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 multidisciplinary 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.

incorporated natural motifs into design such as the treeinspired columns. Late Antique and Byzantine arabesque
tendrils are stylized versions of the acanthus plant.[1]
Varros Aviary at Casinum from 64 BC reconstructed a
world in miniature.[2] A pond surrounded a domed structure at one end that held a variety of birds. A stone colonnaded portico had intermediate columns of living trees.
The Sagrada Famlia church by Antoni Gaudi begun in
1882 is a well-known example of using natures 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.[3]

History

Sagrada-familia-arches2

Organic architecture uses nature-inspired geometrical

forms in design and seeks to reconnect the human with his
or her surroundings. Kendrick Bangs Kellogg, a practicing organic architect, believes that above all, organic architecture should constantly remind us not to take Mother
Nature for granted work with her and allow her to guide
your life. Inhibit her, and humanity will be the loser.[4]
This falls in line with another guiding principle, which is
that form should follow ow and not work against the dynamic forces of nature.[5] Architect Daniel Liebermanns
commentary on organic architecture as a movement highlights the role of nature in building: a truer understanding of how we see, with our mind and eye, is the
foundation of everything organic. Mans eye and brain
evolved over aeons of time, most of which were within the
vast untrammeled and unpaved landscape of our Edenic
biosphere! We must go to Nature for our models now,
that is clear![4] Organic architects use man-made solutions with nature-inspired aesthetics to bring about an
awareness of the natural environment rather than relying
on natures solutions to answer mans problems.

Birdhouse at Casinum

Architecture has long drawn from nature as a source of

inspiration. 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 ancient Greeks and Romans
1

CHARACTERISTICS

Metabolist architecture, a movement present in Japan

post-WWII, stressed the idea of endless change in the biological world. Metabolists promoted exible architecture and dynamic cities that could meet the needs of a
changing urban environment.[6] The city is likened to a
human body in that its individual components are created and become obsolete, but the entity as a whole continues to develop. Like the individual cells of a human
body that grow and die although human body continues
to live, the city, too, is in a continuous cycle of growth
and change.[7] The methodology of Metabolists views nature as a metaphor for the man-made. Kisho Kurokawas
Helix City is modeled after DNA, but uses it as a strucBioniccar 11
tural metaphor rather than for its underlying qualities of
its purpose of genetic coding.
Biomimetic architecture goes beyond using nature as inspiration for the aesthetic components of built form, but
instead seeks to use nature to solve problems of the buildings functioning. Biomimicry means to imitate life and
originates from the Greek words bios (life) and mimesis (imitate). The movement is a branch o of the new
science dened and popularized by Janine Benyus in her
1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature
as one which studies nature and then imitates or takes inspiration from its designs and processes to solve human
problems.[8] Rather than thinking of the building as a machine for living in, biomimicry asks architects to think of Box Fish on Cobblers Reef
a building as a living thing for a living being.

Characteristics

constant intake of resources to function), and rely on solar energy instead of fossil fuels. The design approach
can either work from design to nature or from nature to
design. Design to nature means identifying a design problem and nding a parallel problem in nature for a solution.
An example of this is the DaimlerChrysler bionic car that
looked to the boxsh to build an aerodynamic body.[10]
The nature to design method is a solution-driven biologically inspired design. Designers start with a specic biological solution in mind and apply it to design. An example of this is Stos Lotusan paint, which is self-cleaning,
an idea presented by the lotus ower, which emerges clean
from swampy waters.[11]

Biomimetic architecture uses nature as a model, measure

and mentor to solve problems in architecture. It is not
the same as biomorphic architecture, which uses natural existing elements as sources of inspiration for aesthetic components of form. Instead, biomimetic architecture looks to nature as a model to imitate or take inspiration from natural designs and processes and applies
it to the man-made. It uses nature as a measure meaning
biomimicry uses an ecological standard to judge the eciency of human innovations. Nature as a mentor means
that biomimicry does not try to exploit nature by extracting material goods from it, but values nature as something 2.1
humans can learn from.[9]
Architectural innovations that are responsive to architecture do not have to resemble a plant or an animal. Where
form is intrinsic to an organisms function, then a building
modeled on a life forms processes may end up looking
like the organism too. Architecture can emulate natural
forms, functions and processes. Though a contemporary
concept in a technological age, biomimicry does not entail
the incorporation of complex technology in architecture.
In response to prior architectural movements biomimetic
architecture strives to move towards radical increases in
resource eciency, work in a closed loop model rather
than linear (work in a closed cycle that does not need a

Three Levels of Mimicry

Biomimicry can work on three levels: the organism, its

behaviors, and the ecosystem. Buildings on the organism level mimic a specic organism. Working on this
level alone without mimicking how the organism participates in a larger context may not be sucient to produce a building that integrates well with its environment
because an organism always functions and responds to a
larger context. On a behavior 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. Ecosystem principles follow that ecosystems (1) are dependent

3.2

Behavior Level

on contemporary sunlight; (2) optimize the system rather

than its components; (3) are attuned to and dependent
on local conditions; (4) are diverse in components, relationships and information; (5) create conditions favorable to sustained life; and (6) adapt and evolve at dierent levels and at dierent rates.[12] 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. For
architectural design to mimic nature on the ecosystem
level it should follow these six principles.

