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Through biomimicry of ant colonies, are we able to implement their functionality in order to make our cities sustainable for the future?
Word count: 5232
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"A community of ants. As part of their daily activities, they:
- safely and effectively handle their own material wastes and those of other species
- grow and harvest their own food while nurturing the ecosystem of which they are part
- construct houses, farms, dumps, cemeteries, living quarters, and food-storage facilities from materials that can be truly recycled
- create disinfectants and medicines that are healthy, safe and biodegradable
- maintain soil health for the entire planet"
[Braungart, M. and McDonough, W. 2009. p 73]
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Contents Introduction
pages 1-3
Section one - why cities must change, using ants colonies as a model Cities must become sustainable The link between the human city and the ant colony Biomimicry of nature's genius
5-7 8-9 9 - 11
Section two - analysis of ant colonies and implementation of their principles Evolution and adaptation Closed-loop systems The city in coherance with the environment Compact and contained boundaries Danger of biomimicry
13 - 17 17 - 20 22 - 24 26 - 30 30 - 32
Conclusion
35 - 46
References and bibliography
41 - 45
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Introduction
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T
he world’s population is currently undergoing the fastest population growth in history and is estimated at seven billion people. This is an increase of thirty-five percent in the last twenty years (fig. 1) [Rogers, R. 2000][U.S. Census Bureau. 2011]. Cities, now home to
fifty percent of the entire population, are beginning to show the strain as they are forced to augment their boundaries and cast their nets further afield (fig. 2). With so many living in the city, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted accounts for eighty percent of the entire planets emissions (fig. 3). The urban population is expected to reach five billion by the twentieth century; emissions are set to increase further [WWF, p. 1][UNFPA. 2007]. As a result, the environment is being damaged. The planet is a self-regulating system and “if we fail to take care of the earth it will take care of itself by making us no longer welcome on it” [Lovelock, J. 2007 p. 3]. This will be the eventual outcome of Climate Change.
While human civilisations wreak destruction on the planet, ant colonies continue
to function sustainably, having little impact on the environment. With ants living much longer than humans, they have adapted and evolved over time so that they are perfectly suited to the specific environment in which they inhabit, consuming only essential resources [Kelly, K. 1995]. In contrast, “cities are increasingly drawing in resources from across the globe” [Newman, P. and Jennings, I. 2008]. The lack of environmentally sustainable infrastructure in current cities has resulted in a resource-wasteful living. It is important to change how cities function by learning the methods and principles of ant colonies.
Looking to nature for answers is called Biomimicry. It is to study nature’s best ideas and
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then imitate these designs and processes to solve human problems. “Innovation inspired by nature” [Benyus, J. 2003 p. ]. The main principle is that nature has been around for 3.8 billion years of research and adaptation, in contrast with the first full behavioural modernity human around fifty thousand years ago. Therefore, nature has defined and knows the solutions for what survives on the planet [Benyus, J. 2003]. Consequently, biomimicry is known as the conscious emulation of life’s genius.
This writing will investigate the idea: through biomimicry of ant colonies, are we able
to implement their functionality in order to make our cities sustainable for the future? To draw a conclusion to this question I will first make an argument for why it is imperative that cities change their functionality by looking at the effects cities are having on the planet. I will then explore why ants have grown to be so in sync with the natural environment and explain their sustainability. Following on from this, through investigation, I will show how similar the structure of insect colonies are to the structure of cities, making a case for the use of biomimicry. Through the explanation of ‘biomimicry’, I will explain its importance in solving the sustainability problem of the city. From here, I will begin to investigate the ant colonies. I will examine what makes an ant colony so resource-driven with such little waste output and how they are so self-dependant. I will be able to discover the reasons for them being so sustainable and whether it is possible to mimic these principles in cities to make them sustainable for the future. Finally, I will conclude whether or not it is beneficial for cities to use biomimicry in their structure and ultimately, whether it is feasible.
