Bionic architecture
Bionic architecture is a contemporary movement that studies the physiological, behavioural, and structural adaptions of biological organisms as a source of inspiration for designing and constructing expressive buildings.
[3] This is achieved through having an in-depth understanding of the complex interactions between form, material, and structure[4] in order to ensure that the building's design supports a more sustainable environment.
[1] The term ‘bionic’ was first used in 1958 by U.S army colonel, Jack E. Steele and Soviet scientist, Otto Schmitt during an astronomer project that focused on research surrounding the field of robotics.
Using models of nature as samples, such as plant stems, living leaf nerve, eggshells, engineers create durable and beautiful architectural structures: houses, bridges, movie theatres, etc."
[11] In her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature (1997), Janine Benyus formulated a set of questions that can be used to establish the level of bio mimicry within an architectural design.
[citation needed] For example, Antonio Gaudi's Sagrada Familia’s interior design drew its inspiration from various shapes and patterns of plants while its pillars mirrored the structure of human bones.
Due to growing concerns surrounding global warming and climate change, as well as the rise of technological improvements, architectural bionics became primarily focused on more efficient ways to achieve modern sustainability.
[citation needed] An example of the modern architectural bionic movement includes the 30 St Mary Axe (2003), which is heavily inspired by the 'Venus Flower Basket Sponge', a sea creature with a lattice-like exoskeleton and round shape that disperses force from water currents.
[citation needed] These are made of three layers of Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), a form of plastic that provides a lighter steel frame and allows for more sunlight to enter the building in order to generate solar power.
However, due to the rapidly growing demand for a more effective, ecologically sustainable design approach that does not compromise the needs of society, many ideas have been put forth: This essentially involves creating floating buildings inspired by the buoyancy of icebergs and the shapes of various organisms.
[11] Moreover, as the ocean scraper is intended to be built on water, its designers are exploring the idea of extracting and generating electricity from new sources such as under-water volcanoes and earthquake power.
