A simple slide I use to illustrate how Biomimicry can be applied to the diverse range of design challenges we see today. The FORM-PROCESS-SYSTEM model describes the range of application with illustrative case studies related to design solutions.
FORM: The shape of the Shinkansen bullet train’s front is designed from the shape of the Kingfisher’s beak which can enter the water without making a ripple. The train is much quieter when leaving a tunnel (no more sonic boom) and overall a more efficient train.
PROCESS: Some insects like the Tardigrade (or Water Bear) can dry up for a hundred years and come back to life with a drop of water. They use a process called Anhydrobiosis. When they enter this Anhydrobiosis Stasis, they’re RNA, DNA, Cells, Proteins, and Cell membranes all stay intact. And with that drop of water they all come back to life and all fully functioning. Biomatrica mimicked that with synthetics and have used it to preserve our human DNA, cells, tissues, and other samples. This has resulted in preserving sample integrity, saving lab space, and reducing cost while decreasing energy consumption in comparison to the current high-resource intensive freezing techniques.
SYSTEM: Some of the most successful innovations (evolutions) in nature are born from symbiotic relationships, or mutualisms. In these relationships, both parties benefit. ONe classic example is the Sea Anemone and the Clown Fish who exchange services of protection for nutrients and cleansing. Kalundborg Symbiosis is the world’s first example of Industrial Symbiosis, or eco-park. All members of the park create mutualistic relationships with others in the park where one company’s waste is used by another company. This system drives the design of the site, the selection of the participants, and the deals that govern their partnerships.
Finding multiple and different resilience strategies in a field in Montana.
Lodgepole Pines seeds are stored in cones that are designed to open/drop at 240 degrees (high temp). The serotinous cones of the Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) are sealed with a resin that a fire melts away, releasing the seed. This heat causes the fire-activated seeds to germinate and the young plants can then capitalize on the lack of competition in a burnt landscape
Ponderosa Pines often survive through the use of numerous protective layers that can be sacrificed when needed.
Quaking Aspen commonly deal with fires through acceptance and regrowth
The Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) is an example of a tree that propagates using a rhizome. Aspen clonal colonies in the American West, such as the large Pando colony in Utah, may have been living for over 1 million years. The rhizome of an aspen colony is the key to its longevity. Foragers, insects, fungus, and forest fires may destroy the above-ground portion of the tree, but the underground rhizome is somewhat protected against these threats.
Strong communities are difficult to maintain in the face of constant external threats.
How does nature provide a safe context for active communal activities?
The Spiny plumeless thistle is a (annual or biennial) herbaceous plant that grows to 5 ft. (1.5 m) tall. It is an invader of pastures and other disturbed areas throughout parts of the western, central, and northeastern United States, as well as southern Canada. The flower stems are branched with spiny wings extending to the flower heads.
Strategy:
The thistle protects itself and its hosted organisms through sharp, spiny wings. Few larger creatures (deer, elk) would enjoy eating the plant. It invests heavily in protection- unappealing to predation and resistant to biotic and abiotic pressures through strong and flexible thorns and skin. It uses a low-energy, wind-powered propagation strategy through high-quantity dispersal of lightweight seed carriers designed for flight. Protected stalk provides and ideal environment for multiple insect species to foster communal relationships. Aphids feed on the plants sugars and produce honeydew for ants. The ants protect the aphids from ladybugs and other predators.
Design Principle:
Sharp extensions protrude from core to provide protection form external forces, allowing for a safe core surface for habitation.
Invest in efficient strategies: energy is invested more heavily in defense (spikes, thorns) than in seed dispersal/propagation. Seeds are dispersed using wind energy as the seeds are very lightweight and incorporate flight mechanisms/materials (designed to fly far). The energy saved from efficient seed dispersal strategy is invested in incredible defense.
Application:
Community design and urban planning: protected space for communal growth
Social network strategies: informing resource allocation, security and growth strategies
Habitat design: secured spaces that facilitate symbiotic relationships
Mitakuye Oyasin
There is a simple but profound Lakota prayer: Mitakuye Oyasin.
These two words mean All My Relations or We are All Related.
To pray this prayer is to petition God on behalf of everyone and everything on Earth.
Mitakuye Oyasin honors the sacredness of each person’s individual spiritual path, acknowledges the sacredness of all life (human, animal, plant, etc.) and creates an energy of awareness which strengthens not only the person who prays but the entire planet.
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PICERAS + Innovation Acceleration: How Koshland’s Seven Pillars of Life can inform product, service, and ecosystem innovation.
Daniel E. Koshland Jr. is a scientist in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley. He spends his time thinking about living organisms and how we humans define life. His short answer is:
“a living organism is an organized unit, which can carry out metabolic reactions, defend itself against injury, respond to stimuli, and has the capacity to be at least a partner in reproduction.”
But, Koshland went on to further unpack this definition in what he calls PICERAS: The Seven Pillars of Life. I’ve been studying these pillars and, with three other Biomimicry cohort fellows (Business Specialist, Engineer, and Biologist) http://goo.gl/XyPFv
are applying the principles to innovation strategy, specifically looking at how these principles of life can inform idea creation, incubation, and acceleration.
As a baseline, here are the Seven Pillars (PICERAS), that we will continue to translate to design and innovation.
- PROGRAM: The organized plan that describes the ingredients and the interactions among the ingredients. On earth the program is implemented by DNA, both encoding organisms and being passed on through generations.
