Module - VI

Evolution of Natural forms and Natural Growth Patterns: Golden & Spiral, Fractals
The curl of a chameleon's tail, the spiral of a pinecone's scales and the ripples created by wind moving
grains of sand all have the power to catch the eye and intrigue the mind. When Charles Darwin first
proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1859, it encouraged science enthusiasts to
find reasons for the natural patterns seen in beasts of the land, birds of the air and creatures of the
sea. The peacock's plumage, the spots of a shark must all serve some adaptive purpose, they eagerly
surmised.

What exactly is a pattern?

Traditionally, we think of patterns as something
that just repeats again and again throughout
space in an identical way, sort of like a wallpaper
pattern. But many patterns that we see in nature
aren't quite like that. We sense that there is
something regular or at least not random about
them, but that doesn't mean that all the elements
are identical. I think a very familiar example of that
would be the zebra's stripes. Everyone can recognize
that as a pattern, but no stripe is like any other stripe.
I think we can make a case for saying that anything
that isn't purely random has a kind of pattern in it.
There must be something in that system that has
pulled it away from that pure randomness or at the
other extreme, from pure uniformity.
Golden spiral 
 Golden spiral is a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor is φ, the golden ratio. That is, a golden spiral
gets wider (or further from its origin) by a factor of φ for every quarter turn it makes.

A Golden spiral is very similar to the Fibonacci spiral but is based on a series of identically proportioned
golden rectangles, each having a golden ratio of 1.618 of the length of the long side to that of the short
side of the rectangle:

What is the Golden Ratio?

Putting it as simply as we can (eek!), the Golden Ratio (also known as the Golden Section, Golden Mean,
Divine Proportion or Greek letter Phi) exists when a line is divided into two parts and the longer part
(a) divided by the smaller part (b) is equal to the sum of (a) + (b) divided by (a), which both equal 1.618.
Self Similarity-

A self-similar object is exactly or approximately similar to a part of itself (i.e. the whole has the same
shape as one or more of the parts). Many objects in the real world, such as coastlines, are statistically self-similar:
parts of them show the same statistical properties at many scales. Self-similarity is a typical property of fractals. 
Scale invariance is an exact form of self-similarity where at any magnification there is a smaller piece of the object
that is similar to the whole. For instance, a side of the Koch snowflake is both symmetrical and scale-invariant; it can
be continually magnified 3x without changing shape. The non-trivial similarity evident in fractals is distinguished by
their fine structure, or detail on arbitrarily small scales. As a counterexample, whereas any portion of a straight line
may resemble the whole, further detail is not revealed.
Self Organization

Self-organization, also called  

spontaneous order, is a process where some form of
overall order arises from local interactions between
parts of an initially disordered system. The process
can be spontaneous when sufficient energy is
available, not needing control by any external agent.
It is often triggered by seemingly random fluctuations,
amplified by positive feedback. The resulting
organization is wholly decentralized, distributed over
all the components of the system. As such, the
organization is typically robust and able to survive
or self-repair substantial perturbation.
Self-organization occurs in many physical, chemical, 
biological, robotic, and cognitive systems.
Examples of self-organization include crystallization,
thermal convection of fluids, chemical oscillation,
animal swarming, neural circuits, and 
artificial neural networks.
Indeterminacy

can refer both to common scientific and mathematical

concepts of uncertainty and their implications and to
another kind of indeterminacy deriving from the
nature of definition or meaning
 Nature Inspired Design

BIO- MIMICRY

Biomimicry is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving
complex human problems; biomimicry in architecture and manufacturing is the practice of designing
buildings and products that simulate or co-opt processes that occur in nature. There are ultra strong 
synthetic spider silks, adhesives modeled after gecko feet, and wind-turbine blades that mimic whale fins.

