Biomimicry: Definition

What is the Biomimicry?

According to the Biomimicry Institute, biomimicry can be defined as “an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies—new ways of living—that are well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul.”

To simply put it, ‘Bio’ means life, and ‘Mimicry’ means imitate; so the meaning of the word ‘biomimicry’ translates to the practice of imitating life. Biomimicry aims at learning from Nature's wisdom rather than just extracting resources from it to move towards a sustainable built environment. It looks to nature to provide inspiration and direction to sustainably solve our most pressing challenges by nature-inspired innovation.

Different levels of Biomimicry

Organism level

Mimicking the formation of an organism/a part of the organism. Eiffel Tower (Thigh Bone), Waterloo international Terminal (Pangolin), Beijing national stadium (Bird's Nest)

Behaviour level

Problem-solving with the available resources by mimicking an organism’s behaviour. Eastgate Centre (Termite Mound), The Qatar Cacti building (Cactus)

Ecosystem level

Simulation of ecosystems rather than singular organisms. Applies principles of Circular economy and Eco-mimicry. Lloyd crossing project-Portland, California Academy of Sciences Museum (Green Roof)

Biomimicry in Car Design

In 2009, automotive designers at Japanese carmaker Nissan were scratching their heads over how to build the ultimate anti-collision vehicle. Inspiration came from an unlikely source: schools of fish, which move synchronously by sticking close together while simultaneously staying a safe stopping distance apart. Nissan took the aquatic concept and swam with it, creating safety features in Nissan cars like Intelligent Brake Assist and Forward Collision Warning that are still used today.

Biomimicry—an approach to design that looks for solutions in nature—is by now so widespread that you may not even recognize the real-life inspiration behind your favourite technology. From flipper-like turbines to leaf-inspired solar cells to UV-reflective glass with spider web-like properties, biomimicry offers designers efficient, practical, and often economical solutions that nature has been developing over billions of years. But combine biomimicry with sports cars? Now you're in for a wild ride.

From the Jaguar to the Chevrolet Impala, automotive designers have a long tradition of naming their cars after creatures that evoke power and style. Carmakers like Nissan even go so far as to study animals in their natural environments to advance automotive innovation. 

Case Study:

While automotive designer Frank Stephenson was on holiday in the Caribbean, a sailfish mounted on the wall of his hotel made him do a double take. The fish's owner was especially proud of his catch, he told Stephenson, because sailfish are coveted for being too fast to easily capture. Reaching speeds of 68 miles per hour (109.44 km/h), the sailfish is one of the fastest animals in the ocean (close competitors include its cousins the swordfish and marlin, all of which belong to the billfish family).

His curiosity hooked, Stephenson returned to his job at the headquarters of British automotive giant McLaren, eager to learn more about what makes the sailfish the fastest in the sea. He discovered that the fish’s scales generate tiny vortices that produce a bubble layer around its body, significantly reducing drag as it swims.

Stephenson went on to design a supercar in the fish’s image: The P1 hyper-car needs generous air circulation to maintain combustion and engine cooling for high performance. McLaren’s designers applied the fish scale blueprint to the inside of the ducts that channel air into the engine of the P1, boosting airflow by an incredible 17 percent and increasing the efficiency and power of the vehicle. 

Biomimicry in Architecture

Biomimicry in Architecture

We've created cities, economies, and whole societies, but without meaning to we've also created massive sustainability challenges for future generations and ourselves. Biomimicry is a way to address these problems by creating policies, products, and processes that are adapted to live on Earth. Plants, animals, and microbes have spent billions of years engineering and testing ways to thrive on the planet. What surrounds us today after 3.8 billion years of research and development has learned to survive large and small challenges effectively. Unfortunately, biomimicry has largely been concerned with aesthetic values and forms, but it's time to transcend its effects to functional considerations in buildings.

Qualities of Biomimetic Architecture

In the book “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature”, biomimicry became well known and Janine M. Benyus based on her studies devised a set of questions to evaluate designs in order to ascertain the level of biomimicry:

Applications of Biomimicry

Imitating the ingenuity found in nature can be applied to water management, climate control, structural innovations, material developments, energy production, and even business models. This translation of biological values into machines or processes requires substantial technical proficiency, which will inevitably cast an impact on science, economy, environment, and social development. One of the earliest examples of biomimicry can be traced back to Leonardo da Vinci's model for a flying machine inspired by Flight of a bird, which was further worked out by the Wright Brothers.

For the longest time, solar energy was a daytime resource because storing it was expensive and inefficient, which has been tackled by MIT Lab. Inspired by the plant's photosynthesis, researchers have developed an unprecedented process that allows the sun’s energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases, later recombined inside a fuel cell, creating simple, expensive, and highly efficient carbon-free electricity to powerhouses or electric cars. Homeowners will be able to power their homes in daylight through photovoltaic cells, empowering individuals to meet their own energy requirements with decentralized grids.