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BIOMIMICRY NATURE’S GENIUS
Katelynn Smith University of Florida BSSBE Capstone Spring 2015 Mentor: Professor Maze
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PART 1: BIOMIMICRY EXPLAINED “We must draw our standards from the natural world. We must honor with humility of the wise the bounds of the natural world and the mystery which lies beyond them, admitting that there is some-thing in the order of being which evidently exceeds all our competence.� - Vaclav Havel President of the Czech Republic INTRODUCTION The word biomimicry can be broken down into two Greek words bios meaning life and mimesis which means to imitate. Therefore biomimicry simply means to imitate life. To give definition to the word, biomimicry is the act of learning from nature, imitating designs, strategies, and systems and applying it to produce a solution. Organisms all over earth have had to deal with many of the same issues that we are currently facing such as producing energy and finding fresh water. However, these organisms have had 3.8 billion years of field testing and have managed to find endless solutions to the many obstacles they, as well as we, face. Humans have accomplished a great number of things in our existence but in comparison to the extraordinary adaptations that have evolved in natural organisms they are minute. Research and practice in the field of biomimicry is just beginning to become a more relevant factor in many aspects of how we design our world. The history of the science of biomimicry may be fairly recent but the evolution of various types of biomimicry that have emerged from this idea are rapidly gaining awareness. Society has started to realize what we have been doing wrong and that a change in how we live is
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severely needed. Biomimicry is one solution that’s goal is to change the way that our world makes things. Through in depth research of case studies looking at the process of biomimicry it can be seen how it has been and can be integrated into projects in numerous ways. By taking this process and the lessons learned and applying it to the built environment in the Sonoran Desert we can recommend ways in which biomimicry can be used to deal with many of the issues that can arise in a harsh environment such as the desert.
TIMELINE OF BIOMIMICRY Although it seems perfectly logical to mimic our biological ancestors, we have been working towards going in exactly the opposite direction. The Agricultural Revolution was the first step we took away from our natural surroundings. This was the first time in our history that we broke free of the obligations of hunting and gathering and instead settled in a single place. The Scientific Revolution marked the emergence of modern science when, in the words of Francis Bacon we learned how to “torture nature for her secrets”. When the industrial Revolution came to being machines replaced muscles and man power. Without realizing it we changed our relationship with the world in a way that we couldn’t even imagine. More recently the Petrochemical and Genetic Engineering Revolution has taken us to a whole new level of separation from the natural world in allowing us to rearrange the genetic alphabet to our liking1.
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Benyus, Janine M., 2002. Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by Nature, New York, Harper Perennial: Pg. 5
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Our culture as a whole has been consistently moving further away from contact and our relationship with nature. Be that as it may, people have been looking to nature for inspiration for a multitude of different things since ancient times. Biomimicry is often thought of a new concept but examples can be seen as early as the development of stone chisels fashioned after the teeth of beavers. Ancient Greek practitioners of sacred geometry believed that mimicking the proportions found in nature and the universal math that can be found within it would bring them closer to the cosmos and therefore the gods2, Because of this they fashioned the ornamentation of their columns and temples on the local plant life to symbolize nature3. The age of exploration that began after the discovery of the Americas in 1492 there was a great increase in field observation and documentation of all organisms. Encyclopedias containing all known animals with illustrations were created4. Making a database of all these organisms made it a lot easier for people to get access to this information about the natural world. In addition the 16th century brought about the development of technology and the invention of the microscope which allowed scientists to study things that are incredibly small and to do so incredibly close up5. With the exclusion of Leonardo Da Vinci, whose observation of birds helped him to design his flying machine in the early 1500s, not until the 19th century did thinkers move from just observation to the application of these observations into innovations6.
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Benyus, Janine M., 2008. A Good Place to Settle: Biomimicry, Biophilia, and the Return of Nature’s Inspiration to Architecture. In: Biophilic Design, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons Inc: 27-42; Pg. 27 3 Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013. Architecture follows Nature, Biomimetic Principles for Innovative Design. Florida. CRC Press.: Pg.6 4 Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.7 5 Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.8 6 Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.7
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Through the first half of the 20th century scientists and designers were mainly concerned with looking for natural inspiration for innovations concerning locomotion in air and water. Beginning with Leonardo Da Vinci studying birds to invent his flying machine in the 14th century a lot of interest has been paid to taking the lessons learned from organisms that can fly and trying to apply them to human applications. In the 17th century Alfonso Borelli a professor of mathematics explained the flight of birds by the physical impact of a wing as a wedge-shaped displacement of air. Sir George Cayley took a different approach concerned with streamlining the shape by analyzing the forms of dolphins and woodpeckers. In 1819 he designed a balloon in a very similar shape with very low air resistance7. Through the years many others took on the challenge of flight inspired by nature’s laws including Orville and Wilber Wright who in 1903 created the first successful motorized manned flight8. In addition to all the development with flight a lot of attention was also paid to travel by water. In 1809 the study of dolphins and trout helped to develop naval ship hulls with lower coefficients of drag9. After World War II in the second half of the twentieth century the focus on biomimetic design shifted from locomotion to the investigation of form and function with the respect to how they develop in nature. In 1942 the book “on growth and Form” was written to discuss the questions of how organisms develop form and is still thought of as the bible regarding the form and structure of living organisms10.
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Gruber, Petra. 2011. Biomimetics in Architecture: Architecture of Life and Buildings. Austria. Springer Wien New York. Pg.19 8 Gruber, Petra. 2011 pg. 20 9 Pawlyn, Michael.2011. Biomimicry in Architecture. RIBA publishing pg.2 10 Gruber, Petra. 2011 pg. 26
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One example of this shift in biomimicry is the invention of Velcro by George De Mestral in 194811. After returning from a walk with his dog one day De Mestral noticed that both his pants and his dog’s fur were covered in in cockle burs. He then looked closely at the burs under a microscope and found that the spikes on the cockle burs were actually covered in tiny hooks that allowed them to cling to the fur and pants. From this observation he created Velcro which mimics this process with one side of the Velcro containing the tiny hooks and the other side of the Velcro containing the fur like fibers for the hooks to grab onto. Although the concept of biomimicry has been used since ancient times the term “Biomimicry” was not officially coined until 1957 by Otto Schmitt12. In 1962 biomimicry first appeared in scientific literature, but not until 1974 did the word biomimicry entered Webster’s Dictionary. With this the advancement of research being done in engineering, Robotics, Nano-Technology, medical technology & material science we began to gain momentum in terms of biomimetic design13. Examples of biomimetic advancements made include wetsuits designed like sharkskin to reduce friction while swimming in 2000. In 2001 Gecko tape was invented, an incredibly strong tape modeled after how gecko’s feet stick to any surface. As well as creations based on the Namibian Desert Beetle that can create water on its back from fog in the air. In 2005 Mercedes Benz designed a car modeled after the aerodynamics of the boxfish. The bullet train which was famously modeled after the kingfisher’s bill in 2006.