3
3.1

Examples of Biomimicry in Architecture

Venus Flower Basket (sponge-labelled)

Organism Level

constructed of Ethylene Tetrauoroethylene (ETFE), a

material that is both light and strong.[14] The nal superOn the organism level, the architecture looks to the organ- structure weighs less than the air it contains.
ism itself, applying its form and/or functions to a building.

3.2 Behavior Level

On the behavior level, the building mimics how the organism interacts with its environment to build a structure
that can also t in without resistance in its surrounding
environment.

Termite mounds Namibia

Gherkin

Norman Fosters Gherkin Tower (2003) has a hexagonal

skin inspired by the Venus Flower Basket Sponge. This
sponge sits in an underwater environment with strong
water currents and its lattice-like exoskeleton and round
shape help disperse those stresses on the organism.[13]

The Eastgate Centre designed by architect Mick Pearce in

conjunction with engineers at Arup Associates is a large
oce and shopping complex in Harare, Zimbabwe. To
minimize potential costs of regulating the buildings inner
temperature Pearce looked to the self-cooling mounds of
African termites. The building has no air-conditioning or
heating but regulates its temperature with a passive cooling system inspired by the self-cooling mounds of African
termites.[15] The structure, however, does not have to look
like a termite mound to function like one and instead aesthetically draws from indigenous Zimbabwean masonry.

The Eden Project (2001) in Cornwall, England is a series of articial biomes with domes modeled after soap
bubbles and pollen grains. Grimshaw Architects looked
to nature to build an eective spherical shape. The re- The Qatar Cacti Building designed by Bangkok-based
sulting geodesic hexagonal bubbles inated with air were Aesthetics Architects for the Minister of Municipal Af-

5 SEE ALSO

Eastgate Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe

fairs and Agriculture is a projected building that uses the

cactuss 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.[16] 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. Incorporating living organisms into the breakdown stage of the wastewater minimizes the amount of external energy resources
needed to fulll this task.[16] The dome would create a
climate and air controlled space that can be used for the
cultivation of a food source for employees.

3.3

Ecosystem Level

Building on the ecosystem level involves mimicking of

how the environments many components work together
and tends to be on the urban scale or a larger project with
multiple elements rather than a solitary structure.
The Cardboard to Caviar Project founded by Graham
Wiles in Wakeeld, UK is a cyclical closed-loop system
using waste as a nutrient.[17] The project pays restaurants
for their cardboard, shreds it, and sells it to equestrian
centers for horse bedding. Then the soiled bedding is
bought and put into a composting system, which produces
a lot of worms. The worms are fed to roe sh, which produce caviar, which is sold back to the restaurants. This
idea of waste for one as a nutrient for another has the potential to be translated to whole cities.[14]

the Namibian desert beetle to combat climate change in

an arid environment.[14] It draws upon the beetles ability to self-regulate its body temperature by accumulating
heat by day and to collect water droplets that form on its
wings. The greenhouse structure uses saltwater to provide evaporative cooling and humidication. The evaporated air condenses to fresh water allowing the greenhouse to remain heated at night. This system produces
more water than the interior plants need so the excess
is spewed out for the surrounding plants to grow. Solar
power plants work o of the idea that symbiotic relationships are important in nature, collecting sun while providing shade for plants to grow. The project is currently
in its pilot phase.
Lavasa, India is a proposed 8000-acre city by HOK (Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum) planned for a region of India subject to monsoon ooding.[19] The HOK team determined that the sites original ecosystem was a moist deciduous forest before it had become an arid landscape. In
response to the season ooding, they designed the building foundations to store water like the former trees did.
City rooftops mimic native the banyan g leaf looking to
its drip-tip system that allows water to run o while simultaneously cleaning its surface.[20] 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.

4 Criticisms
Biomimicry has been criticized for distancing man from
nature by dening the two terms as separate and distinct
from one another. The need to categorize human as distinct from nature upholds the traditional denition of nature, which is that it is those things or systems that come
into existence independently of human intention. Joe
Kaplinsky further argues that in basing itself on natures
design, biomimicry risks presuming the superiority of
nature-given solutions over the manmade.[21] In idolizing
natures systems and devaluing human design, biomimetic
structures cannot keep up with the man-made environment and its problems. He contends that evolution within
humanity is culturally based in technological innovations
rather than ecological evolution. However, architects and
engineers do not base their designs strictly o of nature
but only use parts of it as inspiration for architectural solutions. Since the nal product is actually a merging of
natural design with a human innovation, biomimicry can
actually be read as bringing man and nature in harmony
with one another.

