biomimicry | Inhabitat

Nissan Uses Fish-Inspired Design to Increase Car Safety

Believe it or not, vehicle designers can learn a lot from fish, which have the impressive ability to glide around obstacles, all while staying in a tightly controlled pack. If cars were able to do the same thing, traffic jams and fender benders might be virtually eliminated. That’s why Nissan built the fish-inspired EPORO, a robotic vehicle that communicates with other cars to avoid collision. Although we wish that there were more sustainable features, we do want to point out that the new technology centered on biomimicry also encourages better fuel efficiency since hard breaking may be avoided.

READ MORE >

100,000 Synthetic Trees Could Help Combat Climate Change

by Sarah Parsons, 09/03/09

The field of geo-engineering has launched all kinds of outlandish ideas for combating climate change, from dumping iron into the world’s oceans to shooting mirrors into space. A report published last Thursday from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) suggested that a forest of 100,000 artificial “trees” could be “planted” near depleted oil and gas reserves to trap carbon in a filter and bury it underground. The carbon suckers look more like fly swatters than actual arbors, but researchers say that once fully developed, the “trees” could remove thousands of times more carbon than a real tree.

READ MORE >

MIT Develops Robotic Fish to Detect Environmental Pollutants

by Ariel Schwartz, 08/25/09

MIT engineers have developed a cheap, compact robotic fish that can go where no man (or underwater vehicle) has been able to go before. The pint-sized robofish, developed by Kamal Youcuf-Toumi and Pablo Valdivia y Alvarado, could potentially be used to detect underwater environmental pollutants and inspect submerged boats and oil and gas pipes. Another plus is that they don’t smell.

READ MORE >

Living Growing Root Bridges Are 100% Natural Architecture

by Trey Farmer, 08/11/09

In the forests of Meghalaya, India, the War-Khasis people have discovered a patient way of crossing the many rivers of their wet region. By guiding the roots of an abundant species of rubber tree, they were able to create a living system of bridges that are in some cases over one hundred feet long and can support the weight of 50 people!

READ MORE >

LEAF POWER: Artificial Glass Leaves Produce Energy via Transpiration

Everyone knows that trees combat climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide out of the air. Now, plant leaves are tackling global warming in another way — by serving as models for a technology that produces clean, renewable power. UC Berkeley researcher Michel Maharbiz, has worked with other scientists to develop an alternative energy system based on transpiration, a natural process where trees pull water from roots to tops, with liquid eventually evaporating off of the leaves. The system relies on artificial glass leaves to generate a steady stream of energy and is yet another example of biomimicry at work.

Vegetal City: Idealistic Visions of Our Urban Future

Ever wonder what our modern-day cities could look like 100 years from now in a perfect world? Architect Luc Schuiten endeavors to find out with his Vegetal City installation, currently on display in Brussels. The entrance, made up of an archway with branches covered in blinking yellow lights, leads the exhibit’s visitors into a magical world of architectural drawings and models of cities where city residents live peacefully with nature.

Dragonfly Vertical Farm for a Future New York

Modeled after the wings of a dragonfly, this incredible urban farm concept for New York City’s Roosevelt Island intends to ease the problems of food mileage and shortage, and reconnect consumers with producers. Urban farming is a growing trend amongst savvy city dwellers today, but in a densely packed borough like Manhattan, growth must come vertically. Spanning 132 floors and 600 vertical meters, the Dragonfly can accommodate 28 different agricultural fields for the production of fruit, vegetables, grains, meat and dairy. A combination of solar and wind power make Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut’s Dragonfly concept %100 self sufficient.

Mermaid-Inspired Aquatic Building by JDS Architects

Last week we featured flying architecture, and now here’s a floating structure inspired by the grace and curvilinear form of a mermaid. European firm, JDS Architects’ Mermaid building is in a way both ridiculous and incredibly thought-provoking. Resembling the dystopian Lilypad floating cities that we covered a year ago, the renderings of the Mermaid show the building in every extreme biome on earth — from tropical islands to glacial surroundings. The building boasts terraces of greenery, a dolphinarium, hotel, and vacation properties. Is this just a glorified cruise ship? (With somewhat suspect structural support?) Or a new model for private development that truly is responsive to its aquatic surroundings?