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2006. Innovation inspired by nature: Biomimicry. Ecosmagazine 129. Pg. 28 Maderic, Amanda. Biomimicry Timeline. http://amandamaderic.com/biomimicry/ [ accessed Feb. 12,2015] 13 Gruber, Petra. 2011 pg. 27 12
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Not until the very late 20th and early 21st century did the application of biomimicry start to be used in the field of Architecture and construction. Frank Lloyd Wright talking about 20th century architecture stated… “Not only should every building grow naturally from within its surroundings, but also that the building’s design should be carefully thought of as if it were a unified organism” In the 1990’s the lotus leaf inspired what has become known as the lotus effect. It has inspired new self-cleaning surface techniques. The lotus effect works because the surface of the lotus leaf after centuries of living in dirty ponds has created a flawless method of repelling dirt. The surface of the leaf contains microscopic bumps and hairs that allow the water that beads up on the surface to collect dirt by allowing the water to touch only a minimum amount of the Surface. The angle of the leaf then causes the balls of water to roll off due to gravity taking the dirt off with it14. Because of this discovery, microscopically rough surface additives have been introduced into a new generation of paint, glass, and fabric.
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2006. Innovation inspired by nature: Biomimicry. Ecosmagazine 129. Pg. 28
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To use an example that has utilized biomimicry at a larger scale Eastgate Centre completed in 1996 in Zimbabwe was inspired by giant termite mounds. In 1961 Martin Luscher observed the way in which termite mounds manage to keep a constant comfortable temperature throughout the mound using passive cooling no matter what the weather conditions are like outside. This is achieved through a multitude of channels placed throughout the termite mound15. Using that as inspiration Eastgate Centre, the country’s largest shopping, was designed without any traditional air conditioning yet it maintains a comfortable temperature year round. Air is continuously drawn into the building by fans on the first floor and pushed up vertical supply sections of ducts located in the central spine of the building. This fresh air replaces stale air that rises and exits through exhaust pipes on top of the building16.
Today the idea of biomimicry is spreading and there is more research being contributed to all aspects design and engineering through bio- inspired design.
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Maderic, Amanda. Biomimicry Timeline. http://amandamaderic.com/biomimicry/ [ accessed Feb. 12,2015] 16 2006. Innovation inspired by nature: Biomimicry. Ecosmagazine 129. Pg. 28
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ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN Because of our past and still present societal and cultural standards toward nature and the environment we are causing detrimental damage to our environment. Many of our biggest concerns throughout the world today involve trying to solve huge environmental concerns. The built environment and the inefficient practices that come along with it play an enormous role in the continuation of these problems. Our culture has succeeded in transforming the natural environment to fit our needs without any regard to what effects it would have. More than half of the world’s population live in densely populated urban areas17. Because of this massive urban shift, we have managed to replace the former natural environment as man’s normal surrounding with that of the built environment. Technological developments have generally been born from the understanding that nature can be harnessed to suit human needs and with that we developed tools that allowed us to transcend the environmental stresses that threaten our survival18. We have long judged innovations based on whether they are good for us. This has ever increasingly become the same thing as judging them based on whether or not they are profitable19. The belief that everything is a commodity to be exploited in any way to make a profit is driving our society further and further into the industrial and consumer driven culture that is so far from the product source that no one knows the true damage of the products they are buying.
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Gruber, Petra. 2011 pg. 8 Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.3 19 Benyus, Janine M., 2002: pg.287 18
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The traditional model of growth being followed is a zero sum game. The idea that in order for growth to happen in one area it must come at the expense of another area 20. In our case the drive for development and profit has come at the expense of the natural environment and everything that inhabits it. Together with the rapid growth in population and expansive development in technology and the economy it has and will continue to have an enormous impact on the environment as a whole. This prevailing assumption that human progress and civilization is measured by our separation from if not transcendence of nature is a dangerous illusion to have21. However, the massive amount of awareness that has been brought to the public’s eye over recent years is shattering the illusion of the limitlessness of the planet and the population is beginning to understand the reality that scarcity of natural resources is impacting our economy more and more. Our generation is seeing the effects that these destructive practices have had on the environment like never before. Climate change is by far the largest reaching concern today. It is apparent that extreme shifts in climate brought on by human practices have real repercussions on our ecological equilibrium. Effects of climate change can be seen in all corners of the world. Some of the side effects include melting glaciers, rising sea levels, flooding, drought, fire, heat waves, catastrophic weather events, altered ecosystems and biodiversity loss, and land and air pollution22. One of the largest repercussions that can be seen is drastic biodiversity loss. The rate at which species are going extinct has extremely accelerated from the previous natural rate of evolutionary extinction. The International Union for Conservation of 20
Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.15 Kellert, Stephen R., 2008.Dimensions, Elements, and Attributes of Biophilic Design. In: Biophilic Design, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons Inc: 1-19; Pg. 4 22 Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.13 21
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Nature (IUCN) estimates that we are losing species at least 1000 times the natural rate23. The main reasons for that being the loss of habitat due to deforestation, urbanization, and water, air, and land pollution. All of this happening at a rate so fast the evolution of animals can’t keep up. Major Biodiversity loss has a larger impact than it seems because the loss of a species creates a chain reaction of events, between other species that rely on each other, that causes large ecological unbalances. The built environment specifically has had an enormous impact on the natural environment. The Predominant approach to the design in the modern built environment has encouraged massive deterioration24. Buildings were designed and operate with unsustainable energy and resource consumptive practices that have contributed majorly to biodiversity loss, pollution, and contamination in the environment. In comparison to nature humans have managed to create buildings that are structurally inefficient, sometimes debilitating to our health, highly consumptive of natural resources, and unable to resist climatic extremes25. The human architectural universe is rigidly based on the unit- grid Cartesian plane, uniform in every way and always flat and level26. This creates buildings as closed loops systems that don’t respond to air currents, sun movements, temperature changes, climatic shifts. This only makes the building more inefficient and damaging to the environment. Although we have come to see ourselves as separate from nature, we are still held to ecological laws. A species cannot occupy a niche that appropriates all resources, there needs to be some sharing between organisms27. All organisms that ignore this law destroy their
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Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.13 Kellert, Stephen R., 2008. Pg. 4 25 TSui, Eugene. 1999. Evolutionary Architecture: Nature as Basis for Design. New York. John Wiley & sons. Pg 2 26 TSui, Eugene. 1999. Pg.5 27 Gruber, Petra. 2011 pg. 8 24
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community to support its own expansion. Therefore the thoughtful design of the built environment is more important than ever before.
