How to Design a Better City ?
How Nature Inspires the Future of Architecture.
Biomimicry, the design and engineering of products, systems and processes to emulate nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies, is a ( relatively ) new field of study. It is still in the development stage and is being explored by numerous scientists and researchers.
Biomimicry is about “learning from nature, not just about nature.” Through this process we can learn how to design a better city and solve some of the most pressing problems of our time.
Why Biomimicry ?
How can it be that the human body, which has been around for only about 100,000 years, is already so much more sophisticated than the most advanced artificial creations of human beings, which have been around for only about 100 years?
Biomimicry is the conscious emulation of life’s genius. Biomimicry is everywhere, and it’s not just a new field of study, but a new way of thinking. It’s the study of how nature does things, and then applying that knowledge to our own work.
Biomimicry is based on the following principles:
- Nature is the greatest innovator and it’s best to look at natural models and then imitate them.
- The purpose of technology is to solve problems, not create more problems. Nature has already addressed many of the world’s problems; let’s learn from them.
- The Earth is a finite system, so we need to be good stewards of our natural resources.
- Natural systems are elegantly simple, so we should strive for elegant simplicity in the design of our technologies and our civilization.
- When something works in nature, we should figure out why it works and then use that information to solve human problems : biomimicry is a reverse engineering process.
- Nature has had billions of years to get it right, so we can trust nature’s solutions to be the best ones possible.
- Nature is the ultimate open source technology and we should feel free to borrow from it as much as possible.
The following is a partial list of notable technologies and mechanisms that have been inspired by nature:
- Velcro was inspired by the burrs that stick to dog fur.
- The airplane wing was inspired by the shape of a bird wing.
- The microprocessor was inspired by the brain.
- Fiber optics were inspired by the way plants grow their stems and leaves.
- The solar cell was inspired by photosynthesis in plants.
- The bullet proof vest was inspired by the armor on a beetle.
- The drip irrigation system was inspired by the way a spider’s web works.
- The jet engine was inspired by the shape of a dolphin’s tail.
- The cochlear implant was inspired by the design of a mantis shrimp’s ear.
The Web that is Under Our Feet
As a child, I loved going to the beach and digging in the sand. I would go through the motions of digging a hole, putting my hands into it and then pulling them out. This game was fun for me until I hit water. Then I realized that there was water under the sand all along. I felt that I had discovered something new and important. I realized that I was just a small part of something much larger. I was the one digging and yet there was something much bigger than me that controlled what I could or could not do. I was part of something much larger than I could ever imagine. I had just discovered the web that is under our feet.
We are all connected. We are all part of a greater whole. The world is so very complex and interconnected that it can be overwhelming at times. There are so many interconnections between things in the world that we can’t see them all. The world is like a vast web of connections and relationships that we are just beginning to understand. We have not even begun to comprehend the complexity of the world around us, but we have discovered some astonishing things along the way.
The web under our feet is complex and it is invisible to us most of the time, but it is very real. It is composed of air, soil, water and life forms in their billions, which are all interconnected in a vast network of relationships that spans the globe. This web plays an important role in maintaining a healthy environment for life on earth. It helps regulate climate conditions and water cycles among other things. It helps prevent erosion by absorbing rainwater, slowing down runoff and filtering out pollutants before they reach groundwater or rivers.
The web under our feet also has its own set of problems such as pollution and soil erosion, but it also has some solutions to those problems. One of the best ways to prevent soil erosion is to plant trees, shrubs and ground covers. This helps hold soil in place and also prevents runoff. Trees also help filter out pollutants from the water, as well as absorbing carbon dioxide from the air. This keeps the air clear and fresh, which is a major benefit for us all.
The web under our feet can be damaged by pollution, overgrazing and poorly planned construction projects such as mining or logging operations that damage the land. It can even be damaged by overuse of herbicides and pesticides that kill off many forms of life in the soil. The web under our feet is very important for life on earth, but it can be easily damaged by human beings who are not aware of what they are doing. We must learn to protect this important part of our environment if we want to continue living on this planet.
The Circulatory System of a Building
The circulatory system has two components: the blood vessels that bring blood to organs and tissues, and the blood itself which carries nutrients, oxygen and other things that cells need to live. In buildings, we have piping systems that bring hot or cold water or air from one place to another; we also have elevators which are like our veins because they transport people from one floor to another. These are the blood vessels that allow us to live. The blood is what we use to heat, cool, and move around in our buildings. Our circulatory system is a very important part of our body because it keeps us alive and healthy.
