much of the upper level of the house, aiding passive solar heating. Over the entrance(north), there is a laminar projection which also contains subsurface solar air tubes that are heated throughout the day and the stored heat is 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.

INSPIRATIONAL APPROACH

GEODISC DOMES AS BIOMES

•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 WATER ALLOWED TO PERCOLATE INTO HOT ROCKS

WATER HEATED UPTO 150 deg

•Spare heat used to heat the nearby buildings

HEATED BROUGHT BACK TO SURFACE

RETURNED AIR CONVERTED INTO ELECTRICITY THROUGH HEAT EXCHANGERS

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