VIRTUAL: Applying Education

Abstract

This paper explores a collaboration between architecture and biology educators to translate three fundamental principles of biology to inform a six-step bio-inspired architectural design process. Bio-inspired design frameworks – such as biomimetic, biophilic, biomorphic, bioclimatic, among others – aim toward the common goals of fostering the health and well-being of all species and ecological systems. These frameworks look to biology for principles and strategies that expand design thinking and processes, and to help translate and analogize the wisdom and strategies of other species for design applications. While biological based design frameworks have sought inspiration from biology, they are not necessarily grounded in foundational biological principles. The paper investigates three core principles of biology, including: 1) function, 2) biodiversity, and 3) evolution. First, it explores how the concept of “function” serves as a bridge between human challenges and different areas of biology, while simultaneously helping overcome the limits of simply copying biological traits. Second, tools are offered to explore “biodiversity” and the “biological tree of life” for design ideas, stressing the importance of sampling different parts of the “tree” as diverse organisms often solve a given problem in different ways. Finally, it considers how “evolving biological systems”, such as communities of interacting species, might inform design. A series of envelope exercises are used to illustrate the design process and tools that can assist educators and practitioners in translating and analogizing the three foundational principles from biology into design.