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Section one why cities must change, using ants colonies as a model
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Cities must become sustainable It is important that cities change their current unsustainable living. Cities are accountable for eighty percent of the world’s entire carbon dioxide emissions. These emissions are responsible for sixty percent of the ‘enhanced greenhouse effect’, which is causing the rise in world temperature, known as ‘global warming’ [BBC, 2010]. If human civilisation is to stop the repercussions of global warming, cities must act to lower their damage to the planet by becoming more selfdependant and resource-driven. Currently, “cities use too many resources and produce too much waste“ [Deelstra, T. and Girardet, H. p. 3]. They are operating beyond their means, ignorantly taking natural resources to generate energy, utilities, food and products without considering the true value or the waste produced. The population is still rising and the resultant damage will become critical. London is an example. It has a surface area of 160,000 hectares and contains 12%t of Britain’s population. Yet, to generate enough food for its inhabitants, 40% of Britain’s entire productive land is required, a figure that is unattainable [Deelstra, T. and Girardet, H]. To accommodate for its urbanised humanity, resources are being drawn from ever more distant lands. “In the United Kingdom, food travels an amazing thirty billion kilometres each year. This is responsible for the United Kingdom adding nineteen million tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year” [Climate Choices. 2008]. In contrast, ant colonies obtain their food from more local sources, minimising the travel distances and energy wasted. This is a much more efficient system. If cities do not 5
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change how they function, global warming and its consequences will be inevitable. Global warming is only a 2-degree average temperature rise away from happening. “Climatologists now think we are perilously close to the threshold beyond which adverse change sets in; change that on a human time scale is irreversible” [Lovelock, j. 2007 p. 59]. The planet is a self-regulating system with the ultimate goal of sustaining habitability by creating the optimal climate for diverse species. Due to the damage humans are inflicting on the environment, the system is struggling to regulate itself and this is putting the survival of the human race in serious jeopardy.
As the temperature rises, potentially 6-degrees by the end of the century, “climate change
is intensifying the circulation of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth...seasons are shifting, and sea levels are rising…causing drought and floods to be more frequent, severe and widespread” [Nature]. The consequence of this will be: less productive agricultural land, declining crop yields, longer spells of draught and famine, habitable land reclaimed by the ocean, lack of homes and utilities to service the population and ultimately, death. The incredible speed in which the climate is changing will exceed nature’s ability to adapt and Lovelock (2007 p. ) predicts, “If these huge changes do occur, it is unlikely few of the teeming billions now will survive”. Cities must replace their current model and become sustainable by embracing a new form of infrastructure that is more sync with the environment.
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The link between the human city and the ant colony My design studio this year involves the concept of ‘extreme’. As part of my research I undertook a study of insects (an extreme species), their colonies and how they function. This led me to investigate the Honeypot ant, capable of swelling its abdomen to store food. What became apparent was that ant colonies had a remarkably similar infrastructure to that of human cities. Kaspari, a presidential professor of zoology, ecology and evolutionary biology agrees - “Certainly one of the reasons folks have been interested in insects and the consequences of living in groups is that it tells us about our own species,” [University of Florida. 2010]. Ant colonies have similarities to cities because their inhabitants are a social species, like humans. This means they live in groups or societies in which interaction is key to their survival. They understand this because they are complex organisms able to “process sensory inputs, modulate behavior according to stimuli, including interactions, and make decisions based on large amounts of information” [Bonabeua, E. 1999 p. 6]. Complex organisms live “under the laws of self-organisation” [Gordon, D. 2010 p. 2v]. This is a system where there is no centralised control and individuals control themselves. For example, in an ant colony the Queen ant does not control individual ants. Likewise, in human society, the government does not control individuals on a local scale. Instead, self-organised systems function through the synergistic behaviour of the combined behaviors of individuals – collective behaviour.
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It is the ability of both species to seamlessly work as a team through collective behavior
that allows them to overcome challenges. On a very basic scale, the human and ant races both face the same challenges for survival: collecting food, building or extending the home, laboring, reproduction, responding to external challenges and spreading alarm [Bonabeua, E. 1999].
The ant colony is natures equivalent to the human city. However, the ant has existed for
one hundred million years living within sync of nature, perfectly evolved to its surroundings. In contrast, the human civilization during fifty thousand years has caused significant damage to the planet, as previously explained. Therefore, the way in which ant colonies function could be the perfect sustainable model in which to mimic in the infrastructure of human cities.
Biomimicry of nature’s genius Nature has been developing and evolving its living systems, to a level where each organism is perfectly designed for its continued existence. This is because nature is old in comparison to the relatively young human race and “has benefitted from a 3.8 billion-year research and development period” [Pawlyn, M. 2011 p. 1]. With such a vast array of biodiversity, many of the problems that the human civilization faces today have already been solved by nature and in far greater economy means. By studying and applying the design principles of insect colonies, are we able to create a sustainable city?
