Biomimetics Pop Up Yet Again...

Though there is no obligation to integrate biomimetics into the final project, the concept is useful as a leading precedent given the relative lack of familiarity with arid climate design.  Biomimetics allows students to leverage millions of years of evolution as a guide for the efficiencies and strategies that may be integrated in contemporary design application.
A few notable examples in light of the interim reviews:

Super-dense Spider Webs in Pakistan
In light of the flooding in this country, apparently millions of spiders have sought refuge and food sources in trees which has prompted quite a dense web network to emerge in the foliage of trees.  Similar to tent caterpillars, these spiders have created interesting substructures that also play with opacity and light control.

Bone Lattices
Many of you have already looked to bone structures and the efficiency of the macrolevel configurations that vertabrates have, however the latticework of the interior is worth reiterating.  The lattice within some bones (most notably birds) is not only an alternative to reduce mass in a bone structure, but also potentially serves as inspiration for cladding.  The lattice of voids in a swath is controlled within bone structures - variable opacities are addressed via densities.  Attractor points and parametrics would likely come into play...

UNLV Charette Follow-Through

Though the 6 hour charette between UNLV and Ryerson was a success for many of the faculty and critics in attendance, the final component of the project for the Ryerson students was to take the work proposed at the end of the exercise and use it as a "beta test" for yet another iteration of the design challenge. This allowed students to examine a biomimetic design idea and refine it on an individual basis.

For example, while the charette may have elicited a project such as this:

The charette design only served as a beginning point in the iterative biomimetic design process.  Below are three iterations prepared by individual Ryerson students in less than two days as a response to the charette proposal outlined above.  Take note that the biomimetic concepts and sustainable strategies have been retained yet the formal, tactical, and aesthetic dimensions vary as each student has adopted a different stance on the initial concept design.

Samples of Tricia's Redesign:

Samples of Sam's Redesign:

Samples of Mitch's Redesign:

Springs Preserve Tour

It was an incredible honour to have Jeff Roberts provide the Ryerson Option Studio a tour of the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, Nevada.  As one of the chief designers over the project and advocates for sustainable and biomimetic design in the region, it was extremely appropriate to have him describe the strategies and challenges in designing in (what would be for many Canadian architecture students) an unfamilar climate. 

The tour was extremely thorough and allowed students to ask questions on topics from plant physiology to daylighting strategies to exhibit design.  Several interesting topics covered by Jeff on his tour included:

Design and Construction Systems
-the Springs Preserve campus had an ecclectic mix of wall assemblies (from rammed earth to strawbale, to conventional market systems), roof types (flat, butterfly, shed, etc.), and material palettes (weathered steel, paperstone, and other biodegradable composites)

Historic and Cultural Sensitivity
-the Springs Preserve is a rich archaeological site which is designed in such a way that the various sustainable systems and tourist activities do not adversely impact the existing conditions

Exhibit Design
-the spaces created and bounded by the Springs Preserve are designed to engage all senses for people of all ages
-though some activities are clearly focused on engaging youth and children there remain quite a number of interesting layers of exploration for adults (as displayed below)

Biomimetics as a System
-while traversing the desert conditions of the preserve, each plant or animal leveraged entire systems of mechanisms or components to produce a desired, efficient net effect
-biomimetics is not merely form-generation; rather it is the adoption of principles in nature that allow for efficient and effective results in a different condition

Case Studies

This is not the finished product but at least it should give anyone interested an idea of how I went about this part of the project and what natural and biomimetic processes I looked into.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/bgq1xt

Over the Bridge.. because his legs work

Under the Bridge

Furthermore...

Biomimicry? Probably not, but it happened and I don't regret it.

A MITCH (ha) needed update

Last time, on Mitch, we saw various plants which I intended on 'biomimicking,' including Mangroves, Banyan trees, Whitebark Pine, and my personal favourite, creeper tendrils.

As I explored my options more, I increasingly seemed to be turning to the creeper tendrils, which seem like a great opportunity to emulate for my bridge. The twisting of the tendrils allow for a much greater rigidity than the minimal form of them would suggest.
As I moved forward with this design, it began to develop as a bridge which literally twisted in the same manner as the tendril, but as a bunch of them.