THE GENIUS “Our Species with our great intellect, has found ways to bypass the biological course of evolution with buildings, falsely thinking we can control this divergence and procure only the benefits� Ilaria Mazzoleni in her book Architecture follows Nature: Biomimetic Principles for innovative design discusses the difference between our desire to control evolution and that of the natural world where animals have anatomically, physiologically & behaviorally adapted over many years to survive in their environment. Biomimicry on the other hand wishes to combine the complexity, biodiversity and coexistence of organisms and apply them to principles of design in which the built environment is perceived as a part of the whole that relates both the manmade and the natural aspects of the world, and not just an individual entity, to exist together for the mutual benefit of each other. The act of learning from nature, borrowing its designs and strategies is a very logical solution to many of the concerns we have today. As humans we have accomplished many great things but in comparison to the extraordinary adaptations that have evolved in organisms throughout the world it is humbling. The pressures of survival have pushed some organisms into pretty unbelievably specific ecological niches that have inspired the development of incredible adaptations to resource constrained environments28.
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Pawlyn, Michael.2011 pg. 2
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These unimaginable adaptations are the results of 3.8 billion years of field testing. Over the history of organisms being on earth they have had the time to nearly perfect a lot of the issues of survival within their specific habitats. In those 3.8 billion years life has taught itself to fly, circumnavigate the globe, live in the depths of the ocean and atop the highest peaks, craft miracle materials, light up the night, lasso the sun’s energy, and build a self-reflecting brain. As well as turn rock and sea into life friendly homes with steady temperatures29. Consequently for every problem that we are facing today, such as, Finding fresh water, manufacturing materials, and producing energy there is most certainly multiple examples of organisms in nature that have produced a solution to this problem. The first step to successfully using biomimicry is for us as the human species to admit that there is an order of being in the natural world that far exceeds our understanding30. There are organisms in this world that have already solved the problems that people have spent their whole lives trying to figure out. These living things have figured out all the things that we want to do but they have managed to do it without fossil fuels, massive degradation to the environment and no pollution of the planet. We can design Buildings and even neighborhoods that function like complex ecosystems with many interconnected solutions.
GOALS Biomimicry is not a style of building or a design product but instead is a design process that serves as a way of finding solutions. Biomimicry is attempting to make
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Benyus, Janine M., 2002 Intro Benyus, Janine M., 2008. Pg. 30
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buildings more lifelike so that they are adapted to the site and climate, efficient in their use of materials, eliminating waste, interconnected, and responsive to environmental factors. Each terrestrial region of the world is characterized by major vegetation types called biomes that are associated with a specific climate condition. These biomes typically have similar communities of animals because the animals have had to evolve in similar climatic conditions31. This principle should also be applied to the way that we design buildings. If we design buildings that are adapted to their specific site and climate with similar aspects that the organisms in the area have expertly evolved they will fit into the whole of the ecosystem better than a generically designed building. Another goal of biomimetic design is the efficient use of material. Nature only uses what it needs, it does nothing uselessly. However we have been stuck in the cycle of heat, beat, & treat32. Materials are heated to very high temperatures, beat into whatever form we need it to be, and then it is treated with chemicals. In nature things are very calculated and material is only created in exactly the places it is needed for structure or protection. In a working natural ecosystem no waste is created. In order for a building to function as a part of its surrounding ecosystem we need to design waste out of the built environment. A major step in designing out waste is to ensure that as much as possible of what we create remains useful for as long as it can33. In addition to that buildings should take advice from the natural cycle of waste. In this cycle one organism’s waste becomes another organism’s food source. Each organism both consumes and provides
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Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.33 Benyus, Janine M., 2008. 33 Pawlyn, Michael.2011. pg. 1 32
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at the same time. Waste has only happened because we have interrupted that natural cycle. A major goal of biomimicry is interconnectedness. All living things are sustained by their relationships to one another. An ecosystem is defined by co-occurring organisms and abiotic conditions in a particular area that function as an integrated unit34. The concept of interconnectedness encompasses the idea of coexistence and richness in biodiversity. Applying this approach to buildings so that they are a part of this interconnected system where the building is actually an essential part of the environment and the environment is an essential part of the building. Ultimately eliminating the separation of the artificial and natural worlds. With the built environment on a mission to become more like the natural world another lesson we can take in the field of biomimicry is a living model of responsiveness. Buildings like organisms should be able to respond to their surroundings and the fluctuation in the environment that happen regularly. In the built environment we have become accustomed to enclosing our buildings from the natural world and accepting that they are still objects that will have to withstand whatever is thrown at it. In an ideal world, however, living architecture would respond to stimuli and to the external influences such as heat, light, and pressure35. The more that our built environment starts to function like the natural environment the more the natural environment will accept our built environment and the less harm we will be causing our world. We can reach these goals by understanding the basic principles that all things in nature follow:
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Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.36 Holmes, Scott. 2007. Form Follows Climate: Living Skins. Pg:9
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1. Nature runs on sunlight. 2. Nature uses only the energy it needs. 3. Nature fits form to function. 4. Nature recycles everything. 5. Nature rewards cooperation. 6. Nature banks on diversity. 7. Nature demands local expertise. 8. Nature curbs excesses from within. 9. Nature taps the power of limits36. The ultimate goal of biomimetic design is for the built environment to be functional with zero impact on the natural environment. An even greater scenario is for the built environment to become restorative and heal the damage that has already been done.
LEVELS OF BIOMIMICRY There are a multitude of different ways that biomimicry can be incorporated into the built environment. The most basic form of biomimicry is to simply imitate the shape of an organism. Its imitation has no function it is purely a copy of the form. For example the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre mimics the shape of the bands on an armadillo’s shell37. In this case the conference center is design to look like the animal however, the building is obviously not meant to bend like the band of the armadillo.
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Benyus, Janine M., 2008. Pg. 34 Bahamon, Alejandro, Patricia Perez. 2009. Inspired by Nature: animals. New York. W. W. Norton and Company. 37
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On the contrary the form of a building can also be imitated for its specific function. In this case the form of the organism has evolved to perform a specific function for the organism. Such as pleats on a building inspired by the pleats on the barrel cactus that provide self-shading on the façade surface of a building.
The next level of biomimicry focuses on imitation of an organism’s processes. It asks the question of how the organism performs and survives in a certain environment. The change in thought here is instead of buildings that look as nature looks for buildings to do as nature does. The aim of studying the adaptive strategies of organisms is to apply them to buildings in order to integrate them to perform better in that climate and habitat. There is a great many ways that this level of biomimicry can be integrated into the built environment and the amount of biodiversity in an ecosystem is proof that there are many different approaches to living in any ecosystem. The ecosystem approach to biomimicry is the highest and most efficient form of biomimicry. The goal of ecosystem biomimicry is to mimic the way an ecosystem functions within a building. Instead of designing a building to imitate just one organism’s
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adaptation functions like the cyclical nature of an ecosystem. So like the goal of eliminating waste in our world, within the building the waste from one process in the building could be used to fuel another aspect of the building.
The ultimate goal of the ecosystem approach is that the built environment will operate as a part of the overall ecosystem that it is placed in a way that is not harmful but instead just another part of the natural cycle.
