Mother Nature, Designer

By Nicola Davies

At the recent LA Motor Show, biomimicry took center stage. Responding to the theme "Biomimicry and Mobility 2025: Nature's Answer to Human Challenges," designers showed off vehicles inspired by creatures ranging from silkworms to kangaroos. The show demonstrated how fascinating and functional nature is, and how intricate designs and patterns found in nature can lead to innovation. So how exactly does biomimicry translate to city and neighborhood design?

Origins and uses

Janine Benyus, biologist and innovation consultant at Biomimicry 3.8 (a Montana-based nonprofit), defines biomimicry as "the new science that studies nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems." On a recent video she explained, "Learning about the natural world is one thing. Learning from the natural world; that's the switch." 

The word itself comes from the Greek words bios (life) and mimesis (imitate), essentially meaning life-imitation. Adiel Gavish, founder of BiomimicryNYC, put it another way during a conversation: "Biomimicry is a science which studies nature's best sustainable and regenerative design practices and techniques. It is an art which applies those strategies to man-made systems, products, and services in order to create conditions conducive to life."

It was in 1997, when Benyus published her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, that biomimicry officially took off as a concept useful in urban design and architecture. However, one of the earliest known examples of biomimicry in architecture is that of the Crystal Palace in London, built in 1851 and designed by gardener Joseph Paxton. The structure, made entirely of iron, glass, and wood, was based on the design of a species of lily pad known as Victoria amazonica. The idea came to Paxton when he noticed that the apparently fragile leaves of these giant lily pads could support the weight of an adult person. Using a cast iron framework of small repeating patterns, based on the ribs and stems of a lily pad, a structure was created to support a large area of glass: the Crystal Palace.

Since then, it has become widely recognized that biomimicry goes beyond merely copying nature; some experts contend that it is the foundation upon which all design and planning should build. According to this line of thought, by studying nature and the biological systems of all life, designs can be adapted and transformed from structures that drain resources and energy into entire ecosystems that benefit communities, cities, and the planet.

Natural ecosystems of course thrive in specific environments and contribute to sustaining them. This is the ultimate goal — and biggest challenge — of planning and designing a biomimicked city, or even a single building designed on those principles. According to Michael Pawlyn, director of Exploration Architecture Ltd., at the University of Bath in the UK, "biomimicry will allow us to go beyond standard approaches to sustainable design to achieve restorative solutions."

Just take a look at the Eastgate Centre, a high-rise office block in Harare, Zimbabwe, that was designed using a maze of ducts that draw cool air in at the base of the building, and then vent it into floors before it goes out a chimney at the top. This was constructed to save energy and counteract the hot African sun. Eastgate currently uses 10 percent of the energy of a similar building of that size; the design was inspired by termite mounds found throughout Africa. Termites keep their mounds at 87°F to accommodate the complex system of tunnels in their 10-foot-high structures. That temperature holds steady even when the temperature outside fluctuates.

Even old buildings are being retrofitted for biomimicry. The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., was built in the 1880s, but its ventilation system also was recently altered in the same manner as Zimbabwe's Eastgate.

Revolutionizing urban design

A growing number of urban design experts are pushing biomimicry. In an article in The International Forecaster, a compendium of financial and economic news, Bill Brown, an environmental designer who worked on the White House, was quoted as saying that cities must learn from the Earth to be friendly to it. Benyus agrees, saying that biomimicry is perfect for city planning. 

Recently, Benyus announced that the Biomimicry Guild — her consultancy firm — has teamed up with HOK, one of the largest architecture firms in the world, to help design city master plans based on nature.

One will be built on a green field in India; the other will retrofit the city of Lang Fang in Northern China to be more environmentally friendly. Biomimicry used at this scale is unprecedented. If the cities succeed in their efforts, they could help revolutionize urban design.

Lang Fang is obliged to import massive amounts of water from the south because its aquifer has shrunk over the centuries due to tree loss. Now, instead of channeling and discarding its stormwater, Lang Fang will capture it through green infrastructure. Strategically placed tree belts within the diminishing aquifer system will function much like the previously forested environment did — by capturing rainwater and directing it into the aquifers to replenish the water supply.

In India, a new community to be built about 90 miles south of Mumbai will draw inspiration from the local rocky landscape, thornbushes, and scrub grass. Called the Khed Special Economic Zone, this will be the first urban center designed from scratch on the principles of biomimicry. The hills around Khed were once full of trees before becoming so waterlogged that nothing was left. Those trees once recycled waste in the area, and the hope is that Khed will do the same. It is anticipated that while the city will initially use wind and solar power for five percent of its energy, the city eventually will be self-sufficient. That result is expected within 50 years.

Prime examples

Other notable designs inspired by biomimicry include these:

• In Portland, Oregon, the 35-block-long Lloyd District neighborhood harvests rainwater and includes greenways that mimic the habitats of animals.
• An urban eco-community in Mexico City is designed on principles found in mushrooms. Most urban designs focus on a central distribution point, but mycelium (or fungi) and mushrooms have an easy exchange of nutrients across more open borders. By focusing on the boundaries of eco-districts there is a more gradual transition between zones, and greater and more gradual exchange of goods and services.
• The Pearl Harbor Naval Complex in Hawaii includes two World War II-era airplane hangars that have been converted into research and office space for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Regional Center. The original hangars have been preserved but connected with biomimicry-inspired sustainable features. HOK used a daylighting system that mimics a native tree whose leaves redirect sunlight throughout the plant, passive and natural ventilation, seawater air conditioning systems, and open roofs.

Energy efficiency

According to the U.S. Green Building Council, commercial and residential buildings use 70 percent of all the electricity consumed in the U.S. and generate 39 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions. The Bank of America building in New York City isn't one of the culprits. This 55-story structure, built in 2004, emits air that is three times cleaner than the air it takes in. How? By using the principles of how trees convert harmful carbon dioxide into clean oxygen.

