GUIDED BY :

PROF VIJAY MATAI

JAHNAVI BHATT (02)
NAYRUTI MISTRY (10)
AASHKA PATEL (17)
SAMVIDA RAI (24)

WHAT IS BIOMIMICRY?
Biomimicry or biomimetics is the imitation
of the models, systems, and elements of
nature for the purpose of solving
complex human problems.

From my designers perspective, I ask: Why cant I design a building like a tree?
A building that makes oxygen, fixes nitrogen, sequesters carbon, distils water,
builds soil, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food,
creates microclimates, changes colours with the seasons and self replicates.
This is using nature as a model and a mentor, not as an inconvenience.
Its a delightful prospect
(McDonough and Braungart, 1998)

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 multi-disciplinary
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.

HISTORY
Throughout history, architects have looked to nature for inspiration for building forms and approaches to
decoration. 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 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.

Greeks and Romans- natural motifs

into design such as the tree-inspired
columns.

Late Antique and Byzantine- arabesque

tendrils are stylized versions of the
acanthus plant.

The TWA terminal at John F Kennedy Airport, New York, in

which Eero Saarinen used biomorphic forms to capture the
poetry of flight

Burdock burr were the source of inspiration for George de

Mestral the Swiss engineer who invented Velcro.
Apparently after some recent frustration with zips, he
noticed the way that burdock burrs clung to his dogs coat
and, after studying them with a magnifying glass, designed
the first version of the now ubiquitous fastening

Frank Lloyd Wright likened the columns in the Johnson Wax

building to water lilies and, while they create a spectacular
space, they have nothing functionally in common with lily
leaves

Le Corbusier appears to have

made deliberate reference to
the cleansing function of
kidneys in the design of the
washrooms for the inbuilt
Olivetti Headquarters project

APPROACHES TO BIOMIMICRY
Approaches to biomimicry as a design process typically fall into two categories:
1. Defining a human need or design problem and looking to the ways other organisms or ecosystems solve this, termed
here design looking to biology
2. Identifying a particular characteristic, behavior or function in an organism or ecosystem and translating that into
human designs, referred to as biology influencing design

1. DESIGN LOOKING TO BIOLOGY

BIONIC CAR

The approach where designers look to the living world

for solutions requires designers to identify problems
and biologists to then match these to organisms that
have solved similar issues.
Biological analogues are matched with human identified
design problems but the issue of how buildings relate to
each other and the ecosystems they are part of is not
examined.

BY DAIMLER CHRYSLER

DISADVANTAGE:
Designers are able to research potential biomimetic
solutions without an in depth scientific understanding or
even collaboration with a biologist or ecologist if they are
able to observe organisms or ecosystems or are able to
access available biological research. With a limited
scientific understanding however, translation of such
biological knowledge to a human design setting has the
potential to remain at a shallow level.

In looking to create a large

volume, small wheel base car, the
design for the car was based on
the boxfish (ostracion meleagris),
a surprisingly aerodynamic fish
given its box like shape.
The chassis and structure of the
car are also biomimetic, having
been designed using a computer
modeling method based upon
how trees are able to grow in a
way that minimizes stress
concentrations.
The resulting structure looks
almost skeletal, as material is
allocated only to the places where
it is most needed

2. BIOLOGY INFLUENCING DESIGN

When biological knowledge influences
human design, the collaborative design
process is initially dependant on people
having knowledge of relevant biological
or ecological research rather than on
determined human design problems.
ADVANTAGE:
Biology may influence humans in ways
that might be outside a predetermined
design problem, resulting in previously
unthought-of technologies or systems
or even approaches to design solutions.
DISADVANTAGE:
Biological research must be conducted
and then identified as relevant to a
design context. Biologists and ecologists
must therefore be able to recognize the
potential of their research in the
creation of novel applications.

LOTUSAN PAINT
BY STO
The scientific analysis of the lotus flower emerging clean from swampy
waters, which led to many design innovations like Stos Lotusan paint
which enables buildings to be self cleaning.

THREE LEVELS OF BIOMIMICRY

ORGANISM

BEHAVIOUR

ECOSYSTEM

ORGANISM LEVEL

Species of living organisms have typically been evolving for millions of years.
Those organisms that remain on Earth now have the survival mechanisms that have withstood
and adapted to constant changes over time.
On the organism level, the architecture looks to the organism itself, applying its form and/or
functions to a building.
Functions and responses to a larger context have to be kept in mind too, as organisms are a
part of an ecosystem.

MATTHEW PARKES HYDROLOGICAL CENTER

Mimicking of the Namibian desert beetle, stenocara.

The beetle lives in a desert with negligible rainfall.
It is able to capture moisture however from the swift moving fog that moves over the
desert by tilting its body into the wind.
Matthew Parkes of KSS Architects biomimicry at the organism level.
Inspired by the beetle, proposed fog-catcher design for the Hydrological Center for the University of Namibia.
Surface of the beetle has been studied and mimicked to be used for other potential applications such as to clear
fog from airport runways and improve dehumidification equipment.

BEHAVIOUR 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.