A building’s circulatory system has many parts, but one of the most important ones is its foundation. A building’s foundation is like its skeleton because it supports the entire structure and keeps it from falling down. Another important part of a building’s circulatory system are its pipes for heating, air conditioning, water supply or other utilities that keep a building alive by giving it essential services such as food and clothing. You can see how a building’s pipes are like our veins; they carry things from one place to another so that the whole structure can stay alive and healthy.
The circulatory system in your body is very complex, but so is the one in your home or workplace. Your circulatory system keeps you alive by supplying you with oxygen-rich blood that gets all around your body to keep every part working properly. The same can be said for buildings because their water supply pipes and heating/cooling system also provide them with the air they need to function properly.
A building’s circulatory system keeps its water flowing and removes waste products from the building as well.
The Ecosystem of a City
We have always lived in large groups. Our ancestors were nomads that traveled in groups of hunters, gatherers and collectors, who were always on the move. With the advent of agriculture, settlements appeared and thus began the development of cities. The first cities were primitive and rudimentary, but they managed to make life more civilized. Cities are a natural habitat for humans because they provide food, shelter and protection from weather conditions.
An ecosystem is a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment within a particular climate zone. All living organisms are part of an ecosystem which means that even humans are part of an ecosystem ; we are the apex predator in our own ecosystem!
In order to understand how all these elements work together, let’s look at an example: A city is like an animal that needs food to survive ; it needs resources such as water, energy, raw materials etc.. In order to get them it breathes (breathing is a process that takes in oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide). The city breathes by taking in water from the ground and releasing toxic waste into the air.
The city eats by consuming food, which comes from its farms (green areas) and from its factories (industrial areas). The city’s stomach is its sewage treatment plant, which converts toxic waste into clean water.
The city moves around by means of its transportation system, which includes roads and cars. Its heart is an airport that provides a way for the residents to travel to other cities.
The city has a brain ; it’s the government system that makes the rules and tells people what they can or cannot do within those rules. The government is also responsible for maintaining law and order within the community.
The city has a skeleton — the buildings and houses that make up the physical structure.
The city has a circulatory system, which is the water and electricity infrastructure. The heart of the circulatory system is the power plant, which provides electricity to all of its citizens.
The city has a respiratory system, which includes sewage treatment plants and green areas such as parks and gardens, where it takes in oxygen from green plants (through photosynthesis) and gives off carbon dioxide (which it releases into the air).
Now we can see how all these elements work together to keep our cities alive; they are interconnected with one another. If one element fails or is not working properly, then it will affect other parts of the system as well; for example if there’s too much pollution in our cities’ air then that will affect our health (including asthma) because we’re breathing in those pollutants.
In order to keep our cities alive we need to make sure that all these elements are working properly.
The most important element of a city is its citizens and their welfare, because without them there would be no city.
The number one priority of any government should be to ensure that the welfare of its citizens is taken care of ; this includes providing jobs for people, homes for them to live in, healthcare and education services.
For example, if you were the mayor of a city you would want to make sure that there were enough homes for your citizens, that they didn’t have to live in slums or shanty towns. You would want to make sure that everyone had a job and a place where they could send their children to school and get an education. You would also want to make sure that everyone had access to clean drinking water and sewage systems so they didn’t have disease-ridden water or raw sewage flowing through their streets.
A City that Breathes
How come that a city does not breathe? It does breathe, but it is not breathing as a living body would do.
To imagine what a city could be like if it breathed, we can look at the human body: The human body is made of 70% water. The lungs are the respiration organs of the human body, they take in oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide; they are made of air sacs and blood vessels. We can see how the human body is designed to breathe freely, because it needs oxygen to live.
The air sacs in our lungs are connected to the blood vessels which carry away carbon dioxide and bring oxygen to all parts of our body. This way our blood gets oxygenated and we feel good. If there was no oxygenation, we would die quickly because our cells need oxygen to live.
In cities today most buildings have their own ventilation system independent from each other; so there is no natural exchange of fresh air between buildings or with the outside. This causes a lot of problems because of the build-up of carbon dioxide and other pollutants inside buildings.
This is why we need to introduce more natural ventilation into our cities to allow more air flow between buildings and with the outside.
The problem with natural ventilation is that it is not controllable; there will always be wind, rain, snow or cold weather coming in through windows and doors which could be a problem for some buildings. It would be best if we can design our cities so that they could breathe freely without depending on artificial systems like air conditioning or heating all the time.
But how do we do that?