The central sketch in this image shows the thinking behind this. It would be a series of rings, with steel rod supports between to provide the overall structure. These supports would be connected with details like the ones shown below.

I had even begun to develop a script that would allow the bridge to adapt to different conditions, which may be an unnecessary use of grasshopper.

Upon further though, I felt that the number of tendrils was beginning to take away from the concept, and it was beginning to look unlike a creeper at all. I took a step back and began to think about how the plant actually supported itself, leading me to two solutions, twisting, and the cross section of the tendril itself.
This, however, was abandoned. Going back to twisting, I began to look at tensegrity structures as suggested in a critique.
Like this, but on its side. I like that tensegrity structures allow for a great deal of strength with relatively little structure, much in the manner of the creeper tendril. So, this idea is being developed, as can be previewed in the following details.

Core Sunlight Systems

A few students were interested in finding out a bit more about the core sunlight system that was discussed in studio.  The inventor of the system, Lorne Whitehead, has been working on the project for quite a while now and his research work may be found on his UBC website. 

Take note that this may prove to be a useful precedent as you proceed into the development of the projects later on in the term that pertain to building envelope, performance, and biomimetic innovation.'

“The engineering principles of biological systems can be abstracted and applied to the design of artefacts and buildings, a process known as biomimetics.”

(Weinstock, M, (Synthetic) life architectures: ramification and potentials of a literal biological paradigm for architectural design, pg. 27)

“The long-proclaimed biological paradigm for architectural design must for this reason go beyond using shallow biological metaphors or a superficial biomorphic formal repertoire. The consequence is a literal understanding of the design product as a synthetic life-form embedded within dynamic and generative ecological relations.”

(Weinstock, M, pg. 18)

Michael Weinstock’s insights distinguish the pursuits in this studio from that of superficial associations that architectural projects tend to make with nature.

Janine Benyus’ discussion with Paul Clavert then provided a reference point with which to test if the biological models I could consider pursuing truly provided potentially biomemetic properties:

“What we really want to do is imitate the manufacturing process, that is, how organisms manage to grow, for instance, perfect crystals, and form them into structures that work”

(J.Benyus, Biomimicry, pg. 100)

The key word here for me was “how”.

I came across diatoms and sought to find out how their structure was formed and what influenced and dictated their unique geometry. Diatoms are unicellular algae and are a type of phytoplankton.

During my research i couldn’t help but be captivated by Haeckel’s illustrations of these organisms.

Perusing asknature.org for more information i was introduced to Euplectella aspergillum, more commonly known as the venus flower basket, a Hexactenellida sponge which displayed interesting structural and tectonic properties.

http://asknature.org/strategy/86a78b76e5245edca49bd9c5784fc619

http://www.seas.harvard.edu/aizenberg_lab/papers/2005_Science.pdf

The above resources go in depth regarding the “hierarchical organization from nanonmeter to macroscopic scale” ( Aizenberg, Weaver, Thanwala, Sundar, Morse, Fratzl, Skeleton of Euplectella sp.: structural hierarchy from the nanoscale to the macroscale) specifically the self organisational properties of the silicate spicule shell that sheathes the sponge. I was excited that this resonated with a couple of points that Benyus makes about “an ordered hierarchy of structure” (Benyus, pg 98) and self assembly. The how involves (without getting into too much detail), at the smallest scale, the spicule forming in concentric layering. These spicules, at the same time are growing in bundles. These bundles grow horizontally, vertically, and diagonally in a concentric manner to create the cucumber-like form.

I was unsure of what the following steps would be with using such a model in order to achieve a structurally stable form. Would this simply be an exoskeleton grafted onto a topology of my formation?

The primary criticisms I came under involved the generic properties of the structural configuration, if it were to be pursued with steel. It has basically what is done with steel as it is. Furthermore the bundling and excessive members were seen as inefficient. Lastly the focus on detail overshadows the competition’s call for an overall gesture to hopefully provide the impression that a good entry would demand.

Some possible new points for further exploration:

Endosekelton in organisms of a simpler nature:

Snake

Maybe another approach would be to define an architectural objective or intent and search for a biomimetic model that would accommodate such a goal.

In other news:

My desk as of the first week- it will be interesting to see how this evolves with each post.

Oh and Mitch, the awkward and spontaneous hugger.