Innovation inspired from studying nature’s principles is known as biomimicry. This con-
cept is about becoming sustainable by learning from nature rather than just extracting what we
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need from it (to survive). Biological-science writer Benyus describes it as “the conscience emulation of natures genius” [Benyus, J. 2002 p. ] because it is taking the functionality of a natural system and adapting it to a man-made system so that it may run incoherence with the environment. Biomimicry is not the repetition of a natural form to create a building form, this is Biomorphic architecture. For instance, “Modern architects have frequently used nature as a source for unconventional shapes and symbolism” states Pawlyn (2011 p.), a leading sustainable architect. Calatrava Valls is well known for this, most notably in his ‘Milwaukee Art Museum’ in which he draws form from a bird’s wing. Yet, “engineers find fault with his structural logic” [Alderseywilliams, H. 2003 p. ]. This is where biomimicry differs from biomorphic architecture. Biomimicry architecture would instead look at the internal workings of the wings the bone-structure and use this to inform a coherent form and structural system working in sync, rather than just copying the external design.
Natures systems are sustainable and efficient because everything endears to a set of prin-
cipals, which in turn rule the organic world. These are: fitting form to function, powered by solar energy, only using required energy, maximising diversity, rewarding co-operation and recycling everything. There are a number of ways in which these rules can inform and improve design. These can be categorised into three sections: mimicking natural systems as a way of functioning, using natural processes to aid a system and learning from the evolved forms of nature [Benyus, J. 2002]. If cities learnt from nature and implemented their rules, would it create a more balanced
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land and sustainable environment?
As explained earlier, the social ant colony is the perfect example of a sustainable soci-
ety and one, which bares similarities to the human city. Consequently, I propose that, through biomimicry of the ant colony and the implementation of their underlying principles, we should improve the sustainability of our current cities. The next section of this writing investigates how ant colonies function and how these could be implemented in the human city.
The three forms of biomimicry according to Janine Benyus: 'Nature as a model' - studying nature's models and learning from or imitating these designs or processes to solve human problems 'Nature as a mentor' - a new way to value nature looking at what we can learn from it rather than what we can extract from it 'Nature as a measure' - nature knows what works and what lasts. Use this ecological standard to judge the succuess of human innovations
[Benyus, J. 2003]
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Section two Analysis of ant colonies and implementation of their principles
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Evolution and adaptation
Whilst human civilisations continue to consume ever-more natural resources, ant colonies live in harmony and respect of the planet. This is because “insects are the most extreme organisms on Earth…each has adapted to solve the extreme pressures that arise in the struggle to survive” [Jones, R. 2011 p. 1]. Ants have been able to survive for over a hundred million years because natures open character has the ability to create new genes and thus, has resulted in open evolution [Kelly, K. 1995]. Every organism has a “built-in but limited power to evolve” [Kelly, K. 1995 p. 302] and consequently, when faced with a problem they activate this power by forcing their body to do something it is not used to. The ants “genes endorse the change by assimilating an adaptation” [Kelly, K. 1995 p. 304] and if continued to be pushed, the ant will evolve. The Honey-pot ant (studied in my design studio) has developed the ability to stretch its abdomen to store food, stretching the membrane from one millimetre to the size of a cherry (fig. 7). This ant can now survive in hot dry environments because of its ability to store food for the scarce periods. Over a long enough period, an ant and thus, the colony can evolve so it is perfectly formed to run systematically in its environment. This is why ant colonies are so sustainable. They are constantly changing with their inhabitants because they live in an environment that is ever changing.
“Evolution doesn’t care about what makes sense, evolution cares what works” [Tom Ray citied in Kelly, K. 1995 p. 289]
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Firgure 7 - Honeypot ant
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Although humans have the same ability to evolve as ants, they now rely too much on technology disregarding nature’s solution. As a result, current cities are not as adaptable as ant colonies. Ant colonies are built around natural principles and materials, creating a sustainable ‘living’ architecture. The ants build their nests using highly porous walls. These walls act as a ‘sensory system’ essentially giving off atmospheric information allowing the ants to “detect tiny differences in minuscule air currents. They then can act on this information to improve the architecture of their buildings”, by opening or closing tunnels to regulate temperature, describes Prof Franks from Bristol University’s Ant Lab [BBC. 2011]. Currently cities, however, are built around man-made materials and machines and are very rigid to their current programmes. This is because, unlike nature, man-made objects have pre-defined boundaries (closed character) to which they are constrained. Therefore, there is little room in which current cities are able to evolve their built structure, to become sustainable. The ants have already found a solution, adaptable Architecture.
