Escott's Highlights:

Table of Contents

Introduction

Fig. 1 - Coccolithophores (marine micro-organisms) make their skeletons from calcium carbonate using elements in seawater and are thought to be part of the planet’s long-term carbon cycle. In geological periods when carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rose, coccolithophores bloomed and, when they died, fell to the ocean floor to form layers of limestone, so transferring carbon from the atmosphere to the lithosphere. The challenge facing humanity now is that the rate of carbon dioxide increase is far in excess of anything that has previously occurred in the history of the planet and beyond a level that can be controlled by correcting mechanisms such as coccolithophores

Fig. 1 - Coccolithophores (marine micro-organisms) make their skeletons from calcium carbonate using elements in seawater and are thought to be part of the planet’s long-term carbon cycle. In geological periods when carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rose, coccolithophores bloomed and, when they died, fell to the ocean floor to form layers of limestone, so transferring carbon from the atmosphere to the lithosphere. The challenge facing humanity now is that the rate of carbon dioxide increase is far in excess of anything that has previously occurred in the history of the planet and beyond a level that can be controlled by correcting mechanisms such as coccolithophores

Fig. 4 - The wood wasp shows how biology has solved the problem of drilling into wood without a rotating axle

Fig. 4 - The wood wasp shows how biology has solved the problem of drilling into wood without a rotating axle

Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

For me, there is no better mission statement than Buckminster Fuller's: ‘To make the world work for a hundred percent of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.’1 How do we achieve this? There are, I believe, three major changes that we need to bring about: achieving radical increases in resource efficiency,2 shifting from a fossil-fuel economy to a solar economy and transforming from a linear, wasteful way of using resources to a completely closed-loop model in which all resources are stewarded in cycles and nothing is lost as waste.

Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

Biomorphism’s use of forms from nature, and its use of associative symbolism, can be deeply compelling. The two approaches can co-exist in one building, and biomorphism can add further meaning than would be achieved from a purely technical use of biomimicry. Biomorphism is a formal and aesthetic expression; biomimicry is a functional discipline. It is also worth considering the limitations of biomimicry. Just as with any design discipline, it will not automatically produce architecture, and we should be wary of trying to become purely scientific about design. Architecture always has a humane dimension – it should touch the spirit, it should be uplifting, and it should express the age in which it was created.

Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

The Mediated Matter design research group, founded by Neri Oxman at MIT, is showing the potential for using biologically derived materials combined with additive manufacturing (often referred to as 3D printing). Achim Menges and his colleagues at the University of Stuttgart are showing, in compelling built form, what can be achieved from a deep understanding of biological structures combined with new digital design and fabrication tools.

Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. - RICHARD BUCKMINSTER FULLER

Chapter 1: How can we build more efficient structures?

========== Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

In nature, materials are expensive and shape is cheap. - PROFESSOR JULIAN VINCENT

Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

In nature, materials are expensive and shape is cheap. PROFESSOR JULIAN VINCENT 19 This observation captures the essence of biological structures. In technology, it is generally the shape that is expensive instead.20 Nature makes extremely economical use of materials, often achieved through evolved ingenuity of form. Using folding, vaulting, ribs, inflation and other means, natural organisms have created effective forms that demonstrate astonishing efficiency.

Fig. 8 - X-ray image of an Amazon water lily leaf showing an example of how robust structures are created in nature with a minimum of materials. The network of ribs stiffens the large area of leaf without adding excessive thickness

Fig. 8 - X-ray image of an Amazon water lily leaf showing an example of how robust structures are created in nature with a minimum of materials. The network of ribs stiffens the large area of leaf without adding excessive thickness

Fig. 9 - Sketch showing how four equally stiff structural elements can be made with varying degrees of efficiency. By using shape and putting the material where it needs to be, it is possible to use only 14 per cent of the material of a solid square section (after work by Adriaan Beukers and Ed van Hinte in Lightness: The Inevitable Renaissance of Minimum Energy Structures)

Fig. 9 - Sketch showing how four equally stiff structural elements can be made with varying degrees of efficiency. By using shape and putting the material where it needs to be, it is possible to use only 14 per cent of the material of a solid square section (after work by Adriaan Beukers and Ed van Hinte in Lightness: The Inevitable Renaissance of Minimum Energy Structures)

Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

  1. Sketch showing how four equally stiff structural elements can be made with varying degrees of efficiency. By using shape and putting the material where it needs to be, it is possible to use only 14 per cent of the material of a solid square section (after work by Adriaan Beukers and Ed van Hinte in Lightness: The Inevitable Renaissance of Minimum Energy Structures) ========== Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

