Biomimicry Core Elements

Biomimicry

Biomimicry

“conscious emulation of life’s genius"

The biggest mistake we’ve made is forgetting that we are part of, not separate from, the ecosystems of our planet.

Coreconcepts

Function and Strategy

Organisms meet functional needs through biological strategies

Strategy

Function

• is a characteristic, mechanism, or process that performs a function for an organism

• It’s an adaptation the organism has in order to survive.

• The purpose of something

• Also refer to something you need your design solution to do.

+ info

+ info

Context

Context in biology encompasses the surrounding environment and all other factors affecting the survival of the organism. Context in design encompasses factors affecting how and where the design is used, and by whom.

Systems

1. everything is connected

One of the key insights gained from a systems view is that everything is connected. No organism can survive completely in isolation from other living things—human beings included.

Systems2.Our world is composed of systems

—from ecosystems in nature to organizations and technologies in human society. Learning to see, understand, and think in systems is important because many of the biggest challenges facing our world today are the product of system failures and require a systems view to solve

The characteristics that define Earth’s Operating System are:

Earth has limited water

Earth has limited atmosphere

Earth has limited sunlight, from which all energy ultimately is derived.

Earth has gravity.

Earth is cyclic.

Earth exists in a state of dynamic equilibrium.

The Biomimicry Design Process

DEFINEClearly articulate the impact you want your design to have in the world (i.e. the challenge you want to solve) and the criteria and constraints that will determine success.

Process Overview

BIOLOGIZEAnalyze the essential functions and context your design solution must address. Reframe them in biological terms, so that you can “ask nature” for advice.

DISCOVER Look for natural models (organisms and ecosystems) that need to address the same functions and context as your design solution. Identify the strategies used that support their survival and success.

Process Overview

ABSTRACT Carefully study the essential features or mechanisms that make the biological strategies successful. Restate them in non-biological terms, as “design strategies.”

EMULATE Look for patterns and relationships among the strategies you found and hone in on the the key lessons that should inform your solution. Develop design concepts based on these elements.

EVALUATE Assess the design concept(s) for how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design challenge and fit into Earth’s systems. Consider technical and business model feasibility. Refine and revisit previous steps as needed to produce a viable solution.

BIOLOGIZE + DISCOVER

Step 03

Step 02

Step 01

Consider multiple possibilities.

Think about analogous life functions and contexts in nature.

Ask “How does nature?” questions.

+ info

+ info

ABSTRACT

Once you found a biological strategy, carefully study the essential features or mechanisms that make the biological strategies successful. Use plain language to write down your understanding of how the features work, using sketches to ensure accurate comprehension.

Summarize the biological strategy. Summarize the key elements of the biological strategy, capturing how it works to meet the function you’re interested in

Draw the biological strategy. Make a sketch showing your understanding of the features and mechanisms involved in the biological strategy.

ABSTRACT PROCESS

Write the design strategy. Rewrite the strategy without using biological terms but staying true to the science. The design strategy should clearly address the function you want to meet within the context it will be used.

Draw the design strategy. After writing your design strategy, you should draw it. A drawing not only forces you to understand the strategy, but helps you communicate it within multidisciplinary teams.

EMULATE

Emulate Overview

Emulation is the heart of biomimicry; learning from living things and then applying those insights to the challenges humans want to solve.

Emulation is an exploratory process that strives to capture a “recipe” or “blueprint” in nature’s example that can be modeled in our own designs.

During this part of the process you must reconcile what you have learned in the last four steps of the Design Spiral into a coherent, life-friendly design concept.

the end

HOW DOES NATURE

For example, asking “How does nature make urban cyclists more visible to drivers at night?” sounds pretty silly. And it wouldn’t help you begin searching for biological models. But once you biologize it into “How does nature enhance visibility in low light conditions?” a research path becomes clearer.

BIOLOGICAL STRATEGY

Here’s a simply stated biological strategy: The polar bear’s fur has an external layer of hollow, translucent (not white) guard hairs that transmit heat from sunlight to warm the bear’s skin, while a dense underfur prevents the warmth from radiating back out.

For example, a slow growing tree may use different sizes of leaves to optimize capture of sunlight for photosynthesis, while a vine may have leaves of all the same size but use rapid growth to best position those leaves for photosynthesis. Context determines how an organism or ecosystem successfully meets its functional needs.

DESIGN STRATEGY

Here’s a design strategy based on the same biological strategy: A covering keeps heat inside by having many translucent tubes that transmit heat from sunlight to warm the inner surface, while next to the inner surface, a dense covering of smaller diameter fibers prevents warmth from radiating back out.

DRAW THE DESIGN STRATEGY

The drawing depicting the design strategy is not simply a copy of the biological strategy drawing—it should have all of the biology-specific information removed and focus on the functional elements. This illustration depicts the same working principles of the jackrabbit strategy (above) as mechanical diagram, removing references to biological features.

Strategy

So, the polar bear’s fur is a strategy for insulation, but, more specifically, the characteristics of the polar bear’s fur are what make it especially good insulation. Studying how polar bear fur works could lead to the development of better insulation for human needs, such as outerwear, buildings, or other applications

SKETCH IT

Sketching helps you narrow your focus to the most important lessons that can inform your design.

• This simple illustration depicts the jackrabbit’s strategy for thermal regulation: The large ears are used to radiate heat via an extensive network of blood vessels.

Function

One purpose of polar bear fur is to keep the polar bear warm. Stated in a more technical way, the function of the bear’s fur is to insulate or to conserve heat.