“Imagine a building like a tree, a city like a forest” [Braungart, M. and Mcdonough, W. 2008 p. 123]
Biomimicry suggests that the genome for sustainable city Architecture is one that ‘lives’,
derived from natural materials. “Nature will continue to elude the grasp of human control” [Mertins, D. citied in Spuybroek, L. 2009 p. 55]. Instead, future cities must incorporate full-scale
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Figure 8. Sensory facade system from The Bartlett School. (n.d.a) [online image] Available: http://www.ruairiglynn. co.uk/teaching/bartlettucl/ [Accessed 19th Jnuary 2012]
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technical systems that act, as ‘sensory systems’ creating a different form of ‘living’, yet similar to the ant Architecture. The system will create resource-driven, adaptive buildings by analysing its surroundings and acting to lower its energy use and wastage (fig. 8). By creating ‘living’ buildings, they will no longer be constrained by boundaries and could co-evolve with the environment, which will result in fewer buildings needing to be demolished and rebuilt for a new purpose, saving resources.
Closed-loop systems
All natural things have been designed to return back into the natural cycle. “Nature operates according to a system of nutrients and metabolisms in which there is no such thing as waste” [McDonough, W. & Braungart, M. 2007 p. 84]. This system is known as a closed-loop. A closed-loop system can sustain itself because it does not rely on matter exchange outside of the system. Ant colonies have lived sustainably with minimal environmental impact because they function using closed-loop systems (fig. 9). This reduces the strain they have on natural resources. The Leafcutter ant, found in Central and South America in colonies up to fifteen million, generates food through a closed-loop system, which allows them to cultivate fungi in their nests (fig. 10). Alongside humans, they are the only other living species that farms to create future food. The ant will forage for decomposing leaves in their immediate area, taking their collected stock to specially constructed chambers in their colonies. They use the decomposing leaves to grow
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fungus. New material is continuously brought in to grow the fungus and old material is removed. Plants and soil recycle the old material as nutrients, sustaining their growth [Sleigh, C. 2003]. This cyclical system sustains the ant colony by creating a mutualisistic symbiosis where multiple organisms can continue to thrive.
Ant colonies have had far longer than humans to develop their relationship with the envi-
ronment, and it is evident. Human settlements once had mutualisitic symbiosis with the environment, similar to that of the ants, “the Chinese perfected a system that prevents pathogens from contaminating the food chain, and fertilised rice paddies with biological wastes” [Braungart, M. and Mcdonough, W. 2008 p. 87]. They would put waste into the ground in order to stimulate the growth of a food source, just like the Leafcutter ants. Early settlements understood the value of the environment and benefited in a manner that was sustainable. As human civilisations developed technology, small settlements became super cities and the reliance on the closed-loop was lost. Instead, energy was put into dominating the land, rather than preserving. Cities now account for eighty percent of all carbon emissions.
“Humans are the only species that takes from the soil vast quantities of nutrients needed
for biological process. Our systems are no longer designed in this way” [Braungart, M. and Mcdonough, W. 2008 p. 88]. Human cities, unlike ant colonies, now have a parasitical symbiosis with the planet in which the city benefits from causing harm to the environment. “Cities have become like parasites on the landscape – huge organisms draining the world for their sustenance and energy: relentless consumers, relentless polluters” [Rogers, R. 1997 p. 27]. The ants think long term,
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Figure 9 - ants closed-loop system to grow food
Figure 10 - Ants growing fungi. (2011). [online imsge] Available: http://hiddencause.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/ the-occasional-hymenoptera-leaf-cutters-spreadl/ [Accessed 21st January 2012] 19
where as cities think short term. If humans are to prosper in the future they need to learn from the ant colonies closed-loop cycle. Biomimicry shows cities need to switch from a linear system to an effective closed-loop system, which can: sustain itself, minimise waste and help the environment. Urban ecologist Girardet agrees saying, “the key lies in cities aiming at a circular ‘metabolism’, where consumption is reduced and where re-use of materials is maximised” [citied in Rogers, R. 1997 p. 30]. Each City must begin to: generate energy, capture water, cultivate food and recycle waste. Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, is a developing scheme that aims to be the first carbon-neutral, zero-pollution city (fig. 11). Located in the desert, it has to have a closed-loop system to stand any chance of sustainability. The scheme will use vernacular architecture, evolved to the climate over time, to create low energy, naturally ventilated buildings. A solar-powered desalination plant will provide the city’s water, requiring a quarter of the normal power needs. The city will constantly recycle available water lowering its needs by sixty percent. The city’s energy will be generated through solar-photovoltaic, wind farm and ‘the world’s largest hydrogen power plant’. Cars have been banned and instead, residents will travel using pods powered by magnetic lines. Masdar City is a precedent for future sustainable cities, demonstrating the importance of closed-loop systems [BBC, 2008].
