Intrinsic to “design” in nature are efficiency and intelligence, which we seek to introduce as input into the design process right from the start. The hypothesis underlying the strategy of biomimetics is that within 3,4 billion years living nature has evolved in a process of continuing adaptation to a complex changing environment, and that the exploitation of highly optimised solutions is likely to deliver innovations, that provide more intelligence and better efficiency than our standard methods.
Role models from nature, static and dynamic patterns on all scales (e.g. morphological patterns, growth principles, movement patterns, structural patterns, dispersal patterns, surface patterns) will be investigated and the findings applied to design strategies. The emergence of patterns in nature on all scales of existence of organisms as one of the most important signs of life – order is not arbitrary, but highly interconnected with boundary conditions, functional requirements, systems re- quirements, material and structure etc. Adaptation and differentiation are keys for the generation of the phenomena, that architects and artists have been inspired by at all times. Repetition is an im portant aspect of information redundancy that finds a new interpretation in architecture using adap- tation and differentiation together with new computational design and production methods.
In the morphogenesis of biological organisms, it is the animation of geometry and material that produces form. (Jeronomidis 2004) Nature’s obvious complexity turns out apparent when the influencing factors and parameters can be identified. The discovery of gradient designs in nature allows for the use of the same strategy to create complexity in our designs.
The research of patterns in nature seeks to identify the boundary conditions of morphogenesis, identifying the deep patterns underlying observable matter. Qualitative and quantitative informa tion is provided by the life sciences (e.g. bio-nanotechnology) and can be achieved from consult- ants working in the respective field. For the mathematical understanding of the observed phenomena input of experts is necessary. Interdisciplinary work is essential in the project of BIORNAMET ICS. Patterning in nature occurs on different hierarchical scales, delivering so-called emergent properties that can only be understood with multi-scale models. The exploitation and transfer of this strategy is a key aspect of this project. The scale of transfer will be defined within the progress of the project. Michael Hensel, teacher and architect at the Architectural Association in London, stated that if one wants to seriously pursue the proposition of synthetic-life architectures it is impor tant to take a close look at biological processes and materials(Hensel, 2006).
The artistic interpretation of science is not an intellectual pastime but the exploration of the future, in the sense that Marcos Novak describes: One of the fundamental scientific insights of this century has been the realization that simulation can function as a kind of reverse empiricism, the empiricism of the possible. Learning from the disciplines that attend to emergence and morphogenesis, architects must create generative models for possible architectures (Novak 1996).
Comparative studies (Vincent et al. 2006) have revealed that problem solution in biology and technology work fundamentally different. Whereas technological innovations are bound merely to ma- nipulation of energy and use of material, the most important variables in biology are information and space. The emergent effects that occur when modelling an artificial system closely on a living prototype are usually not desired in technical development. In the project BIORNAMETICS, emer- gent properties shall be part of the desired outcome and as important asset of hierarchical structur ing be a focus of research.
