She was in Cape Town and I had the privledge of listening first hand to her expound on the new science of biomimicry. It was mentioned by someone that it is not just a new source of design ideas, but a new way of thinking. I agree – its early days but the potential is massive.
A few links:
Posted in design, people you should know, science, sustainability
biomimicry
Here is a run through 15 cases of biomimetics – using nature as an inspiration for design.
Its pretty incredible, especially when you look at the sustainability issues – energy efficiency gains can be huge compared to conventional designs. The Eastgate Centre uses only 10% of the energy of a comparable building while the Mirasol Displays can use almost zero energy for static LED type displays.
(via William Dembski)
Finally I found someone who is saying it loud and clear: some supposedly eco-friendly biofuels are not much better for the environment than plain old diesel.
See the ethanol fallacy.
Oh, and is uses up crops needed for food…
Posted in science, sustainability
This is the article that inspired the title of my previous post. It is a short article but worth the read.
Posted in architecture, design, science, sustainability
An article from CNN caught my eye recently. It is about a concept for microgeneration on buildings called ‘nano vent-skin’. The idea is to use nanotechnology to create micro wind turbines linked in a lattice (hence the ‘skin’) to generate electricity for the building. Now I have to give the guy credit for the concept, however I think it will need a lot of work to become practical. firstly nanotechnology is not nearly at the stage where they could produce something like this economically and reliably, if at all. Second, I am skeptical that these turbines will work at such a small scale (dimensional analysis often shows that things that work on a large scale don’t work proportionally on a small scale and vice versa). Finally, wind generation only really works well in wide open spaces with a high wind ocurrence. Cities almost by definition don’t meet these criteria.
But these are the ideas that make the headlines…
In contrast here is an idea that uses only 10% of the cooling and heating costs of a conventional building and whats more it has already been built and is proven. Taken from inspiration from termite mounds, the Eastgate Centre in Harare (of all places!) uses a passive cooling system to maintain a constant temperature throughout the day. I hope to go into the details in a future post.
Posted in architecture, design, science, sustainability
This is the title of the 7th Brunel International Lecture by Peter Head OBE. Details and the accompanying report is here.
Design and architecture translate ideas into objects we can hold, touch, or occupy, or into visuals we can interpret and understand. At its best, design takes on our most inspiring and troubling questions and forces us to confront implications we might otherwise not have imagined. Increasingly, science and technology are driving this dialogue.
The Revolutionary Minds featured here are at the vanguard of this new movement, with their work firmly rooted in science. The drawings, structures, renderings, and sculptures of these designers and architects expand and clarify our knowledge of the world around us, demonstrating that design is an integral step in the scientific method.
From Seed Magazine
Posted in architecture, design, science
Continuing on the subject of biology and design, another area where the concept of design and the science of biology interact is in the realm of synthetic biology – essentially the design of new lifeforms. This is already happening through GM (genetic modification), but there are more ambitious plans afoot. The Guardian reports on a synthetic biology seminar here.
Needless to say, all this is very controversial.
Biomimetics - using the ingeneous designs found in nature – is “the future of engineering” according to the National Geographic.