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Figure 11 - Masdar city. (2011). [online image] Avaliable from : http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/ files/2011/05/masdar-city-tafline-laylin-1-537x387.jpg [Accessed 21st January 2012]
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The city in coherence with the environment
“The architecture of all forms of nature, their arrangement of material in space and over time, emerges from the dynamic interaction of energy and material within complex systems” [Weinstock, M. 2010 p. 245] (fig. 12). Ant colonies are complex systems. A complex system is where each entity in the system has a task. To accomplish the task, the entity uses numerous sensory inputs [Gordon, D. 2010]. The ant colony acts, as a single ‘organism’ continuously working to sustain its own existence. The underlining principles of cities are also to sustain their existence.
An ant colony has no central control, no one ant giving directions. Instead, the colony
functions using random interaction of ants in which information is shared. Different information is collected by ants in the colony, relative to their threshold, through stimuli. Gathering sources of information allows the colony to: construct, recycle and farm. These are vital to their existence.
The ant colony has functioned sustainably using a decentralised control system because
all variables in the ‘organisim’ are being considered at local levels and the response is analytical and efficient. In contrast, cities don’t have this consideration for local impact. Rather than tailoring the city to the environment, they manipulate the environment to the cities disregarding the existing eco-systems If cities used biomimicry of a decentralised control system, the resultant model would consider all locally environmental impacts and benefits. The responses would create a mutualisitc reltionship. The environment and the city would both benefit from the newly created
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Figure 12 - Emergent forms. (2011) [online image] Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14993585 [Accessed 21st January 2012}
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connections, rather than the environment suffering. This is the relationship ants have with the environment as explained in ‘closed-loop systems’.
There is evidence that future city developments are beginning to use biomimicry to
become part of the existing ecosystem. Benyus has been advising HOK, an architectural practice specialising in large-scale planning of cities, on designing for natures benefit. HOK are currently developing the city of Lang Fang in China (fig. 13). The natural ecological system of Lang Fang was once a forest over four thousand years ago and has since been removed by the city. This has made water collection challenging and the cities natural aquifer was being consumed [HOK Architects, 2010]. Benyus, talking about the new design, says “it is now beautiful with green ribbons flowing through the city, tracking and echoing the paleo-channels of old rivers that used to be there” [Hubpages, 2009] refilling the natural aquifer along the way. This mutualisitic relationship is the way in which all cities need sit in symbiosis with the environment as it will bring down our need to use energy, resources and create mass waste because nature will be doing the hard work.
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Figure 13 -'Lang Fang Eco-city'. (2011). [Online image] Available: http://www.archdaily.com/107090/langfang-ecosmart-city-woods-bagot-hok/1_patsketch_20100422-1/ [Accessed 17th January 2012]
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Compact and contained boundaries
An ant colony will function as an individual system, contained from any local colonies in nearby proximity, reliant only upon themselves. Naturalist Bill Mason explains why ant colonies are so contained (and thus sustainable), “All ants belong to extended families. Unselfishness is the rule. Everything they do is for their colony’s good. Close relationships are the basis for their society, for all the active workers are sisters, spawned by a single queen” [PBS. 2006]. This is also supported by Deborah Gordon (2010 p. 2) “the colony has a ‘single will, a single law’ based on the love each ant feels for the others”. Ants, therefore, choose not to leave the colony in which they are born into, instead creating a tightly contained society all working together towards an ultimate goal – sustained survival (fig. 14). Cities function differently to that of the ant colony. Instead of functioning separately, each city is in someway connected to another (fig. 15). The inhabitants of a city are different to that of an ant colony because they are not all born from the same person (the ant queen) and thus don’t share such a large family or love for one another. Therefore, individuals don’t feel the same loyalty to their city of birth. The ant will stay in its colony for the greater good. The human will focus on what is beneficial to them and roam freely between cities. Biomimicry creates a model where the population of cities would be contained within compact boundaries, creating dense environments. Currently, the population has been able to sprawl across the environment. “Migration of people and activities from the city centre’s to sub-
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Figure 14 - Dense colony. (n.d.a). [online image] Available: http://extraordinary-thing.blogspot.com/2010/07/scientist-pouring-molten-metal-into-ant.html [Accessed 19th January 2012] cities colonies
figure 15 - independant colonies 27
urbia has led to massive development, road-building, increased car use, congestion and pollution” [Rogers, R. 1997 p. 7]. This sprawling city is personified in Phoenix, Arizona, which is now the size of Los Angeles but contains only one-third the population [Rogers, R. 1997] (fig. 16). As the city spreads out, more resources are needed to sustain the population, in comparison to a dense city.