- IMPROVISATION: The ability to change this plan as needed.
- COMPARTMENTALIZATION: The confines or limits that contain or surround organisms, like membranes or our skin.
- ENERGY: Movement and the state of dynamic un-equilibrium
- REGENERATION: As things constantly move, they inevitably lose (thermodynamics, energy, mass) therefore need the ability to compensate for those losses.
- ADAPTABILITY: Behavioral manifestations based on feedback and feedforward responses
- SECLUSION: Implementing privacy, segmentation, or specificity as needed.
In the coming weeks, I’ll post various articulations of these pillars as we build more thinking on how we might apply them to new concept generation and acceleration. As always, we welcome discussion and discourse in hopes of moving the thinking forward.
How might we evolve apply these principles to new service ideas?
How might we model these pillars to inform idea incubation?
The Hannover Principles, for this week’s inspiration…
Before heading into the redwoods, I found it fitting to remind myself of the Hannover Principles.
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The Hannover Principles should be seen as a living document committed to the transformation and growth in the understanding of our interdependence with nature, so that they may adapt as our knowledge of the world evolves.
1. Insist on rights of humanity and nature to co-exist in a healthy, supportive, diverse and sustainable condition.
2 Recognize interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend upon the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design considerations to recognizing even distant effects.
3. Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human settlement including community, dwelling, industry and trade in terms of existing and evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness.
4. Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human well-being, the viability of natural systems, and their right to co-exist.
5. Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not burden future generations with requirements for maintenance of vigilant administration of potential danger due to the careless creation of products, processes or standards.
6. Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life-cycle of products and processes, to approach the state of natural systems, in which there is no waste.
7. Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their creative forces from perpetual solar income. Incorporate the energy efficiently and safely for responsible use.
8. Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not and inconvenience to be evaded or controlled.
9. Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge. Encourage direct and open communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers and users to link long term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, and re-establish the integral relationship between natural processes and human activity.
How does nature communicate, publish, convince, and make others aware? I do a lot of work around Brand and Marketing Communications Strategy as it is critical for our clients to deliver integrated marketing/product offerings. I’m starting to see clients evolve from industrial era silos into more integrated, interesting, and current approaches to delivering their products and services. Honestly, I’m surprised companies have gotten this far by being so compartmentalized. I’ve been applying Biomimetic processes to services, products, and environments and am now thinking more about how nature communicates, publishes, convinces, and makes others aware. There’s wonderful examples of how bees collaborate to make group decisions. They select their hives by having small scout groups convince or ‘sell-in’ their selection to the larger group. Oak trees employ squirrels and jays to spread their acorns to far reaching, emerging ares/markets. Viruses self-assemble and grow rapidly, yet maintain their complex and consistent form. From viruses and propagation to cooperation and democratic processes nature has a bounty of examples to learn from and apply to brand and marketing strategies.
During the week in the Temperate Broadleaf Deciduous Forest, I looked into the seed dispersal strategy of the White Oak to inform how business partnerships and relationships can be further evaluated and assessed. This is a snapshot of how we unpack biological functions and strategies to find new models for design and innovation.
The White Oak is an iconic hardwood tree of North America. It is not always tall, but can be massive in size as it’s branches can grow very broadly from the trunk. It is a deciduous tree and grow bright green leaves in the spring that can turn to red, purple, and brown in the autumn. The white oak is fairly tolerant of a variety of habitats, and can be found on ridges, in valleys, and in both dry and moist habitats, but is mainly a lowland tree. It enjoys moderate soil, but is less tolerant of soil variation over time. White Oaks have cellular structures called tyloses. Tyloses give the wood a closed cellular structure, which does not allow water to pass, making the wood effectively waterproof. Tyloses are cell ingrowths of living wood parenchyma into the cavities of xylem conducting cells. This makes the Oak wood a very popular wood for human applications.
The White Oak employs a biological seed dispersal strategy. This allows the species to move away from an existing population or parent organism. The movement is helpful for the overall fitness of the individual trees and aids in population management and species distribution. The White Oak maintains a large dispersal range by employing dispersal agents. The Squirrel and Jays transport and store the acorns in favorable areas away from the mother tree.They cache the acorns for future use, effectively planting them in a variety of locations in which it is possible for them to germinate and thrive.
I just arrived at the Harvard Forest to begin the next Intensive/Immersive for the Biomimicry Professional Certification Program. (http://goo.gl/fR2dx)
It’s great to reconnect with others in the cohort. We all feel like we’re headed down the journey together and already shared stories on the past 4 months around how we’ve integrated biomimicry into our personal and professional lives.
This is an equally inspiring place as the previous desert, but the forest is most familiar to me. It is the biom of my childhood. It will be interesting to uncover and unpack the functions and strategies of the local organisms. I may be re-learning some basic principles from my childhood. Teachings that may have been lost in the adult years.
I think about education and kids. My own and everyone else. Sitting in the forest brings up a few interesting design challenges:
We know that today’s educational structures often discourage creativity and curiosity.
How might we better encourage and reward childrens’ curiosity around nature?
We know that for many, it is a challenge to access and learn about nature in context.
How might we provide activities and events that enable contextual learning?
We know that children are using new tools for both personal and educational use.How might we meet children where they are and respect their tools and networks?
How might we find and create new forms and media to communicate the essence or principles of life?