Bird Bridge in Sweden by visiondivision

We may be biased, given our love of owls here at Inhabitat, but the “Bird Bridge” by architectural firm visiondivision is quite a poetic design solution. Located deep in a forest in Gothenburg, Sweden, the Bird Bridge crosses a rift, linking a hospital to a series of botanical gardens. Two pedestrian bridges are also intended as bird-friendly, providing secret resting places for the our avian friends.

Monitoring Water Pollution With Robotic Fish

Soon, the water in Gijon, a harbor in Northern Spain will be monitored by robotic, battery-powered fish. These mechanical, articulating sea creatures were designed and tested by the Robotics Department at the University of Essex. At a cost of $3.6 million, through a European Union grant, these fish will test the water for oxygen levels, detect oil slicks and other contaminants pumped into the water. This is the first monitoring program of it’s kind, and the retrieved data could be very important, with implications for global warming and the state of our water sources.

Qatar Sprouts a Towering Cactus Skyscraper

The Minister of Municipal Affairs & Agriculture (MMAA) in Qatar is getting a brand new office building that takes the form of a towering cactus. Designed by Bangkok-based Aesthetics Architects, the modern office and adjoining botanical dome take cues from cacti and the way that they successfully survive in hot, dry environments.

A Living Green House Lost in Paris

Can’t decide on a green roof or a vertical garden? No problem, just do both! R&Sie Architects designed the aptly-named ‘Lost in Paris‘ house for an ‘urban witch’ who feeds the house through 300 glass-blown pods. A potion of rainwater and plant nutrients nourishes 1200 ferns drop-by-drop throughout the year. The houseplants are entirely hydroponic, and completely engulfing the 1400 square foot concrete home. The blanket of ferns protects the house from outside elements and regulates its inside temperature, all the while adding life and freshness to the neighborhood.

Mushroom Cities: Tropical Urban Rainforests

As cities stretch to accommodate the world’s skyrocketing population, loyal Inhabitat followers are surely familiar with skyscrapers and other vertical solutions to cope with urban densification. Still, an urban ecology modeled after the rainforest, complete with towering mushroom high-rises, is sure to raise some eyebrows. Designed for the heart of Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, TROPICOOL @ KL envisions a series of self-sustaining mushroom skyscrapers that incorporate natural energy sources, rainwater harvesting, and bio-mass support for off-the-grid living in a truly green environment.

MVRDV Designs Gwanggyo Green Power Center

Rotterdam-based architects MVRDV recently won the Gwanggyo City Centre Competition with their design of this incredible new city just south of Seoul, South Korea. Envisioned as a verdant acropolis of organic ‘hill’ structures, the proposed complex is a fully self-sufficient city for up to 77,000 inhabitants. Similar nodes, common in South Korea, concentrate residences, work and play all in one interactive center, reducing dependency on auto or train travel and building a strong sense of community.

Ask Nature: Using Biomimicry to Solve Design Problems

The Biomimicry Institute recently teamed up with Autodesk to launch AskNature.org, an incredible source of information for the growing community of professionals researching and applying the principles of biomimicry. The solutions that animals and nature have come up with have been tried and tested for millions of years (certainly longer than humans have been designing), so why reinvent the wheel? Why not learn from nature to make our designs more efficient, elegant, and sustainable?

The Breezy, Beautiful Brazilian Leaf House

Outside of Rio de Janeiro, on a beautiful little beach with amazing blue water, sits a little house with a flowering roof that shades and protects like a big tropical banana leaf. Designed by Mareines + Patalano, the open air abode is meant to encourage interaction and connection between man and nature. With verandas and open spaces in between rooms and no corridors, the tropical beach house is an ideal place for social gatherings and parties. The open layout also takes advantage of trade winds that blow in from the sea, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling.

The Watercube Wins Australia’s Highest Architecture Award

The Chinese National Aquatic Center, better known as the Watercube, recently won the most prestigious architecture award from the Australian Institute of Architecture! Although not officially a cube, the incredible aquatics facility is the 2008 winner of the Jorn Utzon Award for International Architecture. The design and construction of the memorable facility was a collaboration between Australian firm PTW Architects, Chinese practices CSCEC and CCDI, and international firm Arup.

The Solar Powered COM-BAT Spy Plane

In this season of specters and spooks, what could be scarier than a steel-winged robotic spy plane shaped like a bat? The aptly named COM-BATis a six-inch surveillance device that is powered by solar, wind, and vibrations. The concept was conceived by the US military as a means to gather real-time data for soldiers, and the Army has awarded the University of Michigan College of Engineering a five year $10-million dollar grant to develop it.

