Daffodils and Polar Bears: Towards a Biomimetic Architecture

Greg Keeffe
Chair, Bioclimatic Architecture Labs
Manchester School of Architecture
Manchester UK.


g.keeffe@mmu.ac.uk


Introduction

What is sustainable? That is the question of the age. One thing is certain, sustainable architecture will be a radical departure from today’s reactionist insulated boxes, dreamt up by physicists with only thermodynamics in mind or the wooden ‘hanzel and gretel’ earthships of the hippies retreating from the urban world.

There is only one thing that is sustainable on this planet and that is life itself, it has already been here for 4,000,000,000 years: sustainable architecture will be living. The real question we must answer is, ‘what is life, and how do we define ‘living’?’ from this we will be able to define a new radical ‘living’ architecture, which will be truly sustainable.



Life and living.

Life, however is difficult to define. In his seminal text ‘The Origin of Life’ John Keosian states “a precise definition… one which will include all living things, past or present, is not possible”. He states there are however five categories that all living things have: order, energy, separation, self-perpetuation and evolution.

In addition to these, another trait which all living entities possess by default, is that living entities are interdependent; they cannot survive individually or in a vacuum; they rely upon being part of the cycle of materials and flow of energy within an ecosystem. Thus, there is not only life as an individual, but also as a collective group. This is us to consider urbanism, which is beyond the scope of this paper.

Life 1 Life 1

Life_2 Life 2

Life is not an aesthetic, and thus living architecture, will not look like anything in particular – it will be derived from an understanding of the processes and forces that the brief and site will construe, buildings may need to be as different as a daffodil from a polar bear for example. But what they will have in common is a form derived by the place (site and climate) they are located in.

Solar_Bear? Solar Bear?

Inter-seasonal storage? Inter-seasonal storage?

In fact this gives us our first reference point and the beginning of a bio-mimetic methodology, in his book Theories of Ecological Perception, JJ Gibson states that the environment and the animal are inseparable - the existence of one implies the existence of the other, and thus a perfect description of one, will imply an exact solution of the other. For example, an analysis of say, a Savannah, would suggest the animals antelope and lion. Thus by defining the site of the building accurately, (climatically and otherwise) this should suggest possible anatomic solutions that could be appropriate. From these analyses and forms, we can then attempt to hypothesise the building that may live in these surroundings.

Lion/Savannah? Lion/Savannah?

Climate derives form Climate derives form

How will these living buildings be defined? They will be described by a matrix that could be used to define all living things, both individually, and collectively, namely Keosian’s categories.


Order.

Structure and synergy.
All elements of living things, have order, there is no chaotic arrangement in life, and it is this unfeasible order that defines a search for life. In addition, in this arrangement, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; it is a synergy.

Biomimetic architecture will be ordered in a way that responds to the climatic demands of the site and the spatial and environmental needs of the brief.

Order: Leaf section Order: Leaf section

Order: Glen Murcutt Order: Glen Murcutt


Energy

Metabolism, Storage Rhythm.
All living things rely ultimately on the Sun for energy, and without it they are unsustainable. Living things have a metabolism, a sophisticated method of collecting, utilising and storing energy. Those that rely directly on the Sun for energy move in a rhythm with it.

Responsiveness, Homoeostasis.
Living things speculate – they use energy gained to search for more energy, and use the energy to maintain a thermal equilibrium or homeostasis.

Responsiveness/Rhythm: Edelweiss Responsiveness/Rhythm: Edelweiss


Returning to our original pairing, the polar bear and the daffodil, both display interesting solar capture methods; the daffodil has an inter-seasonal store; the polar bear, a direct gain system. The daffodil famously stores energy in its bulb in summer – to utilise in the winter to get a head start on growth. The polar bear is actually a solar bear – its fur is made up of highly insulating, translucent hollow fibres that act like fibre optics – transmitting infra-red light from the surface to the skin of the bear, which is actually black, and thus good at absorbing energy. This extra energy absorbed directly from the sun allows the bear to function without a highly insulative fat layer – which would restrict movement.

Human Skin Human Skin

Bio-mimetic architecture will be dynamic, with a complex way of collecting, storing and utilising energy, responding to climatic rhythms – minute-by minute, diurnal, and seasonal.


Separation

Skin.
In living things the skin is the most complex of all elements. It separates inside from outside, and thus is again dynamic. Most skins are multilayered and none are exclusive. Exchange is the key here; skins allow different climatic elements and energy forms to enter or be excluded at any time. So a body might choose to lose heat when hot, or conserve it when cold, by changing the configuration of the skin. The human skin for example has seven layers, none of which is impermeable to water, yet we do not leak. It is the juxtaposition of these simple layers, each with multi-functions, that completes the enclosure.

Bio-mimetic architecture will have a sophisticated multi-layered surface. This surface will promote or reduce energy transfer by dynamic means. It will control heat, light, sound, air and water (vapour) transfer, in an optimal way, without having a completely exclusive membrane (such as a vapour barrier).

Multi-layered dynamic skin Multi-layered dynamic skin


Self-perpetuation

Recycling/Reuse.
It is unlikely that architecture could ever reproduce, however its elements could be re-usable or recyclable. Life consists of common elements, all of which are biodegradable. Once dead, living things directly provide key elements for the production of new creatures.

Biomimetic architecture will be made of components that are re-usable in a new configuration or at least recyclable. Components will be made of naturally occurring compounds.


Use/reuse Caddis larva Use/reuse caddis larva

Use/reuse: British Pavilion Expo 92, Nicholas Grimshaw Use/reuse: British Pavilion Expo 92, Nicholas Grimshaw


Evolution.