Hollow tubes Nature builds simply and economically, often meeting both goals simultaneously by making hollow tubes. Nature is abundant in examples that demonstrate this structural principle, such as human bones, plant stems and feather quills. If one takes a square cross-section of solid material with a side dimension 24 mm (fig. 9), it will have the same bending resistance as a circular solid section of diameter 25 mm with only 81.7 per cent of the material. Similarly, a hollow tube with only 20 per cent of the material of the solid square can achieve the same stiffness. In engineering terms, material has been removed from areas close to the neutral axis and placed where it can deliver much greater resistance to bending – achieving the same result but with a fraction of the material. One plant in particular shows how hollow tubes can be applied at larger scales in nature. Bamboo species can reach 40 m in height. How do they maintain strength over this length? One of the ways in which a tubular element can fail under loading is through one side of the tube collapsing in towards the central axis, leading to overall buckling. Bamboo solves this by interrupting smooth tubular growth with regular nodes, which act like bulkheads (fig. 10). The nodes provide great resistance to structural failure, and are part of what has facilitated bamboo’s lofty accomplishments.

Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

Bamboo is, by strict taxonomy, actually a species of grass which has achieved such wild success that it resembles the scale of a tree. This plant’s solution seems to apply so widely that it begs the question: why aren’t more trees hollow tubes? The answer derives from the different forms that they strive to grow into: trees generally create a canopy of cantilevering branches, rather than the multiplicity of stems characteristic of grasses. Bamboo offers solutions to tubular structural elements, while trees offer a biomimic further solutions to holistic structural issues, since they face different pressures than grasses.

Fig. 11 - Diagram showing Claus Mattheck’s design refinement process using ‘Soft Kill Option’ (SKO) and ‘Computer Aided Optimisation’ (CAO) software

Fig. 11 - Diagram showing Claus Mattheck’s design refinement process using ‘Soft Kill Option’ (SKO) and ‘Computer Aided Optimisation’ (CAO) software

14. Trees growing in the shallow soils of rainforests have evolved buttress roots that resist overturning

  1. Trees growing in the shallow soils of rainforests have evolved buttress roots that resist overturning

Fig. 12 - 3D-printed bridge by Joris Larman Lab demonstrating the expressive and material-efficient results of designing with SKO software

Fig. 12 - 3D-printed bridge by Joris Larman Lab demonstrating the expressive and material-efficient results of designing with SKO software

19. Fan palm leaves – an elegant example of how folds can transform a large, thin surface into a structure that can cantilever from a single point of support

  1. Fan palm leaves – an elegant example of how folds can transform a large, thin surface into a structure that can cantilever from a single point of support

21. The Shi Ling Bridge designed by Tonkin Liu Architects and structural engineer Ed Clark of Arup – an example of a ‘shell-lace structure’ that achieves efficiency of materials by exploiting vaulted, folded and twisted forms from shells

  1. The Shi Ling Bridge designed by Tonkin Liu Architects and structural engineer Ed Clark of Arup – an example of a ‘shell-lace structure’ that achieves efficiency of materials by exploiting vaulted, folded and twisted forms from shells

24. The Savill Building by Glenn Howells Architects. By using small sections of timber in a highly efficient form, gridshells can achieve factor-15 savings in resource use Timber gridshells (fig. 24) could be considered transformations of planar surfaces; indeed, they are often built by starting with a flat grid and then distorting it into shape. However, the structural aim is not to form a stiffened plane but to get a series of linear elements – usually wood – to act together as a shell.

  1. The Savill Building by Glenn Howells Architects. By using small sections of timber in a highly efficient form, gridshells can achieve factor-15 savings in resource use Timber gridshells (fig. 24) could be considered transformations of planar surfaces; indeed, they are often built by starting with a flat grid and then distorting it into shape. However, the structural aim is not to form a stiffened plane but to get a series of linear elements – usually wood – to act together as a shell.

23. Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre designed by Peter Rich Architects using Guastavino vaulting – similar to an abalone shell and made with basic materials, such as sun-baked earth tiles

  1. Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre designed by Peter Rich Architects using Guastavino vaulting – similar to an abalone shell and made with basic materials, such as sun-baked earth tiles

25. The engineering genius Pier Luigi Nervi frequently used examples from nature to inspire more efficient structures, as in this example of the Palazzetto dello Sport, which has a striking resemblance to the leaves of the giant Amazon water lily. In both cases downstand ribs are used to stiffen a thin surface

  1. The engineering genius Pier Luigi Nervi frequently used examples from nature to inspire more efficient structures, as in this example of the Palazzetto dello Sport, which has a striking resemblance to the leaves of the giant Amazon water lily. In both cases downstand ribs are used to stiffen a thin surface

========== Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

A challenge for architects and engineers in trying to emulate natural forms has been in achieving efficiency through complexity of form without adding excessive cost. While structures in nature are assembled molecule by molecule, human artefacts are constrained by the practical and economic limitations of our construction technology. For Nervi, the miracle material that allowed him to achieve his aims was reinforced concrete, about which he said, ‘The very fact of not having at its origin a form of its own … permits it to adapt itself to any form and to constitute resisting organisms’.28 He viewed reinforced concrete as ‘a living creature which can adapt itself to any form, need or stress’,29 and there is a sense in which his structures capture both muscular and skeletal qualities.