The Sahara Forest Project designed by the rm

Exploration Architecture is a greenhouse that aims to rely
on solar energy alone to operate as a zero waste system.[18]
The project is on the ecosystem level because its many
components work together in a cyclical system. After
nding that the deserts used to be covered by forests, 5 See also
Exploration decided to intervene at the forest and desert
boundaries to reverse desertication. The project mimics HOK (Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum) Biomimicry

5.1

Further reading

Benyus, Janine. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired

by Nature. New York: Perennial, 2002.
Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, http://biomimicry.net/about/biomimicry38/
institute/.[]
Pawlyn, Michael. Biomimicry in Architecture.
London: RIBA Publishing, 2011.
Vincent, Julian. Biomimetic Patterns in Architectural Design. Architectural Design 79, no. 6
(2009): 74-81.

References

[1] Alois Riegl, The Arabesque from Problems of style:

foundations for a history of ornament, translated by Evelyn Kain, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 1992),
266-305.

[12] Salma Ashraf El Ahmar, Biomimicry as a Tool for Sustainable Architectural Design: Towards Morphogenetic
Architecture (masters thesis, Alexandria University,
2011), 22.
[13] Ehsaan, Lord Fosters Natural Inspiration: The Gherkin
Tower, biomimetic architecture (blog), March 24,
2010, http://www.biomimetic-architecture.com/2010/
lord-fosters-natural-inspiration-the-gherkin-tower/.
[14] Michael Pawlyn, Using natures genius in architecture (2011, February), [video le] Retrieved from
http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pawlyn_using_
nature_s_genius_in_architecture.html?embed=true.
[15] Jill
Fehrenbacher,
Biomimetic
Architecture:
Green Building in Zimbabwe Modeled After Termite Mounds, Inhabitat,
last modied November 29, 2012, http://inhabitat.com/
building-modelled-on-termites-eastgate-centre-in-zimbabwe/.
[16] Bridgette Meinhold, Qatar Sprouts a Towering Cactus
Skyscraper, Inhabitat, last modied March 17, 2009,
http://inhabitat.com/qatar-cactus-office-building/.

[2] A. W. van Buren and R. M. Kennedy, Varros Aviary at

Casinum, The Journal of Roman Studies 9 (1919): 63.

[17] Michael Pawlyn, Biomimicry, in Green Design: From

Theory to Practice, edited by Ken Yeang and Arthur Spector, (London: Black Dog, 2011), 37.

[3] George R. Collins, Antonio Gaudi: Structure and Form,

Perspecta 8 (1963): 89.

[18] Sahara Forest Project, Sahara Forest Project, Inc, http:

//saharaforestproject.com.

[4] David Pearson, New Organic Architecture: the breaking

wave (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2001),
10.

[19] Lavasa is Indias planned hill city, Lavasa Corporation

Ltd, http://www.lavasa.com.

[5] David Pearson, New Organic Architecture: the breaking

wave (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2001),
14.
[6] Raaele Pernice, Metabolism Reconsidered: Its Role in
the Architectural Context of the World, Journal of Asian
Architecture and Building Engineering 3, no. 2 (2004),
359.
[7] Kenzo Tange, A Plan for Tokyo, 1960: Toward a
Structural Reorganization, in Architecture Culture 19431968: A Documentary Anthology, ed. Joan Ockman,
325-334 (New York: Rizzoli, 1993), 327.

[20] John
Gendall,
Architecture
That
Imitates
Life, Harvard Magazine, last modied October
2009,
http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/09/
architecture-imitates-life.
[21] Joe Kaplinsky, Biomimicry versus humanism, Architectural Design 76, (2006), 68.

7 External links
Michael Pawlyn: Using natures genius in architecture
@TED.com

[8] Janine Benyus, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. (New York: Perennial, 2002).
[9] Janine Benyus, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature (New York: Perennial, 2002), 2.
[10] The Mercedes-Benz bionic car:
Streamlined
and light, like a sh in water - economical
and environmentally friendly thanks to the latest diesel technology, Daimler, last modied
June 7, 2005, http://media.daimler.com/dcmedia/
0-921-885913-1-815003-1-0-1-815031-0-1-11702-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0.
html.
[11] StoColor Lotusan Lotus-Eect faade paint, Sto
http://www.sto.co.uk/25779_EN-Facade_
Ltd.,
paints-StoColor_Lotusan.htm.

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Biomimetic architecture Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomimetic%20architecture?oldid=620407859 Contributors: Bearcat,

ELApro, Joe Decker, Malcolma, Vanjagenije, LionMans Account, Niceguyedc, Dthomsen8, Citation bot, Vanamonde93, Beebiene and
Anonymous: 2

8.2

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File:Bioniccar_11.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Bioniccar_11.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: NatiSythen
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8.3

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