Not the organism itself that is mimicked, but its behaviour.

Behaviour level mimicry requires ethical decisions to be made about the suitability of what
is being mimicked for the human context.
Not all organisms exhibit behaviours that are suitable for humans to mimic
The danger exists that models of consumption or exploitation could be justified on the basis
of how another species behaves.

For example, mimicking the building behaviour (and outcome of that) of termites might be
appropriate for the creation of passively regulated thermally comfortable buildings.
But, mimicking the social structure of termite colonies would not be suitable however if
universal human rights are valued.

EASTGATE CENTRE

Large office and shopping complex in Harare,

Zimbabwe.
To minimize potential costs of regulating the
buildings inner temperature, looked to the selfcooling mounds of African termites.
The building has no air-conditioning or heating.
The structure, however, does not have to look
like a termite mound to function like one and
instead aesthetically draws from indigenous
Zimbabwean masonry.

Termite mounds include flues which vent through the top and sides,
and the mound itself is designed to catch the breeze. As the wind
blows, hot air from the main chambers below ground is drawn out of
the structure, helped by termites opening or blocking tunnels to
control air flow.

THE QATAR CACTI BUILDING

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.
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.

ECOSYSTEM LEVEL

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)

Building mimics the natural process and cycle of the greater

environment.
Ecosystem principles follow that ecosystems
are dependent on contemporary sunlight;
optimize the system rather than its components;
are attuned to and dependent on local conditions;
are diverse in components, relationships and information;
create conditions favorable to sustained life; and
adapt and evolve at different levels and at different rates.
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.

ADVANTAGE - potential positive effects on overall environmental

performance.

Operates at both metaphoric level and at a practical functional level.

METAPHORIC LEVEL - general ecosystem principles (based on how

most ecosystems work) are able to be applied by designers with little
specific ecological knowledge.

FUNCTIONAL LEVEL - in-depth understanding of ecology drives the

design of a built environment that is able to participate in the major
biogeochemical material cycles of the planet .

THE SAHARA FOREST PROJECT

LAVASA

8000-acre city planned for a region of India subject to monsoon flooding.

Sites original ecosystem was a moist deciduous forest before it had become an arid landscape.
In response to the season flooding, the building foundations were designed to store water like the former
trees did.
City rooftops mimic the banyan fig leaf looking to its drip-tip system that allows water to run off while
simultaneously cleaning its surface.
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.

EUGENE TSUI
Eugene Tsui is an architect based in California.
Tsui is perhaps the first architect/designer in history to profoundly study, analyze and
implement the workings of natural phenomena, through an interdisciplinary approach,
as a basis for design at all scales including construction materials and methods.
Tsui specializes in nature-influenced architecture, preferring shapes and forms inspired
by living creatures and natural constructions to standard rectilinear designs.

OJA DEL SOL YEN

The Oja Del Sol Yen in California is the residence of the
Tsui Family, Designed by Eugene Tsui.
It implements the evolutionary practices of nature as a
synthesis of a billion years of evolution applied to
immediate needs and circumstances of form, function
and purpose.

FORM
The form is abstracted form the morphology of Tardigrade, which are a minor phyla of microscopic invertebrates also
named water bears.

Have 4 pairs of stumpy legs but are most closely related to certain worms.
They can survive extreme of droughts and temperature even down to absolute zero and live for almost a century.

Tsui draws the geometry of the Tardigrades carapace (shell) elliptical in plan with upper parabolic and lower
catenary curves in section.

 The roof comprises of a series of sprayed concrete parabolic arches supported on stressed wooden frames.
It can with stand extreme shocks such as earthquakes.

STRUCTURE
The structural system is of recycled
Styrofoam and cement blocks reinforced
with steel and light weight concrete.
The continuous ellipse wall forms an
extremely durable shell. ( Lateral rigidity)

The upper floor

level trusses are
modeled after a
seagull's bone
marrow to create
an overhead truss
system, minimizing
material usage and
making it light
weight and strong.

COEXISTANCE WITH NATURAL FORCES

The exterior walls are angled inward at 4 degrees to create a compressive structure with a low centre of gravity,
further aiding in the resistance to lateral turnover forces produced by strong earthquakes.

THERMAL REGULATION
Conceived by study of the bone and
capillary structures of Dinosaurs.
The sail like plate structures are surrounded
by densely packed configured blood
vessels, warmed by sun rays, regulate the
body temperature.

Subsurface solar air tubes are positioned on the roof which

covers much of the upper level of the house, aiding passive
solar heating. Over the entrance(north), there is a laminar
projection which also contains subsurface solar air tubes
that are heated throughout the day and the stored heat is
radiated back in the interiors at night.

REYES HOUSE
The Reyes House is residence in Oakland deigned by
Eugene Tsui.
The building is dynamic and responds the changing
environment to maintain interior conditions.

FORM
The solarium is roofed with a pair of 6mt long translucent fiber glass wings like those of dragonfly.
They open and close responding to the exterior environment to create a comfortable microclimate.
From the outside, the structure stimulates a giant insect/fly flapping its wings.

