The concept of biomimicry, when first introduced to me, was one I brushed aside and categorised as ‘boring’—mainly because biology, or anything to do with science, had never been my strongest suit. As the session progressed, however, I found it (to my utter surprise) to be one of the most fascinating topics taken so far.
Nature has remained a muse to mankind since the earliest of times—there’s evidence of it all around us; be it the structure of a boat that resembles the streamlined form of a fish, or the concept of camouflage in army uniforms, used by animals to brace themselves from predators. These implementations are ‘bio-inspired design’— inspired by nature in the simplest manner, in terms of form or function.
But when a manmade system is designed to imitate nature in the most profound level, while respecting the boundaries and limitations that must be kept in order for sustainability, this is called biomimicry. Imitating not only form, function or structure but behaviours and relationships, the implementation of biomimicry in future projects is extremely crucial in order to achieve a solution moving forward in the least detrimental manner possible.
“After 3.8 billion years of research and development, failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the secret to survival” (Benyus, 1997)
Recent crises have proved that the state of environments and ecologies worldwide are deteriorating faster than we could’ve imagined. The dizzying rate at which technology and other developments have advanced is quite obviously the reason for this; and as put eloquently in the line above, what surrounds us is the secret to survival—nature, biomimicry.
This line resonated with me because, although it may not have been the intent, it taught me that the best solutions are often the simplest ones—and when in doubt, to look to nature for inspiration.
bibliography
Fiorentino, C. & Montana-Hoyos, C., 2014. The Emerging Discipline of Biomimicry as a Paradigm Shift towards Design for Resilience. The International Journal of Designed Objects, Volume 8(Issue 1), pp. 1-15.
Gif- Dribbble. [image] available at: www.dribbble.com
accessed: 27 Nov 2020
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