Biomimicry is innovation inspired by nature. It’s the process of looking at a leaf and trying to figure out
how to make a better solar cell.
Biomimicry has been going on for a long time. Think about the Wright brothers looking at turkey vultures
to learn about drag and lift in flight.
Now biomimicry is becoming one of the ways that engineers, product designers, and architects do their
work. It’s mainly because people are looking for more sustainable ways to do things–to sip energy instead
of guzzle it, to save materials, to do things in less toxic ways.
Organisms know how to do these things. After 3.8 billion years, life has learned what works and what’s
appropriate on the planet. And that’s what the people trying to redesign our world are looking for–so we
can live here in a way that enhances this place

For instance, take a peacock feather. If we
were to make it, we would use chemicals and
pigments. But actually, the only pigment is
brown. It’s done with structural color and
transparent layers. When light reflects back
to us through the layers, it creates the color
blue or green or gold to your eye.
There’s now an e-reader display screen that
uses the same principle. It’s made by
Qualcomm. It needs no backlighting, because
it uses layers and the ambient light to create
the different color pixels to your eye. So it’s
an incredible low-energy way to do it.
Examples
The famous example is the lotus leaf. That’s
a leaf that grows in a muddy area, and yet
it’s very clean and pristine. The way it keeps
itself clean is it has bumps on its surface.
When rainwater comes, it balls up. Dirt
particles teeter on those bumps. The
rainwater balls them away, pearls them
away. And that’s been mimicked in building
facade paint called Lotusan. The dry paint
has that bumpy structure. And rainwater
cleans the building, instead of sandblasting
or detergents. It’s coming out in all kinds of
products–like fabric. It’s called the lotus
effect.
 How do businesses learn and apply ideas from nature?

In biomimicry, we bring in biologists to the design table. And when a company is trying
to develop, for example, a new way to package, we ask, how does nature contains
liquids? How does nature repel water? How does nature filter? How does nature resist
impacts?
We ask all these kinds of questions, and we do what’s called an amoeba-through-
zebra report. We look through the biological literature. We find different ways that
organisms do this, and then we present those ideas, those strategies to the inventors.
Very often they look at them say, wow, this is an amazingly simple and beautiful way to
solve this problem.
For businesses, biomimicry is about bringing a new discipline–biology–to the design
table. It’s not to write an environmental impact statement, as most biologists in
business do right now. Instead it’s to go upstream in the design process and say: “How
would nature design this?”
What businesses are finding is that the ideas from the natural world actually reduce
risk because they use fewer toxins. They don’t use a lot of energy. They’re absolutely
parsimonious with materials. Companies not only get a breakthrough product or
process, but they wind up saving money. And they wind up being a lot more
sustainable, which is what customers are looking for these days.
Biomimicry is a way of looking at 3.8 billion years of good ideas to allow us to leapfrog
ahead without having to go through all those years of evolution. We’re able to benefit
by emulating the organisms that have already gone through the trial-and-error process
and come up with amazing solutions.
Businesses also use biomimicry to re-imagine their whole company. We use this thing
called life’s principles, which basically is a list of the things that organisms on Earth have
in common. The vast majority of organisms run on sunlight, for example. They do their
chemistry in water. They use a small subset of the periodic table. They shop locally. And
these principles, when applied at a company level, create a company that not only is
environmentally sustainable but that’s resilient–that’s able to adapt and evolve and be
locally responsive–and can collaborate in new ways.
JANINE BENYUS

Benyus has authored six books on biomimicry, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. In this
book she develops the basic thesis that human beings should consciously emulate nature's genius in their
designs.
In 1998, Benyus co-founded the Biomimicry Guild with Dr. Dayna Baumeister, the Innovation Consultancy,
which helps innovators learn from and emulate natural models in order to design sustainable products,
processes, and policies that create conditions conducive to life. She is also President of 
The Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit organization whose mission is to naturalize biomimicry in the
culture by promoting the transfer of ideas, designs, and strategies from biology to sustainable human
systems design.
In 2006, Benyus co-founded a non-profit organization which launched AskNature.org in 2008. In 2010,
Benyus, Dayna Baumeister, Chris Allen, Bryony Schwan and their team combined the non-profit and
profit parts into Biomimicry