PROCESS OF BIOMIMICRY The first step in the process of biomimetic design is for the designer or engineer to define a functional challenge. A challenge that they are seeking to find a solution to by looking for advice from nature. Such as, flexibility, strength under tension, wind resistance, sound protection, cooling, or warming38. The designer then seeks out a local organism or ecosystem that is the champion of that function38. This is not to say that there is only one answer to the problems that designers are wishing to solve and the amount of biodiversity that can be seen in just on climate zone is testament to that. In addition designers don’t need to rely purely on the ideas of one organism but can create a solution inspired by many organisms39. After finding an organism that fits the function the designer needs, the next step is to figure out how that organism does what it does.
38 39
Benyus, Janine M., 2008. A Good Place to Settle: 27-42; Pg. 29 Benyus, Janine M., 2008. A Good Place to Settle: pg.30
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The final step in the process of biomimicry design is to implement the solutions that have been found in the natural environment into the built environment.
PART 2: CASE STUDIES FORMAL BIOMIMICRY: ESPLANADE THEATER, SINGAPORE
Singapore is an island in southeastern Asia situated between Malaysia and Indonesia just north of the equator40. The country consists of the main island as well as more than 60 much smaller islands with a total area of 693 sq. km. The main island is mostly flat with only some low hills. Singapore has a tropical rainforest climate so it stays hot and humid throughout the year. Because, it is located so close to the equator they do not experience any change in season. The average temperature stays at around 88 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and very rarely dips below 74 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity levels
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Weather and Climate in Singapore. 2008. 2015 Hawksford Singapore Ltd. www.guidemesingapore.com/relocation/introdcution/climate-in-singapore. [accessed Apr. 02, 2015]
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between 70% and 90%41. Singapore’s weather is often extremely unpredictable with about 2300mm of rainfall a year but the country experiences sunlight for the majority of the days in a year. In an environment like Singapore that is extremely hot and humid throughout the entire year, it can be difficult be a difficult place to design and build efficient and successful buildings. Building need to be able to maintain a comfortable internal environment for the people that are inhabiting that space with an appropriate temperature and humidity level. While maintaining that internal environment it is also essential to allow light into the spaces but in a controlled manner. Buildings have similar constraints to plants in that they, unlike animals and some other organisms, both are bound by the inability to move from their positions. However, that is not the only trait that buildings and plants share. Maintaining an appropriate body temperature is critical in all aspects of an organism’s biochemical and physiological functions42. Processes of all plant life occur at an optimum temperature at which the functions of that organism will be most efficient. These processes cannot continue after they reach a certain temperature limit. Damage cause by overheating of organisms can result in the death of that organism43. Therefore just like keeping the inside of a building at a comfortably level so that people and the functions of a building can operate, it is an equally important to organisms in the environment. Some plants possess attributes that aid in thermal resistance and allow them to withstand extreme temperatures.
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Singapore weather, climate, & geography. 2015. Columbus Travel Media Ltd. www.worldtravelguide.net/singapore/weather-climate-geography. [accessed Apr. 02, 2015] 42 Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013: Pg.97 43 Bahamon, Alejandro, Patricia Perez. 2009: pg. 74
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The Durian fruit is an example of one of those organisms that have adapted to be able to withstand extreme temperatures. The Durian fruit is a part of the genus Durio with 30 recognized variations. It is native to southeastern Asia. This area, which includes Singapore, is a hot and humid tropical climate. The Durian is revered in this culture as the “king of Fruits.” It is distinguishable by its large size, uniquely strong odor, and its formidable thorn- covered husk. The fruit can typically weigh between two to seven pounds44. The Durian like all other organisms has to maintain an internal temperature to be able to function efficient. It has strategies to help it do just that in the hot and humid climate such as its round shape. The roundness of form in a plant is a strategy that reduces the degree of insolation on the total surface of the plant’s surface. This spherical form of the Durian fruit allows it to maintain a much cooler internal temperature than other species that may have a flat surface facing the sun45.
In addition to its spherical form the durian fruit’s outer shell is also covered in thorns that stick out all over the shell. The durian fruit’s thorns aid in staying cool by
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Rudrappa, Umesh. 2015. Durian Fruit nutrition facts. www.nutrition-and-you.com/durian-fruit.html. [Accessed Apr.3, 2015] 45 Bahamon, Alejandro, Patricia Perez. 2009: pg. 74
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providing it with self-shading. This self-shading nature of the thorns improve cooling and energy efficiency46. The Durian fruit uses its semi rigid pressurized skin to protect the seeds inside, just as the building exterior of the Esplanade Theater in Singapore. The Esplande was designed by DP Architects Pte Ltd. And Michael Wilford and Partners and was completed in 2002 costing a total of $600 million to build. It is a Preforming Arts Center that houses five auditoriums, several outdoor performance spaces, and a mix of offices, stores, and apartments47. An interior steel structure supports the glazing façade as well as the 6,200 aluminum panels that make up the shading system on top of the two very large domes of the theater. The roundness of these two domes work in the same way as round fruits that use their shape to minimize the surface area that the sun is directly hitting. In addition these triangular shaped metal panels mimic the shape of the thorns on the shell of the durian fruit. Similar to how the thorns help with self-shading of the durian fruit these metal panels provide the shading for the building. The triangular panels are responsive photoreactors that adjust to the sun’s angle and position throughout the day48. The louvers open and close throughout the day to control the amount of light being let in as well as the internal temperature. The Esplanade Theater is one example of proof that biomimicry can be used to tackle the most difficult of building challenges, such as controlling a comfortable interior
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Zazzera, Joe. 2014. Biomimicry: the immolation of Nature’s Genius. Green Living Magazine. http://www.greenlivingaz.com/2014/06/04/biomimicry-emulation-natures-genius/. [accessed Apr. 04, 2015] 47 2008. About the Center. http://www.esplanade.com/about_the_centre/index.jsp. [accessed Apr.04, 2015] 48 Vierra, Stephanie. 2014. Biomimicry: Designing to model nature. National institute of Building Sciences. http://www.wbdg.org/resources/biomimicry.php. [accessed Apr. 04, 2015]
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environment in a location where heat and humidity is one of the biggest challenges. In addition to solving a functional problem the Esplanade has become a cultural icon because it represents the area and a coveted local organism.
