Biomimicry

Humans are clever, but without intending to, we have created massive sustainability

problems for future generations. Fortunately, solutions to these global challenges are all

around us.

Biomimicry is an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human

challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies. The goal is to

create products, processes, and policies—new ways of living—that are well-adapted to

life on earth over the long haul.

The core idea is that nature has already solved many of the problems we are grappling

with. Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. After billions of

years of research and development, failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the

secret to survival.

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.

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 incorporated natural motifs into design such as the tree-inspired

columns.

Organic architecture uses nature-inspired geometrical forms in design and seeks to

reconnect the human with his or her surroundings. The form should follow flow and not

work against the dynamic forces of nature.

Biomimicry can work on three levels: the organism, its behaviors, and the ecosystem:

On the organism level, the architecture looks to the organism itself, applying its form

and/or functions to a building.

On the behavior level, the building mimics how the organism interacts with its

environment to build a structure that can also fit in without resistance in its

surrounding environment.

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 most astonishing example of biomimic architecture is the palm island. It is two

artificial islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates imitate the shape of palm trees in its

landscape layout apply biomimicry on the organism level. The Belgian and Dutch

dredging and marine contractors Jan De Nul and Van Oord, were hired to complete

construction. The islands are the Palm Jumeirah and the Palm Jebel Ali. Each settlement

will be in the shape of a palm tree, topped with a crescent. The settlements will have a

large number of residential, leisure and entertainment centres and will add 520

kilometres of non-public beaches to the city of Dubai.

The creation of the Palm Jumeirah began in June 2001. Shortly after, the Palm Jebel Ali

was announced and reclamation work began. A third island was planned and

construction started, but this project was later remodeled and renamed to Deira Island.

This incredible engineering marvel is “constructed from sand dredged from the sea floor.

Palm Jumeirah is made from 3 thousand million cubic feet of ocean sand vibro-

compacted into place. Vibro-compaction increases the density of loose sand by

saturating it with jets of water and vibrating it with probes .” They created the elaborate

and complex shape of the palm tree by using Differential Global Positioning Systems

which help workers and engineers to map out the exact placement and distribution of

sand.