27. Diagram showing the lines of stress passing through a bone 28. X-ray through a bone showing the arrangement of bony trabeculae

  1. Diagram showing the lines of stress passing through a bone
  2. X-ray through a bone showing the arrangement of bony trabeculae

30. Section through the skull of a magpie showing thin domes of bone connected together with struts and ties 31. Canopy structure designed by architect Andres Harris, using the same structural principles as those found in bird skulls

  1. Section through the skull of a magpie showing thin domes of bone connected together with struts and ties
  2. Canopy structure designed by architect Andres Harris, using the same structural principles as those found in bird skulls

========== Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

  1. Biomorphic exuberance in the Milwaukee Art Museum by Santiago Calatrava is plenty of extravagance to be found in biology, often associated with various forms of sexual display. But the interesting question to ask is: do the more decorative aspects add appropriate and necessary meaning to the building? If the aim is to produce beautiful, resource-efficient architecture that is enjoyable for people, then both biologically based design approaches can contribute. As I suggested in the Introduction, biomimetic design can deliver important innovation and biomorphic design can convey meaning. ========== Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

Architect Santiago Calatrava is renowned for his love of skeletal structures; he created many of the most graceful bridges in the world. While his exuberance is enjoyable (fig. 32), there is a sense in which the biomorphic extravagance occasionally occludes a rational structural basis for the schemes. It could be argued that the beauty found in nature is derived from its economy, with the absence of the superfluous being part of the rigour that we perceive. This is a selective view because there is plenty of extravagance to be found in biology, often associated with various forms of sexual display. But the interesting question to ask is: do the more decorative aspects add appropriate and necessary meaning to the building? If the aim is to produce beautiful, resource-efficient architecture that is enjoyable for people, then both biologically based design approaches can contribute. As I suggested in the Introduction, biomimetic design can deliver important innovation and biomorphic design can convey meaning.

Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

There are a number of examples of weaving in nature, mainly by birds. The appropriately named village weaver birds (fig. 45) (Ploceus cucullatus) employ as many as six different knots, including loops, half-hitches, hitches, bindings, slip knots and overhand knots, as well as weaving techniques. Another avian group worth getting acquainted with is the penduline tit family (Remizidae), which uses spiderweb, wool, animal hair and plant fibres to make a bag-like hanging nest, so tightly interwoven that even apes are not able to pull them apart. In parts of Eastern Europe they were used as children’s slippers. The long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus) uses a combination of spider silk egg cocoons and fine-leaved mosses as a natural form of Velcro to hold its nest of twigs together.44 There are numerous examples of adhesives made from bodily secretions, including salivary mucus used by the chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) to make its nest, and the little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra) uses pop rivets made of silk to attach its nest to large leaves.

43. Magnified image of the filter plate that stiffens the top of a glass sponge

  1. Magnified image of the filter plate that stiffens the top of a glass sponge

46. The Luxmore Bridge, Eton College, designed by Atelier One and Jamie McCulloch – a reciprocal structure in which a number of short structural elements are assembled to span further than their individual lengths

  1. The Luxmore Bridge, Eton College, designed by Atelier One and Jamie McCulloch – a reciprocal structure in which a number of short structural elements are assembled to span further than their individual lengths

========== Biomimicry in Architecture (Michael Pawlyn)

A reciprocal structure is one in which the overall span is longer than that of its individual members and each beam supports, and is supported by, the other beams in the structure.

56. Plan and section of the Inflatable Auditorium by Judit Kimpian – ‘bringing the building fabric “alive” with asymmetrically curved spaces, transient volumes and dynamic structures’

  1. Plan and section of the Inflatable Auditorium by Judit Kimpian – ‘bringing the building fabric “alive” with asymmetrically curved spaces, transient volumes and dynamic structures’

45. Nest structures built by the village weaver bird using as many as six different knots

  1. Nest structures built by the village weaver bird using as many as six different knots

47. The spiral reciprocal roof structure of the Seiwa Bunraku Puppet Theatre by Kazuhiro Ishi. Could we push the idea even further with lessons from birds’ nests?

  1. The spiral reciprocal roof structure of the Seiwa Bunraku Puppet Theatre by Kazuhiro Ishi. Could we push the idea even further with lessons from birds’ nests?

50. House of the female bauble spider, apparently under the influence of Bruce Goff

  1. House of the female bauble spider, apparently under the influence of Bruce Goff