STRUCTURE
The solarium is a glass, wood and stone structure
shaped into a truncated cone with winged roof the
opens and closes with the turn of a crank.
The conical structure is interpreted from Barnacle,
organism that fixes itself to the rocks on the sea shores.
The conical structure can resist and dissipate the
overturning forces.

The dragonfly wing structure consist of primary rigid

elements at periphery and secondary cross bracings at
the interior.
Curvilinear forms that are used are much more
resistant because of their resistance to tangential forces
and they also use less materials.

COEXISTANCE WITH NATURAL FORCES

The conical shape from the Barnacle is one of the strongest shapes found in nature and can resist shocks.
Thus, the Reyes House has efficient resistance to earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes.

The overturning forces are avoided due to its shape, lowering the center of gravity.

THERMAL REGULATION
The opening roof allows cool air
and sunlight to enter the room
directly and maintains a
comfortable temperature.
The conical form is also very
efficient in cooling as the rising hot
air is quickly funneled out of the
space.

SOME OTHER EXAMPLES

WILSON RESIDENCE

ULTIMA TOWER

MICHAEL PAWLYN

BIOMIMICRY- INTERPRETATION
Adapt ideas from natural organisms that have evolved responses to resource-constrained environments.

APPROACH
Self sustained, light weight structures.
Used of light weight material.
Use of various by-products as building material.

THE EDEN PROJECT- ENGLAND

Largest botanical garden in the world
Combines ecology, horticulture, science,
art and architecture.
The challenge for this project was to
design buildings that provide the
environment to create different
microclimates.

INSPIRATIONAL APPROACH

GEODISC DOMES AS BIOMES

Organism used as an approach to biomimicry in

architecture.
Dragon fly wing An element to interpret organism
The hexagonal pattern of biomes reflects to the
hexagonal impression of dragonfly wing.

NATURAL APPROACH
WATER
ALLOWED TO
PERCOLATE INTO
HOT ROCKS

WATER HEATED
UPTO 150 deg

Spare heat used to heat the nearby buildings

HEATED
BROUGHT BACK
TO SURFACE

RETURNED AIR
CONVERTED INTO
ELECTRICITY
THROUGH HEAT
EXCHANGERS

DESIGN CONSIDERATION
Uninterrupted ground space needed on ever
changing ground surface of clay pit.
Need for self sustained stable structure.
light weight structure.
Need for a self maintained and cleaning structure.
Need of maximum sunlight for greenhouse effect.

light weight structure.

Need for a self maintained and
cleaning structure.
Need of maximum sunlight for
greenhouse effect.

WEB LIKE STRUCTURE WHICH

CAN STAND BY ITSELF

FORM
Nature inspired the supremely efficient
structural form.
Dragonfly wing used as interpretation for
hexagonal form.
Geodesic dome considered to be the best self
sustaining form.
The hexagonal pattern of biomes reflects to
the hexagonal impression of dragonfly wing.
One of the lightest structures
a building that is largely self-heating using
passive solar design principles.

STRUCTURE
Dome shaped Hexagon membrane considered to be the most stable geometric
shape
Use of Geodesic dome shaped membrane.
Light weight steel framingweight of structure <the air contained in
structure
ETFE membrane having weight less than
glass and more light.

Light weight
structure

less use
of steel

More light
structure

Less energy
consumption

Weight less than that of

contained air inside
structure

THE SAHARA FOREST PROJECT

Main aim of project was to intervene at the
forest and desert boundaries to reverse
desertification
Green house that rely on solar energy only.
Zero waste system
Project works on ecosystem level with some
cyclical system.

INSPIRATIONAL APPROACH
NAMBIAN desert beetle used as an
inspirational approach.
PRINCIPLE
BEETLEs ability to self-regulate its body
temperature by accumulating heat by day
and to collect water droplets that form on
its wings.

USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Two methods are used for humidification in arid zones like Sahara desert:
Concentrated solar power system
Seawater green house

CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER SYSTEM

Utilizes thousands of mirrors to focus
sunlight upon a water boiler, heating
it to over 1,000 Fahrenheit. This
generates steam, which in turn drives
a turbine to produce energy.

MIRROR
REFLECTANCE AND
FOCUSING ON
BOILERS

HEATING UPTO
1000 F.

STEAM
GENERATION

ENERGY PRODUCED BY
TURBINES

SEAWATER GREEN HOUSE

SEAWATER HEATED BY
SUNRAYS

EVAPORATION

COOLS DOWN FOR

CLOUD FORMATION

RETURNS IN FORM OF
RAINFALL

REFRENCES
BOOK

BIOMIMICRY
By - Sakthivel Ramaswamy
GRAPHIC DESIGN + BIOMIMICRY By - Margaret McKosky
BIOMIMICRY IN ARCHITECTURE BY - Michael Pawlyn

THESIS

AN EXPLORATION INTO BIOMIMICRY AND ITS APPLICATION IN

THE DIGITAL AND PARAMETRIC (ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN)
BIOMIMICRY AS A TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN.

WEBSITES

www.wikipedia.com
www.eugenetsui.com
www.archdaily.com
www.exploration-architecture.com