SPOOKY ECO HOUSE: The Dragspelhuset Accordion House

Photo courtesy of James Silverman Photography

While this cabin looks spookily lizard-like, its unusual structure was created in response to Swedish environmental building regulations. The solar-powered off-grid cabin is owned and designed by Maartje Lammers and Boris Zeisser of 24H Architecture as a family summer vacation retreat in southern Sweden’s Glaskogen nature reserve. The locals of the lakeside area affectionately call the house “Dragspelhuset,” or Accordion House because a room of the house is capable of extending outwards over the nearby stream.

Crazy Banyan Treehouse Cafe in Japan

Although this towering concrete treehouse isn’t really green, (unless tree imitation counts as ‘green’), we couldn’t help but be awestruck by its sheer craziness. We thought it worth a post, just for the picture alone. The Naha Harbor Diner in Okinawa, Japan is a life-size rendition of a banyan tree, also known as gajumaru. The aptly-named Banyan Town shopping center near the entrance of Onoyama Park features a twenty foot tall tree with a pan-Asian restaurant nestled amid its branches. Accessible by a spiral staircase around back and an in-trunk elevator, the restaurant specializes in locally grown and organic harvested foods fresh from the farm.

Solar LED ‘Leaf’ Streetlights by Jongoh Lee

What if instead of standard streetlights your nighttime walks were brightened by light-laden boughs of luminous leaves? That’s the concept behind Jongoh Lee’s elegant Invisible Streetlight, a solar-powered alternative to those ubiquitous energy-sucking globes posted throughout parks and other public spaces. The lamps are designed to wind around existing branches, seamlessly integrating into their environs to enchanting effect. The design makes a wonderful addition to the current crop of beautiful biomimetic led lamps.

HABITAT 2020: Future Smart ‘Living’ Architecture

One of the most effective ways to cut down the ecological footprint of buildings is to follow the lead of nature through biomimicry. Habitat 2020 is a future forward example of biomimetic architecture that fuses high-tech ideas with basic cellular functions to create ‘living’ structures that operate like natural organisms. This nature-inspired approach to city living looks at the urban landscape as a dynamic and ever-evolving ecosystem. Within this cityscape, buildings open, close, breathe and adapt according to their environment.

Slovenia’s Gorgeous Honeycomb Housing Complex

This stunning seaside structure bursts free from the all-too-frequently stale stock of public housing projects with its dynamic array of brightly shaded cells. Taking its cues from the modular honeycomb clusters of a beehive, the complex was constructed as a low-income residence for young families and couples in the industrial district of Izola on the Slovenian coast. The striking development boasts beautiful views and makes smart use of solar shading and natural ventilation to regulate its interiors all year-round.

LILYPAD: Floating City for Climate Change Refugees

There are very few urban design solutions that address housing the inevitable tide of displaced people that could arise as oceans swell under global warming. Certainly none are as spectacular as this one. The Lilypad, by Vincent Callebaut, is a concept for a completely self-sufficient floating city intended to provide shelter for future climate change refugees. The intent of the concept itself is laudable, but it is Callebaut’s phenomenal design that has captured our imagination.

Spiraling Calatrava Chicago Tower to be World’s 2nd tallest

Chicago’s city skyline is about to be graced by a stunning new super-structure that will rise above its shore like a helical seashell. Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the 2000 foot Chicago Spire will be the world’s second tallest building upon its completion in 2011. The halcyon monolith is beautiful example of biomimicry, taking cues from the spiraling structure of the nautilus. It’s an iconic spire with a timeless form that will take strong future-forward steps with a projected LEED gold rating.

NANO VENT-SKIN: CO2 Filtering Solar Micro-turbines!

There’s nothing like a towering wind turbine to inspire NIMBY sentiment from neighbors and city councils alike. Enter a striking new alternative energy concept by Mexican-born Agustin Otegui, who works with economies of a much smaller scale. He has conceived of a next-gen Nano Vent-Skin that sheathes structures in a shimmering solar weave studded with micro-turbines. The concept takes advantage of a structure’s maximum available surface space, and its modular composition allows it to retrofit our old buildings instead of pouring resources into new ones. Plus, the stunning superstructure incorporates micro-organisms to soak up C02.