A dense city with compact boundaries will mimic the sustainable ant colony by promot-
ing inspiring, atmospheric places. The ants live in such confined nests because they rely on physical interaction. The busier the nest the more frequent the interactions and thus, transfer of information through the colony. It is these interactions that allow the colony to function in a sustainable manner to complete tasks, “all tasks are completed through chemical communication, passing them through physical contact or leaving them behind” [Sleigh, C. 2003 p. 23]. Therefore, the more dense the nest, the more efficient it functions. Taking from this, a busy, dense city centre is the core for a sustainable city. Architect Richard Rogers [1997] supports the ideology of the ‘dense city’ because, through clever planning it can be designed to “increase energy efficiency, consume fewer resources, produce less pollution and avoid sprawling over countryside. Where economic and social activities overlap”.
An extreme model for a future, compact city was design by Archigram in 1964. The insect-
looking ‘walking city’, was a conceptual design for a self-contained city with confining boundaries [Feuerstein, G. 1996]. Barcelona is a city, which has benefitted from restoration during the 1980’s, to its former compactness (fig. 17). “The aim was to minimise suburban expansion be-
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Figure 16 - Phoenix city sprawl. (2008). [online image] Available: http://icons-ak.wunderground.com/data/ wximagenew/t/TravelHal/323.jpg [accessed 21st January]
Figure 17 - Barcelona centre. (n.d.). [online image] Available from: http://www.thearchitectpainter.com/MadisonGray/deep_SIGHT/reviews/barcelona_macba_aerial.400sharp.jpg. [Accessed 21st January 2012}
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cause it consumes energy and takes up land” [Rogers, R. 2000 p. 5]. Instead, they created socially open spaces, improving the atmosphere and drawing people back into the city. Thanks to its density, it has triumphed as a regional capital [Rogers, R. 2000].
Danger of biomimicry
The counter argument to biomimicry is that it doesn’t always create good architecture. Pawlyn, a leading architect implementing biomimicry, agrees with this: “It is worth considering the limitations of biomimicry. It will not automatically produce good architecture” [Pawlyn, M. 2011 p. 2]. It is important that cities looking at biomimcry of ant colonies are careful not to implement their principles too far. By creating extremities the needs of the inhabitants are forgotten. The majority of ant colonies inhabit diverse parts of nature: under soil, rock crevasses, on tree leaves and in tree trunks [Moffet, M. 2010]. Leafcutter ant colonies are underground. Weaver ant colonies are up in the tree leaves. Carpenter ant colonies live in hollow trees and branches. Overtime, ants have evolved to function perfectly in their chosen environments. For example, ants are able to live in the dark underground without any light, even though they have poor eyesight. They have adapted to communicate and navigate using chemicals, air currents and vibrations [Sleigh, C. 2003]. Human’s once inhabited similar parts of the environment. The ‘Homininidae’ family, an early human form derived from Chimpanzee’s approximately seven million years ago, “constructed nests in trees” [Weinstock, M. 2010 p. 149]. As humans progressed, civilisations adapted
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Figure 18 -Underground colony. (n.d.a) [online image] Available from: http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4728516_ ant-colony-operate.html [Accessed 21st January 2012]
Figure 19 - Derinkuyu underground city. (2011). [online image] Available: http://www.mastertourism.com/2011/08/ derinkuyu-underground-city.html. [Accessed 19th January 2012]
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the environment to the needs of the inhabitants. The Arabic city of Petra, Jordan, approximately fifteen hundred years before Christ, was a city where humans lived deep inside a desert gorge sheltered from the desert climate. [Visitjordan. 2010]. Through the evolution and adaption of the human and its technology, the majority of today’s cities begin from ground level upwards. This is where humans have become best suited. If cities were to implement biomimicry of ant colonies to the extreme they would be resorting back to bygone techniques. Cities would be found underground and aboveground. This would appear the most sustainable solution, as ant colonies have survived in this manner with minimal. In contrast, cities have decimated landscapes. However, humans are no longer suited to live below the ground, they require sunlight for maintaining health. They cannot see in the dark and daylight is widely accepted to have a positive psychological effect on the human being. The ancient underground city of Derinkuyu, Turkey [Mastertourisim. 2011], which bares remarkable resemblance to the underground colonies of the Leafcutter ant, is testimony to human’s inability to live underground as it now lies empty (fig. 18 and19). In a modern adaptation, BNKR Architectura has designed ‘The Earthscraper’, a three hundred meter deep residence [Archdaily. 2011] (fig. 20). Pawlyn says, “Architecture should have an emotional dimension – it should touch the spirit, be uplifiting and celebrate the age” [Pawlyn, M. 2011]. Building underground away from sunlight is against everything humans have evolved to be.