PROCESSES BIOMIMICRY: ARAB WORLD INSTITUTE, PARIS
Paris is the capital city located in the northern middle part of France. Paris is approximately 40 square miles and has a population of about 2.2 million people. It sits at an elevation of 115 feet above sea level. Paris has a temperate climate therefore there is no extremes in weather changes. The average temperatures throughout the year range between 41 degrees and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Because Paris sits in the Ile de France region, the part of France that sees the least amount of rainfall in France, the majority of days in France are sunny. However, the city is known for its unexpected rainstorms. In a location such as Paris where most days are sunny but the weather can change very quickly to stormy it is important to have buildings that can adapt to the conditions outside and the needs of the occupants inside the building. Daylight is an important aspect of designing buildings. Natural daylight is more energy efficient than
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artificial lighting in buildings, so allowing daylight into a space is a great sustainable option. Studies show that in buildings with more daylight workers were healthier and more productive, and students learned material 20% faster than their counterparts that worked in buildings with a lot of artificial lighting. Natural lighting is great but too much of it can also cause a lot of issues for the occupants inside. It is important to take steps to control the amount of light that is let into the spaces of a building. The Iris can be found in all organisms that have eyes. It is the Colored ring shaped membrane with an adjustable circular opening around the black part of the eye called the pupil. The Iris membrane comes in many forms in different animals and is not always a round opening such as the cat eye. The iris’ function is to control the amount of light let into the eye similar to how an aperture works in a camera. It can expand and contract to control the amount of light that can get into the eye. The Sphincter Muscle of the iris is what contracts the iris in bright light to let less light in. The Dilator Muscle expands the iris in dark lighting to allow more light into the eye49. The iris much like buildings need to limit and control the amount of light being let in. This, however, can be a complicated issue so like the iris a building should be able to adapt and change according to the fluctuating sunlight on the exterior of the building. The Arab World Institute in Paris is an example of a building that was designed and built to react to the amount of sunlight hitting the building throughout the day. The building is designed with a façade wall on the south side of mechanical apertures that resemble
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St. Lukes. 2012. Anatomy. St. Luke’s Cataract and Laser Institute. http://www.stlukeseye.com/anatomy/iris.html. [ accessed 04/19/2015]
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and function like the iris in an eye50. Each aperture on the wall is equipped with a photoelectric sensor that can open and close according to where the sun is at a specific time51. The Arab world Institute is another example of how biomimicry can be used to solve a problem in the built environment and enhance the way that we interact with architecture.
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The Economist. 2007. Biomimetics: Borrowing from nature. Technology Quaterly: Q3 2007. http://www.economist.com/node/9719013. [accessed Apr. 19, 2015] 51 Kriscenski, Ali. 2008. Jean Nouvel Wins the 2008 Pritzker Prize. Inhabitat. http://inhabitat.com/jean-nouvel-named-2008-pritzker-architecture-laureate/. [accessed Apr. 19, 2015]
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PART 3: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SONORAN DESERT ENVIRONMENT OF THE SONORAN DESERT The Sonoran Desert is located in the southwest of North America and covers the areas of southwestern Arizona, Southeastern California, and much of the Mexican state of Baja California and the western half of the state of Sonoran. The area includes several areas of public land, such as Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the Joshua Tree National Park, a Biosphere Reserve on the U.S. border, Saguaro National Park, and the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument52. The Sonoran Desert is a total of 200,000 square meters. 100,000 square meters of land and 100,000 square meters of sea. The Sonoran Desert has a diverse range of geographical elements including mountain ranges, wide valleys, and Saguaro Forests53. There are 2 mountains, Mount Kofa and Mount Catalina. The highest point rests on the western side of the desert and reaches 1206 meters. The rest of the western section is comprised of plateaus and sand dunes that can reach heights of 200 meters above sea level54. In addition the Colorado River and the Gila River run through the desert. Because the desert covers such a large area over multiple states, the climate type over this area is not one specific type but a combination. The area closest to the Gulf of California is a dry subtropical climate with very little rain that typically comes during the monsoon season between July and September. These rains typical come in the form of brief thunderstorms with very heavy rains 55. However, the area around the
52
Sonoran Desert. 2015. In Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britanica.com/EBchecked/topic/554561/sonoran-desert. [accessed Apr.04, 2015] 53 Sonoran Desert. 2015. In Encyclopedia Britannica. 54 P., Elora. 2003. Sonoran Desert. Blue Planet Biomes. http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/sonoran_desert.htm. [accessed Apr.05,2015] 55 Sonoran Desert. 2015. In Encyclopedia Britannica.
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Colorado River valley and the majority of the rest of the area is a dry and arid climate with year round high temperatures and infrequent rainfall56. This area is by far the hottest and driest part of the desert with temperatures that reach as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This area can sometimes see periods of drought that can last up to thirty months57. Although the Sonoran is a harsh, dry, and arid desert environment it has a large amount of organisms including both plants and animals. In fact the Sonoran desert has the most diverse vegetation of all North American Deserts as well as of any desert on earth58. It is lush in comparison to most other deserts and not the barren wasteland most people think of when they picture a desert. The Sonoran Desert is home to more than 2000 species of plants. Two of the most distinguishable are the legume trees and the large columnar cacti. In addition to there are also 550 distinct vertebrate species, and 200 different species of birds 59. With an ever growing world population people are moving to and building in places we have never lived before including harsh environments that had previously been thought to be inhabitable. In the 20th century the Sonoran Desert became a major retirement and resort spot60. However, because of our human interactions with this area we are causing severe damage to the natural environment. A number of organisms are deemed as near threatened, vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered. With more and more people moving into these areas it is more important than ever for us to
56
Hogan, C., Dimmit, M. & Museum,A. 2014. Sonoran Desert. http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/156115. [accessed Apr.04, 2015] 57 Hogan, C., Dimmit, M. & Museum,A. 2014. 58 Hogan, C., Dimmit, M. & Museum,A. 2014 59 Hogan, C., Dimmit, M. & Museum,A. 2014 60 Sonoran Desert. 2015. In Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britanica.com/EBchecked/topic/554561/sonoran-desert. [accessed Apr.04, 2015]
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look to how these organisms have adapted to surviving there if we are to have a built environment that is not harmful but instead works with or even like the place that are being built.
CONFLICTS OF BUILDING IN THE SONORAN DESERT AND RECOMMENDATIONS Because building in the Sonoran Desert is becoming a more relevant option as it grows as a resort destination it is important that we take steps to ensure that we don’t destroy this environment. Sunshading and sunlighting, thermal comfort, and finding water are some of the biggest challenges facing buildings in the Sonoran Desert. The high level of biodiversity in the Sonoran is proof that there are many solutions to these conflicts. Those organism’s solutions, through biomimetic design, can be applied to the built environment in many ways. Daylight is an important aspect in every building. With the energy crisis it became a priority to incorporate daylight into buildings so that less electric lighting was needed and buildings used less energy throughout the day. In addition health and productivity of the occupants was becoming a priority to employers and designers. According to the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics at Carnegie Mellon University the introduction of daylight in the work space has shown to increase productivity by 318%61. As well as a study of 21,000 students, performed by Herschong Mahone Group, found that in schools with the best daylight students progressed 20% faster in math and 26% faster in reading than students with the least daylighting62.