SOLAR LILY PADS Proposed for Glasgow’s Clyde River

In a stunning example of biomimicry, Scottish architecture firm ZM Architecture have come up with a brilliant scheme to provide solar power to the city of Glasgow – and do so in a way that is provocative, creative, and aesthetically appealing. The proposal? To design Solar Lily Pads which will float in Glasgow’s River Clyde and soak up the sun’s rays, sending electricity to Glasgow’s grid while also stimulating urban riverfront activity.

MILAN 2008: Helica Ceramics by Anouk Omlo Blossoms

The arrival of Salone Internazionale del Mobile marks not only the official start of spring in the design world, but also an inspiring cross-pollination of fresh ideas related to innovative furniture, lighting, and product design. This year’s fair promises a fertile field of unique creations showcasing the latest display of high-tech methods as well as handcrafted processes. With this in mind, we wanted to launch our Milan 2008 coverage with the visually stunning ceramic work of Dutch designer, Anouk Omlo, as her latest ‘Helica Series’ is totally emblematic of current (bio)rhythms in design and the budding forms taking shape in our eco-imaginations.

MILE HIGH ULTIMA TOWER: Vertical eco city works like a tree

We’ve seen a whole slew of gigantic, volcano shaped, city-in-a-building towers, each promising to be the largest building in the world. First it was the wacky X-Seed design for Tokyo, and then even Norman Foster got into the game with his proposal for the massive ‘Crystal Island’ development in Moscow. Well now, architect Eugene Tsui is taking the gigantic volcano tower concept to a whole new eco level, by taking design inspiration from the natural world. His new design for the Ultima Tower – a 2-mile high Mt Doom-esque structure – borrows design principles from trees and other living ystem to reduce its energy footprint. We are always intrigued by architecture that uses biomimicry – the borrowing of principles from nature’s designs – and Tsui’s concept for this towering, ultra-dense urban development has certainly captured our attention with its thought-provoking design.

SMOOTH OPERATOR: The Clean Technology Tower

The Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill architectural firm has been busy stirring up the world’s skyline with a slew of lean, green superstructures that push the energy-neutral envelope. AS+GG recently unveiled plans for their latest oeuvre: a Clean Technology Tower in Chicago that takes a multi-generative approach to producing its own energy. Harnessing an atrium of wind turbines beneath a roof-top solar shell, the building “utilizes advanced technologies and climate-appropriate building systems to foster a symbiotic relationship with its local environment.”

ORQUIDEORAMA: Stunning Sustainable Botanical Garden

We’re crazy about this gorgeous botanical garden in Medellin, Colombia that was recently renovated by Plan B Architects. The Orquideorama is an organically expanding wooden meshwork of modular “flower-tree” structures that weaves its way through the garden’s heart. A stunning study on structure and scale, the project unites the micro and macro worlds through an elegant synthesis of cellular and architectural forms.

Miami Art Museum by Herzog & De Meuron

When the Miami Art Museum required a new headquarters they decided to hire famous Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. They were expecting an incredible design worthy of a cosmopolitan city such as Miami. What they got from Herzog & de Meuron can only be described as the modern interpretation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – an imaginative structure that bridges urban spaces, climates and cultures.

SAN FRANCISCO IN 2108? – The Hydro-Net Vision of the Future

San Francisco is already one of the greenest cities in the US, but check out this wild new concept from IwamotoScott Architects to completely remake the city into an ecotopia by 2108.

The design, which is as visually stunning as it is thought-provoking, recently won the History Channel’s City of the Future competition. It’s a full-scale urban system that combines the most innovative green technologies with San Francisco’s unique microclimate and geologic conditions, to produce a compelling vision for the future. Hydro-Net, as the project is known, will bring the lovely city-by-the-bay (which many Inhabitants call home) squarely into the 22nd Century with algae-harvesting towers, geothermal energy ‘mushrooms’, and fog catchers which distill fresh water from San Francisco’s infamous fog.

Green Building in Zimbabwe Modeled After Termite Mounds

Biomimicry’s Cool Alternative: Eastgate Centre in Zimbabwe
The Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, typifies the best of green architecture and ecologically sensitive adaptation. The country’s largest office and shopping complex is an architectural marvel in its use of biomimicry principles. The mid-rise building, designed by architect Mick Pearce in conjunction with engineers at Arup Associates, has no conventional air-conditioning or heating, yet stays regulated year round with dramatically less energy consumption using design methods inspired by indigenous Zimbabwean masonry and the self-cooling mounds of African termites!