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Biomimicry: Going Back to Nature |
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Dr. Samuel Says -
Smart Design
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Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
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Friday, 16 May 2008 |
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In NYC this week, for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair
(ICFF ). All the best designers congregate here every year to show off
their latest offerings -- chairs, tables, cabinets, this sort of thing.
I kind of have a thing for contemporary design. You might think a
furniture maker convention would be a boring crowd -- not so. These
guys can party, and the Russian studios always have the best vodka.
Also, the most fashionable couches on which to pass out.
Anyhoo, hanging with some of the designers last night, and conversation turned to the principles of biomimicry. A relatively new field, biomimicry is all about studying natural systems and processes and applying them to design problems. The idea being, since plants and animals have been perfecting their respective things for millions of years (via natural selection), maybe we should turn to them as models.
 Here's a good example: BioPower Systems , out of Australia, is shopping around these BioWave devices that generate electricity from wave and tidal power. They're designed to emulate the movement of sea plants on the ocean floor.
From the BioPower website: Our technologies inherit benefits developed during 3.8 billion years of evolutionary optimization in nature’s ocean laboratory. The resulting systems move and sway in tune with the forces of the ocean, and naturally streamline when extreme conditions prevail. This leads to lightweight designs and associated low costs.
Another frequently cited example of biomimicry is the TERMES Project . (TERMES = Termite Emulation of Regulatory Mound Environments by Simulation). Researchers noted that termite mounds in the African desert maintained a constant interior temperature when outside temperatures varied from 35 F at night, to well over 100 F in the day. Scientists used 3-D modeling to study the mounds and explore its potential utility for human buildings.
Subsequently, the an office complex in Zimbabwe (The Eastgate Centre) using the termite mound principles. It stays cool without air conditioning and uses only 10 percent of the energy of a conventional building its size.
I love talking this kind of stuff with these guys. Unfortunately, after an hour or so the vodka kicked in and discussion turned to NBA playoffs. I'm sad to say the evening ended with a few fistfights. But, look -- no one calls the Detroit Pistons soft on perimeter defense. Not on my watch.
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