We can learn from nature what are the elements that are essential for making a building breathe: First of all it needs to have openings on different sides so that air can come in from different directions; these openings have to be connected to each other through corridors or passages as well as directly with the outside so that air can flow freely in and out of the building.
The openings have to be big enough so that air can easily flow in and out. These openings should be on the north, south and east sides of a building so that it can receive as much sunlight as possible during the day. The shape of the building should also allow free flow of wind inside and outside; for example a dome is an ideal shape for this purpose.
Ventilation shafts can be used to connect passages or corridors with different levels in a building; these shafts could also be used to bring in fresh air from outside by natural ventilation.
In ancient times people understood how important it is to use natural ventilation in buildings, here are some examples:
In ancient Rome they used large openings like arches which were connected with corridors and courtyards; these openings were called “Venetian” windows or doors (ventanas in Spanish). They were placed on different sides of buildings that faced the wind direction so that air could flow in and out of the building ; the opening on the windward side was smaller than that on the leeward side. The Romans also used openings called “Diocletian windows”, these openings were placed in walls and had different shapes which allowed air to freely flow inside and outside of buildings.
The ancient Egyptians also used ventilation shafts to bring in fresh air into their buildings, they were placed at different levels so that they could connect passages or corridors with different levels. They also used large openings like arches which were connected with courtyards and corridors, so air could flow freely inside their buildings.
The Human Body as a Model for Urban Design
The human body and the city have a lot in common. Both are complex, adaptive, redundant systems that self-assemble out of a diversity of elements. Both are constantly changing, always increasing in complexity and capability.
Both systems are made up of many parts that work together to create life.
In both cases the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A city is not just buildings and roads but also the people and the culture that make up its fabric.
The human body is not just skin, bones and muscles but also the blood that flows through them, the heart that pumps it, and the brain that directs it.
In both cases there are feedback loops to keep things in balance. In a healthy city there are checks and balances in place to regulate traffic, commerce, social interactions, waste disposal and more.
A healthy building has a strong foundation (like a human skeleton), insulation (like skin) to minimize temperature fluctuations, a ventilation system (like lungs) to control air quality and carbon dioxide levels, an electrical grid (like nerves) to bring power into buildings at low voltage or direct current levels.
The same can be said of our cities: they have infrastructure systems that help support life — roads for transportation, water supplies for drinking, wastewater treatment plants for sanitation.
In order for these systems to work optimally they must be designed with care. We can learn a lot from how nature works.
Building a city is not unlike building a tree or a human being.
The same principles of design apply to both.
We can design a city to be resilient and adaptable.
We can design the systems within it to be self-healing, self-repairing, and self-adjusting.
Like a tree or a human body, we can build in redundancies at every level. The sum of all these redundancies is the resilience of the system.
In nature there are many layers of redundancy in both time and space . A tree may have thousands of buds in its branches, each bud capable of growing into a new tree if necessary. The root system may extend for several meters underground in order for the plant to survive strong winds or droughts that could kill it outright. Each year there are layers of growth that build on each other until the tree reaches maturity and eventually dies.
The same is true with humans: we have many redundant organs — liver, kidneys, lungs — to ensure survival; our skin protects us from injury while also allowing us to adjust our temperature through sweating or shivering; and we have a complex system of checks and balances in our immune system.
If one part of a system fails, the others still work.
Resilience is built into the system.
In complex systems, redundancy is a way to increase overall resilience.
In nature it works by increasing the chances that at least one part of the system will survive and be able to reproduce itself.
In human-made systems it works by giving us options when we need them most — for example, having a choice of different forms of energy or transportation available in case one becomes unavailable or too expensive.
Complex systems are designed with layers of redundancy in both time and space.
How to Design a Better City thanks to Biomimicry ?
We are living in cities that are not designed for us. They are made for cars, not for people. They are not green, they produce greenhouse gas emissions and they pollute the air we breathe. The city of the future will be different ; it will be a city that is sustainable, healthy and livable. It will be a smart city, with integrated networks of sensors collecting data on traffic flow, energy consumption and many other aspects of urban life. It will learn from the environment around it and respond accordingly; it will be smart like a forest or an ecosystem. When we design cities that mimic the natural world instead of trying to dominate it, we can create solutions that address social problems without causing more harm than good. We can design in such a way that produces abundance instead of scarcity — food instead of garbage — wealth instead of poverty — health instead of disease — beauty instead of pollution — happiness instead of misery.
What do you think about the ideas in this article ? Leave your comments, questions and suggestions below.
