Melissa Sterry's presentation 'Biomimicry in Design | Sourcing Sustainable Design Solutions in the 21st Century' shown at Greengaged '09 at the Design Council on 23rd September 2009, during the London Design Festival.

1. BIOMIMICRY IN DESIGN
Sourcing Sustainable Design Solutions in the 21st Century
By Melissa Sterry of Societás

2. Visual futurist Syd Mead’s vision of the city of Doho, Qatar in the future.
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3. Our Vision
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4. Meeting our emerging & future needs…
1. BIODIVERSITY: Creating wildlife
inclusive urban habitats to
accommodate migrating insect,
bird & mammal species.
2. FOOD & WATER SCARCITY:
Growing food locally & rain
harvesting.
3. CHANGING WEATHER PATTERNS:
Adapting to hotter summers &
heavier downpours.
4. NATURAL RESOURCE DEPLETION:
Supply shortages of many building
materials.
5. WASTESTREAM RECYCLING:
Sewage & rubbish recycling in situ.
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5. THE PERFECT STORM | MEETING OUR DESIGN BRIEF
Need to reduce existing level of consumption by 2/3 in the UK,
4/5 in the US, 6/7 in the UAE.
Currently 90% of all products are waste within 6 months of
purchase, UK expected to run out of landfill space by 2016
For every tonne of household waste that we throw away, there's
a further 5 tonnes of materials that have been used in the
manufacturing of the products consumed.
20% of the naturally occurring chemical elements will run out
within 100 years (source Chemistry Innovation)
Jim Hansen announced in ‘08 that 325 parts per million should
be our target - stating a 2 degree increase should already
be built in.
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6. EMERGING PRINCIPLES IN 21ST CENTURY DESIGN
LIVING DESIGN - living materials & structures
SYMBIOSIS - interdependent systems
CLOSED LOOPS - creating zero waste
LIFETIME GUARANTEE - repair & retro-fit
MATERIAL MINIMALISM - less is more
ORGANIC ORIGINS - as nature intended
MICRO-ENERGY - self-powered design
HARVESTING - rainwater, natural sunlight
MULTI-FUNCTION - multi-tasking design
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7. BLUEPRINTS
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8. COPYCATS
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9. BIOMIMETIC DESIGN #1
Steve Fambro’s Aptera
• 300 miles or more to the gallon
• Shape minimizes air resistance
• 3 wheels minimize drag on the road
• Interior and exterior LED lighting
• Solar assisted climate control system
• Recycled materials
• Both electric and plug-in hybrid models
• Top speed of 90mph
• 0-60 in around 10 seconds
• Ample storage - interior large enough to
fit a surf board

10. BIOMIMETIC DESIGN #2
Festo’s bionic AquaPenguin
• Hydrodynamic body contour design with wing propulsion and head/tail sections that can move in all directions
• Able to manoeuvre in cramped spatial conditions/turn on spot, unlike biological counterpart swims backwards
• An autonomous underwater vehicle that independently navigates itself, supported by a 3D sonar system
• Expect to see technology developed for use in underwater research and exploration
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11. BIOMIMETIC DESIGN #3
Jean-Marie Massaud - Manned Cloud Hotel
•700ft x 270ft x 170ft super-airship with 20 bedrooms, a restaurant, library, lounge, bar, gym and spa
•Only requiring re-fuelling after 5,000 km, able to remain airborne for 3 days at a cruising speed of 80mph
•Ferrying up to 40 passengers in the sky for a serene cruise around the world
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12. BIOMIMETIC DESIGN #4
Ross Lovegrove - DNA Staircase
• Inspired by DNA and human bone
• Made it from fiberglass and unidirectional carbon
via bladder molding
• High-performance composite manufacturing to
produce hollow lightweight form

13. BIOMIMETIC DESIGN #5
Ross Lovegrove - Solar Trees
• Solar-powered urban street lighting
•Solar branches follow the sun

14. BIOMIMETIC DESIGN #6
University of Southampton & Checkmate SeaEnergy’s Anaconda funded by EPSRC
200m long flexible rubber tube filled with seawater, sealed at both ends, sits on ocean surface generating
wave energy
Each passing wave squeezes the rubber, producing a bulge that ripples down the tube, powering an electric
turbine at the end

15. BRIEF HISTORY OF BIOMIMICRY
4.6 BILLION YEARS - approx age of Earth
3.8 BILLION YEARS - estimated age of the single cellular organism
65.5 MILLION YEARS - age of the Cenozoic geological era
32,000 BC - earliest known cave art
20,000 BC - earliest forms of horticulture
10,000 BC - earliest planned cultivation & trait selection
7000 BC - Birth of Mesopotamia - the cradle of civilization
1452 - Birth of Leonardo Da Vinci
1936 - Alfred H. Barr describes art that refers to or evokes living
forms as Biomorphism
1948 - George de Mestral invents Velcro
1950s - Otto Schmitt coins the term biomimetics & Jack E.
Steele coins the term bionic
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16. TERMINOLOGY
BIOMIMICRY BIOMIMETICS BIOMIMESIS BIONICS
BIOENGINEERING BIOCHEMICAL BIOPOWER
BIONSPIRED BIOINSPIRATION BIOGNOSIS
BIOMORPHIC BIOMORPHISM
EVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE
SYMBIOTIC ARCHITECTURE
ECOTECTURE ECONEERING
ECOLUTIONARY LIVING ARCHITECTURE
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17. WHERE NEXT FOR BIOMIMICRY?
RESPONSIVE ENVIRONMENTS - living materials developed
for a wide range of applications
URBANATURE - the concrete jungle becomes an urban
paradise and bio-diversity inclusive
ORGANIC GROWTH - cities become self-sustaining, self-
protecting ecological systems
CHROMATOPHIC - environment responsive materials that
change colour / texture
LIGHT FANTASTIC - solar harvesting, light optimized, light
responsive
ECOUSTIC - acoustic structures, quiet, natural noise
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18. GETTING IN TOUCH
Melissa Sterry, Societás
+44 (0) 870 910 4904
hello@societas.ltd.uk
http://societas.ltd.uk
"at present there is only a 10% overlap between biology and technology in terms
of the mechanisms used” Professor of Biomimentics Julian Vincent
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