Assignment : Bio- mimicry in Architecture. examples

 RICE AGE

California State University Long Beach, Long

Beach, California
Rice Age is aiming to solve the problems
with plastic use, water loss, and methane
emissions in the rice growing industry. By
emulating the hexagonal shape of the
honeycomb and the circulatory system of
termite mounds in a closed-loop system,
Rice Age is able to maximize land use,
oxygenate the soil, and preserve water in
rice production.
 TOMATO'S HOME

Pratt Institute, New York, NY

Tomato’s Home addresses the issue of food
waste in producing countries with an energy
efficient tomato storage system that can
prolong the freshness of tomatoes, one of
the most common crops in Nigeria, by five to
six days. The team utilized local materials
and drew inspiration from cacti, quiver
trees, South-American grass cutting ants,
desert snails, and the respiratory system of
crickets.
 WEREWOOL

New York, NY
Performance textile production heavily
relies on petrochemicals, livestock, and
agriculture – the largest industrial
contributors to CO2 emissions globally.
Werewool used a biomimetic approach
to emulate inherent performance
properties such as color, stretch, and
waterproofing for performance textiles
without the deleterious impact of
traditional synthetic fibers.
 MILK & JUICE

Monterrey, Mexico
Waste and spoilage of milk products and
fruit pulp currently represent 40,000
metric tons of CO2 emissions in India and
Mexico alone. Inspired by the
nanostructure of cicada wings and sounds
generated by caterpillars and queen ants,
Team Milk & Juice address waste
generated during postharvest, storage, and
distribution management phases of the
fruit pulp industry, as well as spoilage in
the conservation, storage, and transport of
milk.
BIOMIMETIC LAND OCEAN TREATMENT
SYSTEM (B.L.O.T.S.)

USA, New Zealand, Germany

As sea levels rise, coastal regions and cities are
experiencing more and more flooding. It is
estimated that by 2100, sea levels could rise by
a foot. B.L.O.T.S. looked to numerous
organisms for water management inspiration
to find an adaptable and resilient way to deal
with infrastructure being inundated with water.
The B.L.O.T.S. system absorbs, redirects, filters,
and stores flood water. The system is adaptable
to any situation, whether it be a flooded street,
playground, or building, and can be utilized
by anyone.
 MICHAEL PAWLYN

Michael Pawlyn (born 30 September 1967) is a British architect noted for his work in the field
biomimetic architecture and innovation. He was part of the principal team of architects that conceived
and designed The Eden Projectand is a regular keynote speaker at events on innovation and
environmental sustainability. His best selling RIBA book Biomimicry in Architecture was published in
2011 and a revised second edition, with a foreword by Ellen MacArthur, was published in 2016. He was
one of the three founders of The Sahara Forest Project - a way of supplying fresh water, food and
renewable energy in arid conditions - and remains actively involved as a Founding Partner
 Sahara Forest Project

The Sahara Forest Project aims to provide fresh water, food and renewable energy in hot, arid regions
as well as re-vegetating areas of uninhabited desert. The founding team was composed of Seawater
Greenhouse Ltd, Exploration Architecture, Max Fordham Consulting Engineers and the Bellona Foundation.
The proposed technology combines saltwater-cooled greenhouses with solar power technologies, either
directly using Photovoltaic (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power(CSP) and technologies for
desert re-vegetation. It is claimed that these technologies together will create a sustainable and profitable
source of energy, food, vegetation and water.
The Eden Project

The Eden Project  is a popular visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, UK. Inside the two biomes are
plants that are collected from many diverse climates and environments. The project is located in a
reclaimed china clay pit, located 2 km (1.2 mi) from the town of St Blazey and 5 km (3 mi) from the
larger town of St Austell.
The complex is dominated by two huge enclosures consisting of adjoining domes that house thousands
of plant species, and each enclosure emulates a natural biome. The biomes consist of hundreds of 
hexagonal and pentagonal, inflated, plastic cells supported by steel frames. The largest of the two
biomes simulates a rainforest environment and the second, a Mediterranean environment.
The attraction also has an outside botanical garden which is home to many plants and wildlife native
to Cornwall and the UK in general; it also has many plants that provide an important and interesting
backstory, for example, those with a prehistoric heritage.