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The book Neuromancer, a 1984 novel about a future cyber city, describes desperate,
depressive, dysfunctional cities built for technology, not the people. It provoked the idea that cities solely focused on being environmentally sustainable, where humans come second, can no longer function. Thus, living underground may be most environmentally sustainable, but it is not humanly functional which is why biomimicry needs to be implemented carefully [Gibson, W. 1984].
Figure 20 -'Earthscraper'. (2011). [Online image] Available: http://www.archdaily.com/156357/the-earthscraper-bnkrarquitectura/ [Accessed 17th January 2012] 33
Conclusion of investigation
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It is possible to create sustainable cities through biomimicry of ant colonies. I believe this because they are a lot of similarities between the ant colony and the human city, past and present. For example, the paragraph ‘closed-loop systems’ explains that alongside humans, ants are the only other living species that farms to create future food resources. Yet, they do this in a sustainable manner. Using biomimicry to learn from the ant colonies creates a sustainable model, which can be applied to cities. It is important to remember that biomimicry is not just imitating nature. As stated in section one, it is taking the functionality of a natural system and adapting it to a man-made system so that it may run incoherence with the environment. Consequently, the similarities and the adaptability of their solutions, has convinced me that biomimicry can create sustainable cities.
I stated in the introduction that ‘natures systems are sustainable and efficient because
everything endears to a set of principals, which in turn rule the organic world. These are: fitting form to function, powered by solar energy, only using required energy, maximising diversity, rewarding co-operation and recycling everything’. Each of these principals were covered in my analysis of ant colonies and explained how they would make the city sustainable by creating an equivalent solution: - ‘Evolution and adaptation’ explained why colonies were so adaptable and thus diverse. The cities equivalent would be sensory systems acting as ‘living architecture’. - ‘Closed-loop systems’ looked at how ants generated energy sources and recycled their
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waste. Cities must be cyclical eradicating a waste output. - ‘The city in coherence with the environment’ looked at cities creating a mutualisitic relationship with the local environment.
- ‘Compact and contained boundaries’ looked at how a colony was rewarded for the co-
operation of its individuals. This corresponds to cities benefitting from a dense and compacted population.
However, my research also revealed how biomimicry was not always the answer and how
problems may occur with this approach. The implementation of biomimicry in the city would generate short-term problems. This is because cities are product based and they would have to alter their cultures to become resource-driven like ant colonies. I experienced this first
hand whilst on my study trip in Stuttgart in November 2011. Le Corbusier attempted to create a better standard of living post-war and created a radically new way of living in his houses he designed on the Weissenhoff estate, 1927. This new style of living was so different to that of the traditional way that they were empty for long periods.
Conclusively, learning from ant colonies and adopting their principles will create sustain-
able cities for the future. The ant colonies are testimony to their sustainability having survived for nearly two hundred million years in contrast to humans five hundred thousand years on Earth [Sleigh, C. 2003].
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References and bibliography
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Books: Rogers, R. (2000). Cities for a small country. London: Faber and Faber Rogers, R. (1997). Cities for a small planet. London: Faber and Faber Lovelock, L. (2007). The revenge of Gaia. London: Penguin Books Kelly, K. (1995). Out of control: The new biology of machines, social systems and the economic world. New York: Basic Books Pawlyn, M. (2011). Biomimicry in Architecture. London: RIBA Publishing Benyus, J. (2003). Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature. Hammersmith: Harper Collins Aldersey-Williams, H. (2003). Zoomorphic Architecture: New animal Architecture. London: Laurence King Publishing Bonabeau, E. (1999). Swarm Intelligence: From natural to artificial systems. New York: Oxford University Press Gordon, D. (2010). Ant encounters: Interaction networks and colony behaviour. Princeton: Princeton University Press Johnson, S. (2002). Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. London: Penguin books
