Examples Of Biomimetics

4.4 Project examples

Examples of the Biomimetics-inspired approach applications in the “BioTecture” project are illustrated in Figure 8. It includes three examples. These are:

(A) In this example, a house that fits ecologically in desert environment is designed. It applies a building-based method (BBBIM). Its design is inspired by camels for heat adaptation and lack of water survival. It is also inspired by ants for underground ventilation systems and structures.

B) Figure B demonstrates an organism-based method (OBBIM) which is applied to study a beetle and learn from its form, materials and motion. Solutions were used to propose water harvesting and recycling methods and adjustable roof structures that respond to sun, wind and rain changes.

The structured questionnaire was conducted after the conclusion of the project and after the end of the semester it was assigned in to reduce subjectivity and concern of students. It was designed to examine various areas, aspects and phases of architectural design using the different methods. As it tested participants’ feedback to multiple aspects of the new Biomimetics approach and methods, it compared the before and after attributes and contributions of the new approach with the previous conventional ones that were mostly heuristic-based processes. The comparison was made in the three major phases of design: the pre-design reasoning, the design processing and the post-design evaluation. In all design phases, the participants significantly favored the Biomimetics approach over the conventional ones in terms of its derivative, explorative and investigative powers. The list of questions and participants’ responses are illustrated in Table

Consideration and cognition of the design complexity. This category consists of seven questions about the multi-layered nature of design. They highlight the various design methods and the possible design processes. They emphasize the life cycle of buildings, the impact of natural and environmental forces on buildings, and the consideration of flexibility in the interior and exterior of buildings. They particularly examine the influence of integrating the time element and motion into the design of building structures to accommodate different settings and scenarios of the inhabitants’ lifecycles.

4. The contribution and enhancement of each approach to the advancement of design knowledge. This part examines the futuristic potentials of each approach to grow and continue as a pedagogical methodology of design instruction in Higher Education. It also prompts for the predictability of whether the questioned approach may open new horizons in architectural designing.

5. The reflection of individual customization and personalization in each approach. This examines the extent to which the personal touch of the designer can be reflected on design, and to which the individual character of each building can be