I am presenting a seminar on Biomimicry as a design innovation strategy at the Chicago Center for Green Technology Thursday, April 12th at 6pm, with Lindsay James (BProfessional 2013 Candidate and Sustainability Strategist at InterfaceFLOR). The course is a professional service and free, but registration is required. Hope to see you there!
Biomimicry, the practice of learning from nature to solve human problems, is emerging as a powerful tool for creating sustainable design and systemic transformation. Applied at a variety of scales, from individual products to buildings and organizations, biomimicry bring nature’s 3.8 billion years of innovation experience to the table. Our discussion will examine this quickly evolving practice, review what it is, how it is being applied and its powerful potential for the future. AIA/CES: 2LU
I just got back from my fourth BProfessional intensive in Almaria, Spain, and as always, it was a transformative experience. While there I had the pleasure of meeting and learning from Michael Pawlyn, British architect and founder of Exploration Architecture, a firm focused exclusively on sustainable projects that take inspiration from nature. His book "Biomimicry in Architecture" is a gorgeous treatise on embodying natural forms and processes into the built environment, and for those of you who haven't seen this TED talk, I highly recommend it.
In this TED talk and in our session, he eloquently describes what drew me to biomimicry in the first place, that it is a positive way of thinking and talking about sustainable design. It doesn't focus on incremental changes, but on complete paradigm shifts that change your perspective. He says that biomimicry is about "synergies, and abundance, and optimizing" and "sets people's souls ablaze." I couldn't agree more. I had the same feeling after my first BProfessional intensive that I did after reading "Cradle to Cradle" by William McDonough - it was a paradigm shift in the way we look at fitting in with this world.
The idea of mimicking the interactions between mature ecosystems, as shown in Grahm Wiles' "Cardboard to Caviar" project and the Sahara Forest Project, is particularly appealing to me. Mr. Pawlyn talks about competition as a sign of an immature ecosystem where in mature ecosystems, symbiotic relationships are the standard. To me, that's radical thinking in our capitalist environment where everyone, it seems, is out for themselves. But we aren't going to change the world to be more sustainable within the competitive power structures that exist today. We need a paradigm shift. The following became our mantra for the week:
Go fast = go alone Go far = go together
I hope to embody this meme everyday in my work and life. It goes against the normal business grain, so this won't be an easy challenge to live up to. But it is necessary to accomplish great things. We need networks. We need collaborators. We need to work together. Biomimicry, for me, is so much more than mimicking forms and processes into design. It's about reconnecting with the natural world and embodying the ethics of sustainability within my work and life. It's about reconnecting with the genius of the place I live in and learning from life around me. And it's about setting lofty goals and living my life trying to achieve them.
As always, the BProfessional intensive retreats are intense sessions of visioning and transformation and I feel so fortunate to be on this path.
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The integration of biomimicry into the built environment is a work in progress and I am continually looking for models that explore its potential. Below are my thoughts as of now and I am hoping to continue this discussion for years to come.
Biomimicry and Living Buildings. I have heard that the Living Building Challenge was inspired by biomimicry, but I don't know this for a fact. Even if it weren't, many of its principles are the same: building performance tied to regional characteristics (life's principle to be locally attuned & responsive), limits to growth (integrate growth with development), zero impact (material/energy efficiency), and integrating beauty. I can think of many building products and a few examples of partial systems integration (the living waste water treatment eco-machine at the Omega Center or various products, as quick examples), but I can think of only one building (Eastgate Center in Zimbabwe) where it has been integrated on both a metophorical as well as performance basis. I am constantly searching for more examples of building integrated biomimicry and would welcome any suggestions that come my way.
Nature as Measure. Similar to the zero impact prerequisite set by the Living Buildings Challenge, using the inherent ecosystem services of a site as a measure to benchmark the ecological performance of a particular building is very powerful. If a site was formally prairie that absorbed and held x gallons of water, y number of species, and z tons of biomass, designers can strive to create buildings that strive to meet or exceed this threshold. I especially like the Mannahatta Project as an example because as a virtual ecological restoration of the island of Manhattan, it holds the genius of the original place as a benchmark by which the ecological performance of a site. Are there similar efforts in other regions of the world?
Biomimicry in Existing Buildings. I've started having conversations about biomimicry in existing buildings with architects all across the country. This is a potentially amazing solution space that is relevant to all major developed cities across the globe. Beyond integrating biomimicry inspired products into interior fit-outs, how can we begin to emulate life in existing structures? How does nature reuse materials? How does nature adapt to changing conditions? How can our buildings evolve to survive? And what are natural models that can help guide our search? This is usually discussed in a metaphorical sense, but I am continually looking for tangible manefestations of this on individual existing buildings.
Systems Interaction. Finally (for now), there are many parallels to how the components of an ecosystem interact and how the components of a building interact. Systems are systems and I know there are exciting lessons to be learned in this space.
This is just the beginning and I welcome any and all thoughts from interested parties.
Come hear about Biomimicry at the next Foresight Green Drinks in Chicago!
November 16th at 5:30pm (panel starts around 6:30)! I'll be on a panel with Lindsay James of InterfaceFLOR and Colin Rohlfing of HOK, facilitated by Peter Nicholson - all Biomimicry Chicago core group members!
Biomimicry, the practice of learning from nature to solve human design problems, is emerging as a powerful tool for creating more sustainable solutions. Applied at a variety of scales, from individual products to buildings to organizations, biomimcry brings nature's 3.8 billion years of innovation experience to the design table. This month's panel examines this quickly evolving practice, reviewing what it is, how it is being applied, the tangible advancements it has already produced, and the powerful potential for the future. Of specific interest to designers, architects, entrepreneurs, biologists, and related others, the conversation will be wide ranging and inspiring to anyone with a concern for a more vibrant and resilient future. Come learn more about this exciting field, and the new emerging network, Biomimicry Chicago.
And if you are out in the Northeast Illinois region, check out a CEU level presentation I'll be giving on Biomimicry for the AIA NEI Committee on the Environment. November 10th at Wight & Co in Darien, IL.
Nature is inherently sustainable and has been for over 3.8 billion years.While we have been designing our world on a mass scale for approximately 200 years, our evolutionary elders have found a way to fit in on this planet for millennia.Perhaps they have something to teach us?The emerging practice of biomimicry brings nature’s problem solving solutions to the design table by studying the processes, products, and performance of life on earth and translating their lessons into the language of design.