61
Richmond, Mick. 2015. Daylight in Architecture part 1. Environmental Technology II. ET2 2015S L2-08 Daylight 1.pdf 62 Richmond, Mick. 2015. Daylight in Architecture part 1. Environmental Technology II. ET2 2015S L2-08 Daylight 1.pdf
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However, direct sunlight creates excessive brightness and contrast, and may contribute to visual noise and unwanted heat gain, so it is important to control the amount of sunlight let into a space. Organisms in desert environments have evolved adaptations to help deal with the intense sun and lack of shade or canopy. The Cape Ground Squirrel is native to the regions of southern Africa. They prefer to live mainly in arid conditions. Ground Squirrels are generally active during the day unlike most other desert animals63. Because they are equipped with a very large bushy tail, they are able to use that as a sort of parasol. Therefore the Cape Ground Squirrel can take shade with it wherever it goes64. This adaptations can be transferred to the built environment by using deep overhangs as a building strategy. Overhangs can provide more even light levels, reduce glare and limit heat gain within the space65. For example the Appaloosa Library in Arizona was designed with a very deep overhang at its entrance and additional overhangs on the sides of the building. Another organism that has adapted to the conflict of sunlight and shade in the Sonoran Desert is the Saguaro Cactus. The Saguaro cactus is one of the defining plants of the Sonoran Desert. This cactus is found exclusively in the Sonoran. The Saguaro is a large tree-like cacti that develop branches as they age and is considered the largest cactus in the United States. The limbs and trunk of the cactus are covered in
63
Skurski, D., J. Waterman. 2005. Mammalian Species: Xerus inauris. American Society of Mammalogists, 781: 1-4. http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i545-1410-781-1-1.pdf. [Accessed April 18, 2015 ] 64 Baker, Craig S. 2014. 20 Amazing Animal Adaptations for Living in the Desert. Mental Floss. Mentalfloss.com/article/57204/20-amazing-animal-adaptations-living-desert [accessed 04/08/2015] 65 Richmond, Mick. 2015. Daylight in Architecture part 1
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protective spines. In the late spring they bloom white flowers and red fruits in the summer66. The Saguaro Cactus surface is comprised of pleats. The pleats on the surface of the cactus help the cactus to stay cool and enhance heat radiation by using the pleats as self-shading mechanisms. They help with cooling and energy efficiency67. This adaptation can be transferred into a building strategy by creating pleated surfaces that self-shade, louvers, and vertical fins. An example of this can be seen in the University of Arizona’s Health Sciences Education Building’s façade which mimics the surface of this cactus. Another major conflict that building in the Sonoran Desert will have to face is indoor temperature control. As temperatures rise people find themselves spending more time indoors enjoying the comforts of central air conditioning, but without the benefit of modern technology, animals that make their homes in the heat have had to come up with their own adaptations of staying cool and hydrated. With the Energy crisis ever present in our society it would be beneficial to design buildings in a way that they will consume less energy by employing the cooling strategies of desert organisms. These organisms manage to keep a regulated body temperate despite the intense heat and lack of air conditioning. One way that animals in the desert have learned to keep a constant internal temperature is by avoidance. Many organisms accomplish this by seeking out a microclimate. Microclimate is defined as the climate of a small area, as of confined
66
Arizona-Sonoran Desert. 2008. Plant Fact Sheet: Saguaro Cactus. https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Saguaro%20Cactus.php [accessed 04/18/2015] 67 Zazzera, Joe. 2014. Biomimicry: the immolation of Nature’s Genius
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spaces such as caves or houses of plant communities, wooded areas etc. where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The Pallid Bat can be found throughout arid regions across the American west with rocky outcroppings as well as sparsely vegetated grasslands. The Pallid bat is an example of an organism that seeks out a microclimate to keep cool68. The Pallid makes its home within crevices in canyon walls, caves, or cracks in rocks. These places are typically cooler than their surrounding area because they create shade. This strategy can be transferred to the built environment of the desert by building on the north side of a mountain or cliff, or building into a crevice. An example of this strategy can be seen in the Montezuma Castle Monument in Arizona. This Monument is set into the side of a cliff face, so as the sun beats down on the desert the building is in the shade throughout the day and therefore will remain cooler than if it was out in the open. Another form of avoidance is for an organism to create its own microclimate. An example of an organism that uses this strategy is the Mound- Building Termites. MoundBuilding Termites can be found in Africa, Australia, and South America. Termites may be individually small but when they come together they are able to build mounds more than 17 feet tall and weighing over 33 pounds69. Inside these massive mounds is an extensive system of tunnels and conduits that serve as the mounds ventilation system 70. These tunnels circulate out stale air and bring in fresh air keeping the inside of the
68
Arizona-Sonoran Desert. 2015. Plant Fact Sheet: Pallid Bat. https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/bats/Pallid%20bat.php [accessed 04/18/2015] 69 Margonelli, Lisa. 2014. Collective Mind in the Mound: How Do Termites Build Their Huge Structures?. National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140731-termites-moundsinsects-entomology-science/ [accessed 04/19/2015] 70 Heimbuch, Jaymi. 2012. Nature Blows My Mind! Miraculous Termite Mounds. Treehugger. http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/nature-blows-my-mind-miracles-termite-mounds.html [accessed 04/19/2015]
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mound at a constant temperature no matter how hot or cold the temperature is outside of the mound. This Idea of how the termite mounds keep cool has been directly incorporated into the Eastgate Centre Building in Zimbabwe. When Designing Eastgate Centre the Designers looked to these termite mounds for inspiration on how to ventilate the building. Eastgate is the country’s largest shopping and office center. The building has no conventional air conditioning or heating system yet manages to maintain a constant temperature throughout the day and year71. It is able to accomplish that by using fans to capture the cool air that is continually drawn in and pushed up through and under the office floors during the heat of the day72. The fresh air drawn in replaces the stale air that rises and is forced out through the exhaust pipes at the top of the building. This allows the building to operate using only 10% of the energy that a typical building consumes73. The idea of creating a new microclimate is not limited to how termites handle maintaining a constant temperature it can be accomplished by employing any passive cooling strategies within a building. Additionally organisms in the desert often use the technique of burrowing to avoid the hot desert heat. Often times in the desert the surface of the soil can be up to 40 degrees hotter than the air. To avoid this extreme heat a lot of desert animals burrow themselves underground where the soil temperature is much cooler than the surface of the soil or being exposed to the intense sun above the surface.
71
Zazzera, Joe. 2014. Biomimicry: the immolation of Nature’s Genius. Zazzera, Joe. 2014. Biomimicry: the immolation of Nature’s Genius 73 Vierra, Stephanie. 2014. Biomimicry: Designing to model nature. National institute of Building Sciences 72
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One such organism is the Gila Monster. The Gila Monster is a large, heavybodied bright pink and black lizard that measures 1.25 feet long. They can be found in western and southern Arizona, southern Sonora, Mexico, as well as southeastern California, and southern Nevada. The Gila monster typically makes its habitat in the mountain foothills74. The Gila monster spends the majority of its lifetime in burrows underground. As much as 98 percent of their lifetime can be spent underground. They make their burrows under rocks or bushes, or burrows that they have dug themselves or other animals have abandoned75. The strategy of burrowing, practiced by the Gila monster as well as the Kangaroo Rat, White-Tailed Antelope, and many other animals that live in desert environments, can be transferred to the built environment. By placing all or part of a building underground in the desert it would greatly affect the thermal comfort of the interior just as the animals body temperatures are kept at a safe level. Because the building won’t be entirely exposed to the sun beating down on the desert and the soil underground is so much cooler it could reduce if not eliminate the need for conventional air conditioning. An example of this is can be seen in the Tubac house designed by Rick Joy resides on the outskirts of Tubac, Arizona. The Tubac house is comprised of two single story structures that create a v shape76. One side of the house is submerged into the ground while the other side rises to the surface.