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Jones, R. (2011). Extreme Insects. Hammersmith: Harper Collins Sleigh, C. (2003). Ant. London: Reaktion Books Braungart, M. and McDonough, W. (2009). Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things. London: Vintage Books Spuybroek, L. (2009). Architecture of variation. London: Thames and Hudson Feuerstein, G. (2002). Biomorphic Architecture: Human and animal forms in Architecture. Fellbach: Edition Axel Menges Newman, P. and Jennings, I. (2008). Cities as sustainable ecosystems: principles and practices. Washington: Island Press Moffet, M. (2010). Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions. California: University of California Press Gibson, W. (1984). Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books Weinstock, M. (2010) The architecture of emergence. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons LTD Websites: UNFPA (2007). Urbanization: A Majority in Cities. [online] Available: http://www.unfpa.org/ pds/urbanization.htm. [Accessed 10th October 2011]
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U.S. Census Bureau. (2011). World population clock. [online] Available: http://www.census.gov/ population/popclockworld.html. [Accessed 10th October 2011] Climate choices. (2008). Food miles and carbon dioxide. [online] Available: http://www.climatechoices.org.uk/pages/food3.htm. [Accessed 7th November 2011] Nature. Climate change: Threats and impacts. [online] Available: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/climatechange/threatsimpacts/index.htm. [Accessed 7th November 2011] University of Florida. (2010). Study suggests theory for insect colonies as ‘superorganisms’. [online] Available: http://www.physorg.com/news183119740.html. [Accessed 21st November 2011]a PBS. (2006). Little creatures who run the world. [online] Available: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ nova/transcripts/2203crea.html. [Accessed 19th December 2011] Environment. Can we use Biomimicry to design cities?. [online] Available: http://www.environment.gen.tr/biomimicry-bioneers/218-can-we-use-biomimicry-to-design-cities-janine-benyussays-yes.html. [Accessed 19th December 2011] HOK Architects. (2010). HOK Planning Team Wins AIA HK Chapter Merit Award for Langfang Eco-Smart City Urban Design. [online] Available: http://www.hokasiapacific.com/news_56.htm. [Accessed 22nd December] BBC. (2011). How ants build nest-ventilating tunnels. [online] Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ nature/14993585. [Accessed 22nd December 2011]
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Images: v Ants growing fungi. (2011). [online imsge] Available: http://hiddencause.wordpress. com/2011/01/03/the-occasional-hymenoptera-leaf-cutters-spreadl/ [Accessed 21st January 2012] Masdar city. (2011). [online image] Avaliable from : http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/ files/2011/05/masdar-city-tafline-laylin-1-537x387.jpg [Accessed 21st January 2012] Emergent forms. (2011) [online image] Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14993585 [Accessed 21st January 2012] Lang Fang Eco-city. (2011). [Online image] Available: http://www.archdaily.com/107090/langfang-eco-smart-city-woods-bagot-hok/1_patsketch_20100422-1/ [Accessed 17th January 2012] Dense colony. (n.d.a). [online image] Available: http://extraordinary-thing.blogspot. com/2010/07/scientist-pouring-molten-metal-into-ant.html [Accessed 19th January 2012] Sensory facade system from The Bartlett School. (n.d.a) [online image] Available: http://www. ruairiglynn.co.uk/teaching/bartlettucl/ [Accessed 19th Jnuary 2012] Phoenix city sprawl. (2008). [online image] Available: http://icons-ak.wunderground.com/data/ wximagenew/t/TravelHal/323.jpg [accessed 21st January] Barcelona centre. (n.d.). [online image] Available from: http://www.thearchitectpainter.com/ MadisonGray/deep_SIGHT/reviews/barcelona_macba_aerial.400sharp.jpg. [Accessed 21st January 2012} Underground colony. (n.d.a) [online image] Available from: http://www.ehow.com/howdoes_4728516_ant-colony-operate.html [Accessed 21st January 2012] Master tourism. (2011). [onlineimage] Derinkuyu underground city. Available: http://www.mastertourism.com/2011/08/derinkuyu-underground-city.html. [Accessed 19th January 2012] 43
Earthscraper. (2011). [Online image] Available: http://www.archdaily.com/156357/the-earthscraper-bnkr-arquitectura/ [Accessed 17th January 2012] Selected Bibliography: Brayer, M. and Alison, J. (2007). Future cites: Experiment and Utopia in Architecture. London: Thomas Hudson Watts, J. (2003). Six degrees: The science of a connected age. London: Vintage Books Strogatz, S. (2003). Sync: The emerging science of spontaneous order. London: Penguin Books Battle, G. and Mccarthy, C. (1997). Sustainble ecosystems and the building enviroment. Chichester: Wiley-Academy Fordham, M. and Thomas, R. (1996). Enviromental design: An interoduction for architects and engineers. Glasgow: Bell and Bain LTD Newman, P. and Jennings, I. (2008). Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems: Principles and Practices. Washington: Island press Gruba, P. (2011). Biomimitecs in Architecture: Architecture of life and buildings. New York: Springer Wein
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