Adaptation.
Life evolves; over time creatures adapt to changing environments by random (Darwinist) change or by incremental reactive (Lamarckian) change.

Bio-mimetic Architecture will be loose fit, and be adaptable to change, either external or internal. Flexibility will be designed into the solution.


Conclusion

Bio-mimetic architecture will not be a new aesthetic; it will change fundamentally the shape, occupation and dynamic of architecture. We are at the beginning of a new age, where the future is no longer mechanical or informational, but biological/informational/mechanical. New design methodologies will be developed and we will move from seeing architecture as an edifice to seeing it as a concretisation of the dynamic forces of external climate and internal desires.



References
Keosian, J. The Origins of Life. Chapman & Hall, London 1965.
Gibson JJ., The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. New York 1986.



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Charlie Baker - Q3, 2004


June 2004

We've go to move, 20 years in Hulme but it's not what it could've been. I've gone and created a perfect flat for 5 on the 3rd floor, 100m away from the lift and now there's 6 of us and one can't walk yet.
So where do we go? Somewhere near a decent bit of park space, somewhere where you can walk to a decent load of shops so we don't have to use the car. Close enough to decent public transport for getting into town. It'd be quite nice to go without the car altogether and just hire when we're going away or visiting but I've not won that argument yet...
and we need enough space for all of us - as the people and the bike collection get bigger....



July 2004
Pick a skip with a roof on – we can't afford anything else and we want to do things to it anyway.
So we've gone for a house that will be big enough for the children to grow into so they won't need to leave if they don't want to. I've always wondered about that whole thing that many who had spent their lives in Hulme (rather than incomers like me) had mentioned about extended families – mine is scattered all over the country and only meets up for weddings and funerals – could we establish somewhere that can be a base for the future members of the family? – it's got to contribute to social sustainability that kind of thing. Charlie

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Introducing Charlie Baker's Sustainability Project

Green Modern Meets Red Brick Victorian


This blog is a personal journey through our family's attempt to live as sustainably as we can practically manage. 'Practically' is the key word. My view is that there will be a paradigm shift in what this means over the next decade as the obligations facing the species become more and more apparent. So it's not life changing and we've got quite a lot to do between the 2 of us so this has been done when we've had the time.

I've been working with URBED for decades on how to make towns and cities sustainable, there's 6 billion of us on the planet we can't all live on smallholdings, we need to make our cities work. In that work we've encountered much of how you improve individual houses, but usually it's talking about new buildings. Given the sheer number Victorian terraces and semi's we have it seems to be a good questions to have some answers to. Can you make them a Victorian house sustainable?

No doubt some of you will wonder whether we did enough, and no doubt tell us we didn't in some cases, others may be amazed we even tried it and wonder what possessed us to be so daft. So it's not a guide book for how to do it, merely a genuinely personal description of what we tried. There are several aspirations I have for this. Firstly we'd like share experiences with others so that they might try some of it too. We don't have the time as a species to wait for government or business to show us the way, it's time we proved what democracy meant.
Also we've done so much work trying to find things out that it's a shame if we didn't make the most of that work. Mainly we'd like to use this blog as one of the steps towards a debate about how Manchester's and the country's people reduce their ecological footprints at the small scale. There's a discussion forum to go with this blog so that you can tell us where we got it completely wrong, where we might have done it better, or ask your own questions about how you might try bits of it.

Charlie

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What is Green Modernism?

Green Modernism 12 April – May 26 2007
- An exhibition exploring the future of sustainable urban living
by the Centre for the Urban Built Environment, Manchester



This spring CUBE in Manchester will play host to the exhibition “Green Modernism”, exploring the future of sustainable urban living. This exhibition arrives at a crucial time as the effects of climate change are felt with increasing force, and it is important to suggest sustainable ways of living.

CUBE intends to confront this powerful issue with a thought provoking exhibition showcasing the latest ideas and designs for alternative, and greener, modes of existence and how they may be incorporated into our daily existence. The exhibition will contain a number of interlinked elements which will provide visitors with an in-depth exploration into the future of sustainable living

As part of the renowned Look ’07 photography festival, CUBE presents the photography of British artist David Spero in GALLERY 1. Visually documenting some of the most innovative and extreme examples of sustainable living in the UK, the artist presents us with an exciting collection of photographs tracing self-built dwellings of communities who have chosen to live off the land in a sustainable way.

GALLERY 2 will feature ‘Sustainable Soundscapes, a sensory installation that will contribute to the debate on sustainable living, by challenging 21st century living habits and proposing future models of sustainable living. Sound bytes taken from interviews with leading designers, academics, opinion maker and members of the public will contribute to a sensory landscape that will capture and expose the visitor to differing perspectives and ideas on sustainable living, encourage them to reassess their living habits.

In GALLERY 3 an ‘Interactive Media Hub’ will host the interactive content section of the exhibition with resources, information and debate, showcasing cutting edge examples of sustainable living, thinking and design. With the aim of inspiring a dialogue on the current status and future of sustainable living, CUBE will also host an interactive component to the exhibition where members of the public are invited to contribute their thoughts and responses to the debates raised via a feedback wall and an online “blogspot”.


In GALLERY 4, an exhibition of one of the most sustainable schools in the UK will draw together the key arguments for sustainable design. This award-winning design for an eco-friendly school by White Design Associates will be presented by CUBE in association with RIBA Competititons, and will act as a beacon of sustainable design for the modern age.

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