ABSTRACT

There are some methodologies being used in the design part, by individuals
who are involved in the design process i.e. designers, material manufacturers,
building products suppliers and added members of the building
productiveness, to help reduce its impact on nature and be more sustainable.
There are technology based solutions available with us to make the building
more efficient and there are passive solutions to reduce the expense and
impact of technologies by using more natural methods of allowing nature to
do the work. There is also the approach of using innovative natural means
that mimic the environment itself in order to minimize negative
environmental impacts of the building on nature.
These design solutions are introduced through an approach known as
biomimicry. There is a general saying that biomimicry is the idea of using actual
nature in design, and there is the saying, by others, largely in the science fields,
that biomimicry is just the idea of using the natural design of nature and the
environment to inspire our own design.

BIOMIMICRY
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The purpose of this dissertation is to find out the various biomimic

aspects that can be used in a building to make it more towards
sustainable. Also to study how these concepts are utilized in a
building.

AIM

The aim of the dissertation is to study the concept of biomimicry in

order to evolve design strategies that make a building more appealing,
close to nature and also make it more towards sustainable building.
Also, I want to make the appropriate use of resources that shall be
involved in my project.

BIOMIMICRY
OBJECTIVE
This dissertation contends that not only the appearance of a building
matters. The building needs to be responsible towards environment.
Organisms in nature face the same challenges we do, but they meet
them sustainably. By observing animals, plants and natural procedures,
we gain vision into what works and what does not. For us, these
observations are helpful in both the design procedure and motivating
new ideas using natural skills.

Major objectives of the study are:

 To find all the possible ways that are part of biomimicry and can be
involved in design.

 To briefly understand the three different forms of biomimicry.

 To study the buildings/ spaces designed on biomimicry concept and

evaluate the techniques used in them.

BIOMIMICRY
 SCOPE
The scope of this dissertation is the study and analysis of biomimicry as
a important tool for sustainable architectural designs and construction,
concentrating on the various possibilities of applying selected
biomimetic principles in upcoming design processes, thus highlighting
an important link between biomimicry and architecture and outlining its
potential for future sustainable design.

BIOMIMICRY
INTRODUCTION
Biomimicry originates from two Greek words

Bios = Life
Mimesis= imitate

Biomimicry is the idea of using the natural design of nature

and the environment to inspire our own design. Biomimicry can be
applied to improve the way the built environment is designed,
through site work, construction, and daily operations, and to reduce
the impact it has upon the natural environment through numerous
strategies of reducing carbon emissions, waste and more. There are
vast amounts of knowledge and ideas available to inform possible
solutions to architectural design that will also allow designs to be
more sustainable.

There are three forms of Biomimicry:

• Biomorphic
• Bio-utilization
• Biophilic

BIOMIMICRY
 HISTORY
• Evidence of biomimicry can be proven to have been in practice through
Leonardo da Vinci, and may have been the inspiration for the first domes,
which may have been designed based on eggs.

• Leonardo da Vinci used nature and biology to inspire many of his designs
and concepts during his time.

• The term biomimicry was not referenced in scientific literature until in

1962.

• The practice, of using biomimicry for inspiration, first began to become

popular in 1980 among material scientists who were seeking to
redevelop materials based on mimicking nature to improve upon them
and find new innovative approaches.

• Janine M. Benyus (b 1958), American writer and scientific observer from

Montana, wrote the book “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature” in
1997.

• In 1998 she co-founded the Biomimicry Guild which helps inform, inspire
and empower the bridging of nature’s wisdom with human knowledge.

BIOMIMICRY
PRINCIPLES OF BIOMIMICRY

• Nature runs on sunlight.

• Nature uses only the energy it needs.

• Nature fits form to function.

• Nature recycles everything.

• Nature rewards cooperation.

• Nature banks on diversity.

• Nature demands local expertise.

• Nature curbs excesses from within.

• Nature taps the power of limits.

BIOMIMICRY
 LEVELS OF BIOMIMICRY

• Mimicking a form or a shape from nature

The first level is Organism- this refers to mimicking a specified
organism. This could be the entire organism or a portion of the
organism.

• Mimicking a process carried out by nature

The second level of biomimicry is the Behavior level. This refers to
imitating a specific type of behavior or act which an organism does
to survive or replicates on a daily basis in relation to a larger
context.

• Mimicking a material and how it performs or mimicking of

natural ecosystems
The third level of biomimicry is Ecosystem- this states to mimicking a
specific ecosystem and how it functions successfully as well as what
features and principles are required for it to function effectively.

BIOMIMICRY
BIOMIMICRY
 ORGANISM LEVEL
• Namibian Beetle and Water Collection
Namibian beetle, also known as the African
Stenocara beetle, lives in a desolate desert that
rarely sees any rainfall. Even though there is less
than one inch of rainfall per year, there is
frequently fog in the morning. There are bumps on
the beetle’s shell which are hydrophilic (water-
attracting) along with alternate parts to its shell
which are hydrophobic (water-repelling). The
hydrophobic parts to the shell act like channels or
groves for water and moisture. During the hot day
the beetle is exposed to the radiating sun and its
black shell absorbs a lot of the heat. When nightfall
approaches, it comes out from below the ground
and climbs to the top of a mound and waits for the
morning to come. Because the beetle’s
temperature is a lot warmer than its surroundings,
it is a beacon for moisture. When the morning fog
rolls in, water droplets from the fog are combined
and collected on the beetle’s shell.

BIOMIMICRY
Hydrological Center for the University of Namibia, Matthew Parkes
The building is a sequence of pods that are placed behind a tall, slightly-
curved nylon net screen which is used to collect water. The nylon net wall is
leaning towards the ocean so that it can sufficiently capture as much
moisture as possible from the fogs that come easing in off the ocean front.

