LOADING

Biomimicry architecture is seen in a lot of places these days. But the real question is where to look? Let us explore the vast possibilities biomimicry can offer us and some other architectural styles similar to Biomimicry. But first, let’s start with the basics…

What Is Biomimicry?

Biomimicry tries to emulate nature in every aspect; in order to enhance and improve its design. This makes sense because nature has had billions of years to perfect its designs to all that the weather, environment and climate will throw at it. This can also help with design, streamlining, and most importantly using energy most efficiently. 

Essentially, biomimicry mimics nature to its advantage. 

Three Levels Of Biomimicry

biomimicry has levels; in terms of architecture they are as such:

1. Organism Level – this is when an object or form directly copies from a living organism. Think the famous Gherkin building in London. This takes inspiration from some sea sponges which are conical in shape.

   

2. Behavior level – When architecture takes inspiration and the workings of certain plant or animal behavior. Taking inspiration from termite mounds which are self cooling – the Zimbabwean shopping center: the Eastgate centre uses a similar technique to cool the building.

   

3.  Ecosystem level – usually this is when buildings are totally self sufficient, or fully solves a problem. For instance mimicking trees that cope well in monsoon season in an area that is prone to flooding. 

This form of designing is sometimes very complex(as is nature) and some projects take a lot of expenses to design and construct. The results are often worth it however!

Biomimicry In Architecture Examples

Algae House ( BIQ House) – Hamburg

This house uses freshwater  algae in its windows. As the sun shines on the windows, this makes the algae produce biomass which in turn produces Biogas which is transported into a fuel cell. This incredibly clever design could be the way of the future, in order to get clean free energy. This is also a prime example of using nature with buildings. 

This type of ‘vertical farm’ is such a clever and efficient way to generate energy, we hope to see many more like BIQ House cropping up in the future!

Milwaukee Art Museum

This uses kinetic architecture and has movable pieces on the top of it. As the sun moves, these ‘wings’ fan out to create shade on the building. It also takes inspiration from bird wings and feathers as it fans out into the horizon. I’m sure you can all agree this is a beautiful structure and definitely a sight to see id you are interested in biomimicry. 

Biomimicry is actually a branch of bionic architecture. This wider term is used to describe the construction and architecture of buildings that borrow from natural forms ( sort of the ‘Organism’ level of Biomimicry…if we are getting technical about it… )

Bioclimatic Architecture

Similar to the behavior level, bioclimatic architecture focuses on buildings being suitable for the climate they are in. Seems like common sense, but a lot of architects focus on how things look outside and do not think about the people that will actually be using this building day in day out. This is where this form of architecture comes in. it is also another aspect of green architecture or bionic architecture. As you can see these styles are all interweaving and one building can check a lot of boxes!

Organic Architecture

Organic architecture theory is the practice of making buildings as nature friendly as possible, and working with the environment rather than against it. A lot of these past examples are also examples of organic architecture. A prominent architect of the organic architecture movement was Frank Lloyd Wright:

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

There are rules known as the ‘Gaia charter’ that measure sustainable development and organic architecture homes and businesses. 

The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.

Biophilic Architecture

This is also encompassed into bionic architecture, but often gets overlooked. This style of architecture is quite popular in 2019, and is set to be bigger in 2020 so keep an eye out for this style!

Biophilic definition

Biophilic means to love nature. And these designs certainly do bring nature into the home so it can be appreciated in a way that regular homes and designs do not generally utilize enough. Biophilic architecture is about bringing the outside in. and the natural beauty of the outdoors inside a home. 

Biophilic Design Elements

• Natural light. It may seem simple but natural light is one of the most underrated features a home can have . The difference between bright airy house that gets natural light throughout the day and a dingy house are colossal. 
• Air Quality – makes sure there are good levels of ventilation and low toxicity. There may also be achieved by having living plants in the spaces. 
• Comfortable temperature levels
• Natural materials
• Organic Surfaces

This also boosts psychological effects of the space as workers or residents will be happier in their day to day lives. 

To Conclude

We hope you learned about the aspects of Bionic Architecture and design, and a little bit about bionic architecture and Biomimicry. We hope to create more articles about Architecture in the future! If you have any ideas or suggestions, dont be afraid to contact us!