74
Arizona-Sonoran Desert. 2015. Plant Fact Sheet: Gila Monster. https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_gila.php [accessed 04/18/2015] 75 Arizona-Sonoran Desert. 2015. Plant Fact Sheet: Gila Monster. 76 Plattner, Seth. 2008. Innovative Architecture of the Tubac House. Inventor Spot. http://inventorspot.com/architecture_tubac_house. [accessed 04/19/2015]
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The issue of finding water in the desert may be one of the most difficult to overcome. But the many organisms that inhabit the Sonoran Desert have found ways to adapt to the lack of water in a multitude of different ways. Water is an extremely important factor in the survival of most organisms. Water serves as the basic transport medium for nutrients and it is the medium for dilution and removal of body wastes as well as serving as the body’s primary cooling agent77. Water is so important to the lives of animals that a loss of body weight of 10-15% due to water loss can severely impair an animal’s abilities, and a loss of 20% can often mean death for the animal78. Organisms in the Sonoran Desert have learned to adapt to the lack of water by having shallow root systems and large water storage capacities. Because the Sonoran Desert gets very little rainfall throughout the year and when it does rain it is short periods of extremely heavy showers the plants must be able to gather the water from the ground quickly and then be able to store large amount of it for use at later times. The succulent plants that can be found throughout the desert are the prime example of organisms that know how to gather water in an arid environment. Succulents. When it rains in the Sonoran the rain once it hits the soil doesn’t get very far into the ground because the ground is typically so dry and does not contain any subsurface water. Therefore, Deep root systems won’t survive in the desert climate because the water would never reach them. Because of that challenge succulents and other plants in the desert have adapted very long and shallow root systems that allow
77
Siminski, Peter. 2015. The Desert Adaptations of Birds and Mammals. Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum. https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_adaptations_birds.php [accessed 04/09/2015] 78 Siminski, Peter. 2015. The Desert Adaptations of Birds and Mammals. Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum.
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them to soak up the water that reaches only the shallow depths of the soil and will dry up quickly under the desert sun79. In addition succulent plants have a great ability to store large amounts of water. This can be an advantage for when the desert might not see rain for an extended period of time. The surface of many succulents also have waxy cuticles that render them nearly waterproof so that none of the stored water evaporates either80. Plants share a similar challenge as buildings do in that they are stuck in one place and unable to move, so unlike animals they can’t simply move to a watering hole to find water they have had to be more innovative. For that reason it would be beneficial to our built environment to look into how these plants have overcome this challenge. The adaptations of shallow root systems and large water storage capacities can be translated to the built environment by incorporating water catchment systems into the buildings that we build in the desert. An example of this is the Herreros House in the Countryside. This house is designed with a two sloped roof that points towards the center of the building. These slopes collect the rainwater and filters it before it is stored in a cistern under the house. It can be seen that all of these conflicts with living in the desert connect to one another. Every organism as well as every building in the Sonoran Desert will have to deal with sunlight and shade, thermal comfort, and finding water. It is possible for us to create buildings that address all of these concerns and not just one. In doing that we would be bringing the built environment of the Sonoran closer to complete biomimicry.
79
Dimmit, Mark. 1997. How Plants Cope with the Desert Climate. Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum. www.desertmuseum.org/programs/succulents_adaptation.php. [accessed 04/08/2015] 80 Dimmit, Mark. 1997. How Plants Cope with the Desert Climate. Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum.
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The biomimetic strategies that have just been described as well as other examples of how biomimicry can be incorporated into the built environment of the Sonoran Desert have been compiled into a Sonoran Desert Biomimicry Reference Guide (on page 33) that can guide designers on biomimetic approaches to building in the Sonoran Desert.
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SONORAN DESERT BIOMIMICRY REFERENCE GUIDE Organism
Sun-lighting & Sunshading Thermal Comfort
Adaptation
Building Strategy
Built Examples
Bushy tail used as a shade Pleats self-shade the Surface
Deep Overhangs, Louvers, Vertical Fins Pleated Surfaces
Pallid Bat
Avoidance: Seek out a microclimate
-White- Throated Wood Rat -Termites - Kangaroo Rat - White-Tailed Antelope - Gila Monster Rattlesnake
Avoidance: Build own microclimate
- Build on north side of mountain or cliff - Build in a Crevice Passive Cooling Strategies
- Price House - Appaloosa Library - University of Arizona Health Sciences Education building - Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum - Pleats. M - Montezuma Castle Monument - Campbell Cliffs
Cape Ground Squirrel Saguaro & Barrel Cacti
Jack Rabbit - Bobcat - Bighorn Sheep Pronghorns Pronghorns Sidewinder
Water
Succulent Plants Saguaro Cactus Most Succulents Saguaro Cactus
- Eastgate Centre - walker Guest House
Burrowing
Build all or part of a building underground.