The water collects on the mesh screen and because of its shape and
vertical orientation, the water naturally runs down the mesh into
gutter system located at the bottom of the screens. The water is then
transported through the gutters into large cisterns that keep the water
at an appropriate cooler temperature so that the water does not
evaporate.

BIOMIMICRY
 ORGANISM LEVEL
• Termite Mound and Temperature Regulation

BIOMIMICRY
Eastgate Center, Zimbabwe, Mick Pearce
The Eastgate Center is mostly made of concrete which is an excellent
material to use as an insulator as well as absorbing heat from the sun.
The outside air that is brought into the building is either warmed or
cooled depending on the temperature of the buildings mass. If the
buildings mass is cooler, than the air that enters the structure would
also be cooled. The air is then directed upwards towards the chimney
but on its way up to the top it passes into the building’s floors and
offices. The building is actually made up of three parts; two exterior
structures and a glass center that connects them together. The glass
space in the center also participates in natural convection and is
usually open to the local breezes.

BIOMIMICRY
 ECOSYSTEM LEVEL
Coral Reef Project Haiti
Over the past few years, Haiti has been victims to devastating
earthquakes, ranging from 7.0 and up on the Richter scale, which had a
substantial impact on the country as a whole. Everyone was forced to
watch as their homes and community were destroyed by these
tremendous natural disasters.
Vincent Callebaut, who is the founder of Vincent Callebaut Architecte,
looked to nature as the basis for his design proposal. Callebaut
explored the principals behind coral reefs. Coral is basically
underwater structural formations that consist of calcium carbonate.

BIOMIMICRY
This unit is made up of two passive houses, having metallic structure and tropical
wood facades, which interlocks in duplex round the horizontal circulation which
joins every single unit. When these houses, or modules, are accumulated
together, they form the organic shape of the two waves of “corals”. Because they
were designed in this way, the modules have the ability to cantilever out over one
another which gives the opportunity for an organic garden to be present on every
module, using the roof of the unit below as the garden. The roof gardens then
serve as a way for each family to cultivate and grow their own food, making them
self-sufficient.

What makes this design so unique is that it is actually constructed

from only using one standardized and prefabricated module. It is the placement
and orientation of each module that give the overall scheme a non-uniform design
aesthetic.

The project also features hydro-turbines which are located underneath

the pier. The hydro-turbines use the kinetic energy from the sea and convert it into
electrical energy. To capture solar energy, arrays of photovoltaic panels are also
placed on the top of the roofs. In the center of the two coral waves, there is
spiraling wind turbines which generate power from the tropical wind that passes
through the valley. With all of these systems working as one, the design becomes a
self-sufficient, carbon neutral village for the people of Haiti.

BIOMIMICRY
 Expressionism and Symbolism in Biomimicry
LOTUS TEMPLE, New Delhi
The Lotus Temple situated in New Delhi, India, popularly known as the Lotus Temple
due to its flowerlike shape, is a Bahai Community House of Worship and also a
prominent attraction in Delhi. The building was completed in 1986 and now serves as
the Mother Temple of the Indian subcontinent. The worship house was designed by
Iranian architect Fariborz Sahba.

Light in interiors

• The whole superstructure is planned so as to function as a skylight.

• The internal dome is spherical and decorated after the inmost portion of the lotus
flower. Light enters the hall in the same way as it passes through the inner folds of
the lotus petals.
• The central part of the temple is held by nine open petals where each of which is
utilised as a skylight.
• The interior dome, therefore, is sort of a bud consisting of twenty seven petals, and
light-weight filters through these inner folds and is subtle throughout the hall.

BIOMIMICRY
Cooling method adopted:
• Building as a chimney
• The dominant hall of the temple is planned to function as a
chimney, with openings at top and bottom (stack affect) This
ensures a continuous drought of cool air to pass over the pools in
basement and hall
• Cool air (heavy) is drawn from the bottom openings and hot air
(light) is emitted out from the top. This process is reversed in humid
days
• The natural gradient of land is used in construction of certain large
basement at the level of pools. The floor of auditorium is lowered
by five steps so that they act as louvers for cool air entrance
• Two sets of exhaust fans complement this whole system.
• The first of dome cools the concrete shell and therefore prevents
transference of heat. The second set chimneys air from the
auditorium to the cold basement for cooling and recycles it back.

BIOMIMICRY
CONCLUSION
Nature is always forced to adapt to new things much like humans
are. For example, the climate that is always changing and now with global
warming it is even more apparent that nature must find its own ways to
adapt. Insects, mammals, reptiles, plants, trees, and other types of
vegetation have evolved over centuries in order to survive in such a dynamic
environment; and those that have not and were unable to adapt die off but
still contribute to the equal balance of life. Those types of adaptations and
evolving principals in nature should be studied and implemented into the
built environment. Creating a sustainable built environment is not done by
integrating just solar panels on every building. Humans need to be more in-
tune with nature and look at nature for inspiration. Designs that mimic
nature’s beauty and elegance should not just be on a material or form basis;
it should be from a thorough understanding of the philosophy and principals
that make those solutions from nature work successfully.
Now looking back at the question, can we take the philosophy
behind natures living organisms and use them to aid in the development of
mankind? We definitely can and should to find a new way to survive that not
only benefits humans, but the natural environment as well. Represented
thoroughly in this report, Biomimicry can be used as an integrative
architectural design component in order to achieve this, and create complete
unity between the building, the users, and the environment.

BIOMIMICRY