"Eventually, cities will be not only sustainable, but they will also give back to local ecosystems, thereby protecting our local economies, culture, and ecologies," Gavish says. "Biomimicry helps us put back the right ingredients so that the whole city can operate in a way that is greater than its parts."

The San Francisco Museum at the Mint, a stunning National Historic Landmark, is using biomimicry to increase its energy efficiency. The building, which dates to the 19th century, is being adapted into a net-zero-energy and zero-water building. This will make it one of the most environmentally innovative museums in the U.S.

Originally the building was constructed near marshland, a biome that suggested the design of a radiant heating and cooling system that can nearly do without mechanical fans. By emulating the water capture designs of ferns and succulents, the building captures rainwater in a biomimicked glass canopy and stores it in cisterns.

Biomimicry for survival

Not only can biomimicry help with energy efficiency, but it also has survival benefits. "Biomimicry is a science and practice which helps us to see nature as 'mentor model and measure,'" Gavish says. "It is vital in terms of fundamentally changing our relationship with the planet and valuing nature not only for the natural resources that it provides, but for its 3.8 billion years of wisdom. Every single organism has sustainable wisdom embedded in its DNA. These design principles for sustainability can help us to not only survive climate change and other major global challenges, but thrive."

At the 2013 Biomimicry 3.8 conference, Benyus spoke about dealing with flood strategies in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and how biomimicry can be used in such a scenario. "If you want to know how to rebuild, go to the shoreline. Ask what survived there and why. Look for the survivors and replicate their strategies," she says.

"Each city is part of an ecosystem, which is part of a biome," Gavish notes. "There are specific adaptation mechanisms that organisms in that place utilize in order to survive natural disasters."

She adds, "Studying local adaptation patterns allows us to identify place-based design principles. These principles and metrics can improve city designs and planning — from entire infrastructure systems to individual buildings. Each city is part of a greater ecosystem with its own unique ecological metrics, or ecological performance standards."

"Because cities essentially operate at an ecologically suboptimal level," she explains, "utilizing these metrics aligns us with place-based ecological and biological standards. Reconnecting to and meeting these standards can inform and improve resiliency planning as well as optimize investments in resilient infrastructure."

She suggests asking these questions: When truly healthy, how does the whole system perform? And most importantly, what is its Achilles heel?

Even saving animals is a benefit of biomimicry. To help prevent birds from flying into glass windows, the Arnold Glass Company of California has studied spiderwebs, which birds tend to avoid. The company found that the webs have a reflective component that is visible in the UV range. By adding this component to its glass, the company has reduced bird collisions during field testing.

If successful, this design could end up saving millions of birds every year and preventing costly damage to buildings. All of this comes because of a simple discovery related to a spiderweb and the spider's ability to evolve in a world where birds are a threat to its structures.

Whether planning a building, a neighborhood, or an entire city, it is important to realize that a single biomimic design will not be perfect for every situation. In order to minimize the damage to the environment, and possibly even contribute to maintaining the ecology, the building needs to be adapted to its specific climate, geology, and ecosystems.

Pawlyn points out three huge challenges that need to be confronted with biomimicry: "Firstly, achieving radical increases in resource efficiency. So, achieving far more with far less. Shifting from linear, wasteful and polluting ways of using resources to completely closed loop models. And finally, shifting from a fossil fuel economy to a solar economy."

Overall, the future looks bright for biomimicry. Cities are being designed to take advantage of the natural world — whose millions of years of history have helped to ensure species survival. Species survive by thriving in their environment through the evolution of defenses, mimicry, and energy efficiency. Researchers are now looking at those capabilities to plan and design cities and buildings, as well as to increase energy efficiency and human health.

Could it be that the best way to achieve environmentally friendly results is to model man-made systems after the environment itself? If even the lowly termite can inspire the design of energy-efficient buildings, imagine the future wonders coming from urban design and planning that use specifications seen in the forest, the plains, the ocean, and the air.

Nicola Davies is a writer and researcher whose firm, Trusted Writer Ltd., is based in Bedfordshire, England.

Resources

Images: Top — In Japan, the sleek, streamlined nose of the Shinkansen Bullet Train was inspired by the Kingfisher, whose beak allows it to move quickly from the air (a log-drag medium) to the water (high drag) without making a splash. The 200-mph train faced a similar situation: moving from open area to a narrow tunnel, according to a case study on Biomimcry 3.8's website. The nose's tapered shape allows air to flow past the train rather than being pushed in front of it. The design helps to eliminate the sonic boom upon exit from the tunnel. Kingfisher photo from iStock, Shinkansen Bullet Train Getty Images, Sean Pavone. Middle — Biologist Janine Benyus of Biomimcry 3.8 explains biomimicry as a new science that doesn't just learn about nature but learns from it. Photo courtesy BiomicryNYC. Bottom —The LEED Platinum Bank of America Tower in Midtown Manhattan is considered by some to be a model for the environmental design of skyscrapers. Photo Wikimedia Commons.

Biomimicry Institute: www.biomimicryinstitute.org

Biomimicry 3.8: http://biomimicry.net

HOK: www.hok.com

"Biomimicry Challenge: TOA Uses Fungi to Reimagine Sustainable Neighborhoods": www.fastcompany.com/1636523/biomimicry-challenge-toa-uses-fungi-reimagine-sustainable-neighborhoods

"Bio-Inspired Planning and Design — Using Life's Principles and Biomimicry as a City Building Tool": www.archfoundation.org/2013/07/bio-inspired-planning-and-design-using-lifes-principles-and-biomimicry-as-a-city-building-tool