- Aloni house - Tubac House - House in Chihuahua
Rest on rocks to transfer heat Long Appendages
Thermal mass
- Desert wing
Pass heat through materials Light Colored exteriors Air space as insulation Passive Ventilation
- The Six Courtyard Houses - Uncommon house -Emerson Process Management
Pale Coloring Hollow hair for insulation Raise patches of hair to release heat Moves by touching minimal ground Large water storage capability Shallow root systems to collect water Expand as water is collected
Elevate building of the ground Water Catchment System Shallow underground water catchment Expandable building materials and collection
Thorny Devil
Scales Collect Dew
Façade systems
Fogstand Beetle
Skin condenses fog
Façade systems
- Austin Residence - Taliesin West - Nottoscale’s Rondolino - IT Studio - Tucson Mountain Retreat - Herreros House in the Countryside
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GLOSSARY OF ARCHITECTURE
House in the Countryside Architect: Herreros Arquitctos
Aloni House
Location: Mallorca, Spain
Architect: decaARCHITECTURE Location: Antiparos, Greece
House in Chihuahua Architect: PRODUCTORA
Appaloosa Library
Location: Chihuahua, Mexico
Architect: DWL Architects and Planners Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Montezuma Castle National Monument Architect: Sinagua people
Campbell Cliffs
Location: Camp Verde, Arizona
Architect: Les Wallah Location: Tucson, Arizona
Pleats M. Architect: Hironaka Ogawa & Associates
Desert Wing
Location: Saitama, Japan
Architect: Kendle Design Location: Scottsdale,Arizona
Price House Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Eastgate Center
Location: Paradise Valley, Arizona
Architect: Mike Pearce Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
Rondolino Residence Architect: Nottoscale
Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum
Location: High Desert, Nevada
Architect: Zaha Hadid Location: East Lansing, Michigan
The Six Courtyard Houses
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Architect: Ibarra Rosano Design Architects Location: Tucson, Arizona
Taliesin West Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Tubac House Architect: Rick Joy Location: Tubac, Arizona
Tucson Mountain Retreat Architect: DUST Location: Tucson, Arizona
University of Arizona Health Sciences Education Building Architect: CO Architects Location: Phoenix
Walker Guest House Architect: Paul Rudolph Location: Sanibel Island, Florida
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PART 3: SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability is defined as providing for the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to provide for their needs. The way that our society operates currently is not sustainable. Everything that we need for our survival and well- being depends either directly or indirectly in some way on the natural environment. Sustainability, however, is not solely about nature it encompasses social, economic, and environmental technology. It understands that these things all rely on each other to sustain a healthy world and a quality life. Our predominant theory of progress currently is that the further from nature we get the more civilized we become. This thought is very dangerous. As a society we need to gain an understanding that we are a part of the natural cycle and that nature is not just something we need to conquer but instead it is something that we need to learn to work with. One known fact in nature is that it understands if there is an organism that exists in an ecosystem that is dominating all other organisms and taking everything for itself, but not giving anything that is beneficial to the other organisms it will create an unbalance in the ecosystem and could eventually destroy the entire ecosystem including itself. The spaceman versus the cowboy analogy gives great insight into the two different schools of thought on how we treat the environment. The idea of the cowboy is that they have infinite plains and space to live from. They function in a linear manner meaning that they use something in a linear manner. A product goes from consumption or use straight to waste. The cowboy has no need to recycle because they do not see
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the limits of the place that they are living, scale is negligible. On the other hand the spaceman is very aware of the scale of the environment they are living. The spaceman is confined to a small capsule and is very aware of the material cycles and immediate feedbacks from the waste that is created. The spaceman understand that excess amount of waste cannot be created and that as much as possible should be reused. Just as the spaceman realizes that he lives in a closed loop system, we as a society need to realize that even though we cannot see the full extent of the capsule that we live within that it is a closed loop system and the world cannot sustain a cowboy theory lifestyle for much longer. Currently in our society we live in a linear type waste system where things are used and then discarded most likely to the landfill with the majority of things not being recycled. The cradle to cradle waste cycle and biomimicry promote the thoughtful design of materials so that the way we live is more sustainable and acts more like a closed loop system.
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Biomimicry is the act of learning from nature imitating designs, strategies, and systems and applying it to produce a solution to a problem. True biomimicry comes not from just mimicking nature but taking its design principles and learning from those ideas. Learning about the natural world is one thing but learning from the natural world that’s the switch. Nature’s organisms can offer insight in its ability to act locally but with an indirect ability to have a global influence. Because nature is a mind compelled to create, produce, and evolve to a level of perfection that should stand as the model of every human endeavor especially in the built environment. Biomimicry can be a great asset to the field of sustainability. Because it relies on following the basic principles of life, the built environment will be better suited to be integrated into the natural system. Principles such as Nature runs on sunlight, uses only the energy it needs, fits form to function, and recycles everything. These principles are what sustainability experts are working towards. The closer we mimic nature the better our built environment will interact with the natural environment and sustainability will become not just an option but the standard.
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CITATIONS Arizona-Sonoran Desert. 2015. Plant Fact Sheet: Gila Monster. https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_gila.php [accessed 04/18/2015] Arizona-Sonoran Desert. 2008. Plant Fact Sheet: Saguaro Cactus. https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Saguaro%20Cactus.php [accessed 04/18/2015] Bahamon, Alejandro, Patricia Perez. 2009. Inspired by Nature: animals. New York. W. W. Norton and Company Baker, Craig S. 2014. 20 Amazing Animal Adaptations for Living in the Desert. Mental Floss. Mentalfloss.com/article/57204/20-amazing-animal-adaptations-living-desert [accessed 04/08/2015] Benyus, Janine M., 2008. A Good Place to Settle: Biomimicry, Biophilia, and the Return of Nature’s Inspiration to Architecture. In: Biophilic Design, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons Inc Benyus, Janine M., 2002. Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by Nature, New York, Harper Perennial Dimmit, Mark. 1997. How Plants Cope with the Desert Climate. Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum. www.desertmuseum.org/programs/succulents_adaptation.php. [accessed 04/08/2015] The Economist. 2007. Biomimetics: Borrowing from nature. Technology Quaterly: Q3 2007. http://www.economist.com/node/9719013. [accessed Apr. 19, 2015] Gruber, Petra. 2011. Biomimetics in Architecture: Architecture of Life and Buildings. Austria. Springer Wien New York Heimbuch, Jaymi. 2012. Nature Blows My Mind! Miraculous Termite Mounds. Treehugger. http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/nature-blows-my-mind-miracles-termite-mounds.html
[accessed 04/19/2015] Hogan, C., Dimmit, M. & Museum,A. 2014. Sonoran Desert. http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/156115. [accessed Apr.04, 2015] Kellert, Stephen R., 2008.Dimensions, Elements, and Attributes of Biophilic Design. In: Biophilic Design, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons Inc Kriscenski, Ali. 2008. Jean Nouvel Wins the 2008 Pritzker Prize. Inhabitat. http://inhabitat.com/jean-nouvel-named-2008-pritzker-architecture-laureate/. [accessed Apr. 19, 2015] Maderic, Amanda. Biomimicry Timeline. http://amandamaderic.com/biomimicry/ [ accessed Feb. 12,2015] Margonelli, Lisa. 2014. Collective Mind in the Mound: How Do Termites Build Their Huge Structures?. National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140731termites-mounds-insects-entomology-science/ [accessed 04/19/2015] Mazzoleni, Ilaria. 2013. Architecture follows Nature, Biomimetic Principles for Innovative Design. Florida. CRC Press P., Elora. 2003. Sonoran Desert. Blue Planet Biomes. http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/sonoran_desert.htm. [accessed Apr.05,2015]
44 Plattner, Seth. 2008. Innovative Architecture of the Tubac House. Inventor Spot. http://inventorspot.com/architecture_tubac_house. [accessed 04/19/2015] Richmond, Mick. 2015. Daylight in Architecture part 1. Environmental Technology II. ET2 2015S L208 Daylight 1.pdf Rudrappa, Umesh. 2015. Durian Fruit nutrition facts. www.nutrition-and-you.com/durianfruit.html. [Accessed Apr.3, 2015] Siminski, Peter. 2015. The Desert Adaptations of Birds and Mammals. Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum. https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_adaptations_birds.php [accessed 04/09/2015] Singapore weather, climate, & geography. 2015. Columbus Travel Media Ltd. www.worldtravelguide.net/singapore/weather-climate-geography. [accessed Apr. 02, 2015] Skurski, D., J. Waterman. 2005. Mammalian Species: Xerus inauris. American Society of Mammalogists, 781: 1-4. http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i545-1410-781-11.pdf.
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45 PICTURE REFERENCES
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