Please add to our community thinking by posting a few inspirational analogies of your own between the systems that you typically find in biological organisms and similar systems that we often (or should) find in buildings.
Think creatively about all the systems and features that allow creatures to survive, thrive, and adapt to their environments!
- Introduction to Biological Analogies
Biological Analogies are applied when a building imitates the structure and shape of certain animals to obtain the expected excellent performance. Take the Sydney Opera House as an example. The research on bionic architecture is considered to have the goal of providing healthy life and improving the ecological environment, reflecting the awareness of social sustainable development and the concern for human living environment. In addition, from the perspective of architectural creation research, bionics and ecological conception have similarities, and their process and starting point have their own characteristics compared with other conception methods or types. The performance and application methods of architectural bionics can be summarized into four aspects: bionics of urban environment, bionics of use functions, bionics of architectural forms, and bionics of organizational structures. Of course, there will often be comprehensive bionic applications, forming a bionic whole of cities and buildings.
- Different Types of Biological Analogies
2.1 Arch structure
A huge reptile dinosaur lived in the Mesozoic Era, was more than 20 meters in length, 4 to 8 meters in height, and 30 to 40 tons in weight. For such a behemoth to move about for food and survive, the limbs must bear a considerable load. If dinosaurs did not have a reasonable mechanical structure, their limbs would collapse under the weight of their huge body. Experts found that the center of gravity of the dinosaur's huge body, long neck and long thick tail was at the waist, and the weight of the body was transmitted to the thick limbs through the center of gravity, and the upper part of the whole body was like an arch bridge. From a mechanical point of view, it is indeed a shape of an ideal structure that can bear huge loads, which is the historical origin of the "arched structure" in the history of architecture. The bionic building is characterized by low material consumption, firmness and pressure resistance, and beautiful appearance.
2.2 Thin shell structure
All kinds of eggshells, shells, turtle shells, conch shells and human skulls in the biological world are all "thin shell structures" with uniform curvature and light texture. The surface of this ''thin shell structure'' is very pressure-resistant despite being thin. Imitating the mechanical characteristics of their shells under the action of external forces, the internal forces are diffused and distributed along the entire surface, and have been widely used in construction engineering. The Yoyogi Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan, looks like a huge conch shell, with a smooth, brisk, and moving appearance. It is considered to be one of the most successful contemporary sports buildings.
2.3 Inflatable structures
The cells of plants and animals can be filled with liquid or gas. These liquids or gases exert a certain pressure on the cell walls. Biologists call this pressure hydrostatic pressure and gas static pressure, collectively known as cell expansion pressure. According to the principle of cell expansion and pressure, people have designed various novel and unique sports buildings with inflatable and liquid-filled structures, such as large stadiums, indoor courts, tennis courts, inflatable swimming pools, mountaineering tents, outdoor restaurants and so on. American engineer David Geiger successfully designed a series of inflatable gymnasiums - Shelf Stadium in Punta Ke, Michigan is Geiger's masterpiece. The inflatable sports building has the charm of the times with graceful shape and pleasing brilliance.
2.4 Spiral structure
The leaves of psyllium are generally arranged in a spiral shape, with an included angle of 137º30´30''. Only in this way can each leaf get the most sunlight. The designers borrowed the principle of adjusting sunlight radiation from Plantago, and ingeniously built a 13-storey building arranged in a spiral shape, and each room can get the most sunlight.
