Biomimicry: Blueprints from our Biological Elders

WARNING: This blog is likely to inspire a deep yet dormant intuitive knowing that we all have buried within us.

This blog is likely to inspire a deep yet dormant intuitive knowing that we all have buried within us.  The knowing that we are not alone…nor do we have to solve the many riddles of life by ourselves.  The understanding that we are literally surrounded by genius as a result of 3.8 billion years of research and development from the natural world.

What does this have to do with home design?  EVERYTHING!  The natural world is part and parcel to your home.  Though we might acknowledge the raw materials required for construction, we have failed to recognize that nature has a far more valuable resource to offer: an entire database of design solutions ready to be used as design templates.

How can we access this database to shift the paradigm of home design that allows the genius of the natural world to inform our design strategies for homes that are higher performing, happier, healthier, harmonious, and more beautiful?  The principles of biomimicry give us the answers.

In this third post of the Regenerative Design series, I discuss the principles of biomimicry taught to us by Mother Earth with specific examples of groundbreaking biomimetic designs currently being used.

Innovation Inspired by Nature

In the words of Janine Benyus, we are not the first ones to build homes.  We are not the first ones to optimize space or try to heat and cool or waterproof a structure.  And we’re not the first ones to manufacture either.  The natural world has been testing design strategies since the advent of life on this planet, 3.8 billion years ago.  In that time, life has figured out what works and what doesn’t.  The organisms who have passed the rigorous design tests of evolution are our biological elders with blueprints for the way things should be built if they’re to last.

In 1997, scientist and author Janine Benyus coined the term biomimicry in her book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.  She eloquently points out that “life creates conditions conducive to life.”  She suggests we take a closer look at the way we’re living on this planet and recognize that we seem to be the only organisms who are not following the universal principles of life.  She reminds that we are a very young species and instead of trying to invent everything from scratch ourselves, we can turn to our elders and take our cues from the natural world.

In 2000, she co-founded the Biomimicry Guild with Dr. Dayna Baumeisiter, now Biomimicry 3.8 – a nod to the 3.8 billion years that life has been evolving to meet the challenges of life on Earth.  Together they also co-founded the Biomimicry Institute and have since partnered with Arizona State University to ensure these principles of life found their way into higher education, serving as the foundation for inspiring innovation across all fields.

Those who walk the biomimicry path are scientists, engineers, and designers who have chosen to step outside the confines of traditional industry to become nature's apprentices.  When presented with a challenge they turn to life’s operating manual to glean the lessons already learned and integrated.