Content uploaded by Hala Sayed
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Hala Sayed on Feb 02, 2021
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Bio-Form Mimicry in Architectural Design (The Influence of Biomimicry on Building Behaviour)
Abstract and Figures
This research is considered to be a step to exceed the theoretical stage of the integrated
interdisciplinary approach between biology, technology, and architecture to the applied and practical stage. This thesis investigates biomimicry in architecture for the purpose of
functionality rather than morphology, to achieve biomimetic building systems that provide
improved building behaviour efficiency. Conventionally, the biomimetic approach in
architecture has been limited to simple imitation. This had an adverse impact on its functional performance, and lead to failure to fulfil sustainability as the main target.
This academic thesis mainly aims at creating a biomimetic design framework for
building behaviour, which can be adopted by architects to design and develop biomimetic
systems. Accordingly, this purpose was achieved by creating a multi-phased biomimetic
design framework, as a result of combining the conventional biomimetic design framework with technological aspects. The biomimetic approach could be transferred from the theoretical framework to the practical framework by highlighting the technological tools and methods used to apply biomimicry.
Keywords: Biomimicry, Biomimetic design, life principles, biological role model, building behaviour, self-responsive, generative design, parametric design, algorithms, computational design, digital fabrication.
Figures - uploaded by Hala Sayed
Author content
All figure content in this area was uploaded by Hala Sayed
Content may be subject to copyright.
... These principles are abstract biological strategies that can be found in most organisms, some of which are obvious and self-explanatory. These principles of biological systems are divided into six (6) categories [55,69,70]: ...
A change in thinking has been ongoing in the architecture and building industry in response to growing concern over the role of the building industry in the excessive consumption of energy and its devastating effects on the natural environment. This shift changed the thinking of architects, engineers, and designers in the initial phases of a building’s design, with a change from the importance of geometry and form to assessing a building’s performance, from structure to a building’s skin, and from abstract aesthetics to bio-climatic aesthetics. In this context, sustainable, intelligent, and adaptive building façades were extensively researched and developed. Consequently, several typologies, strategies, and conceptual design frameworks for adaptive façades were developed with the aim of performing certain functions. This study focuses on the biomimetic methodologies developed to design adaptive façades because of their efficiency compared to other typologies. A comprehensive literature review is performed to review the design approaches toward those façades at the early stage of design. Then, the theoretical bases for three biomimetic frameworks are presented to gain an overall understanding of the concepts, opportunities, and limitations.
By studying nature, engineers, architects & designers can gain inspiration for designs that have never existed before; therefore applying bio mimicry can affect our buildings. For every problem that we currently face – whether it is generating energy, finding clean water, designing out waste, adapting with surrounded climate or manufacturing benign materials - we can use the different applications of biomimicry to achieve sustainable futuristic design approaches. The focus of this paper is on the use of algae as a promising bio sustainable way to achieve sustainable architecture. According to its high ecological performance, algae provides multi solutions towards improving the environment and opens a new perspective in sustainable design through its combination of carbon neutral energy production and recycling of environmental pollutants. By clarifying the challenges and future technology development for introducing algae as living elements into the built environment to make an appearance in many building plans that attempt to achieve visionary design and face technical challenges that need to be resolved to enable wider adoption. Therefore, this research aims to demonstrate how to use biomimicry to enhance sustainable solutions in building design and gives a glance of the algae possibilities for achieving sustainability.
Natural organisms through their evolutionary developments, acquire adaptive morphological and behavioural
characteristics within their environmental contexts. Through homeostatic behaviours, organisms, individually and
collectively, will sustain internal and external equilibrium in face of environmental fluctuations. There is a wide range
of morphological and behavioural traits across multiple species that are rooted in their homeostatic mechanisms
throughout their lives. This paper presents an evolutionary design workflow with embedded homeostatic principles to
generate a building cluster that is adapted to the contexts with extreme solar radiation.
Propagation of signals across the cerebral cortex is a core component of many cognitive processes and is generally thought to be mediated by direct intracortical connectivity. The thalamus, by contrast, is considered to be devoid of internal connections and organized as a collection of parallel inputs to the cortex. Here, we provide evidence that "open-loop" intrathalamic pathways involving the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) can support propagation of oscillatory activity across the cortex. Recent studies support the existence of open-loop thalamo-reticulo-thalamic (TC-TRN-TC) synaptic motifs in addition to traditional closed-loop architectures. We hypothesized that open-loop structural modules, when connected in series, might underlie thalamic and, therefore cortical, signal propagation. Using a supercomputing platform to simulate thousands of permutations of a thalamocortical network based on physiological data collected in mice, rats, ferrets, and cats and in which select synapses were allowed to vary both by class and individually, we evaluated the relative capacities of closed-loop and open-loop TC-TRN-TC synaptic configurations to support both propagation and oscillation. We observed that (1) signal propagation was best supported in networks possessing strong open-loop TC-TRN-TC connectivity; (2) intrareticular synapses were neither primary substrates of propagation nor oscillation; and (3) heterogeneous synaptic networks supported more robust propagation of oscillation than their homogeneous counterparts. These findings suggest that open-loop, heterogeneous intrathalamic architectures might complement direct intracortical connectivity to facilitate cortical signal propagation.
Particular attention to the relationship between architecture and nature, especially in the past three decades, has flourished a very distinctive accomplishments, and yet more useful than the past, in terms of the emergence of new architectural approaches as well as the coordination of new technologies, such as nanotechnology. Structure, as one of the essential components of architecture, is of particular importance. Different and sometimes contradictory approaches to designing structure and architecture, “with” each other or “on” each other, may create different qualities and affect the value of architecture and structure. Relying on the fact that the dialogue between the architect and the designer of the structure is one of the necessities of creating an architectural work, this paper puts a substantial emphasis on the learning of structural sciences by the architects and their mastery in the recognition of structural principles. Furthermore, with a critical look at the adherence of architecture to structure and the key role of naturalism the paper seeks out the origins of this problem in the method of structure training for architects. The pathology of failure to realize the use of nature strategies for the harmony of architecture and structure in the current architecture of Iran is the main research question in this study. This research has been based on three pillars of analysis, assessment and evaluation. In the first step, using a causal-comparative research methodology, the challenges of naturalism in architectural techniques after the industrial revolution are addressed and the position of structure in the naturalistic approach of these styles is evaluated. In the second step, applying interpretive-historical research method, the critics of architecture under discussion are addressed and the achievements of nature in architecture and in particular structure in academic arena are then pointed out. The survey and analysis with the help of SPSS software is the last instrument used for assessment and evaluation in this research. It should be noted that in this survey, the structural and experimental knowledge of the architect in forms, structures and natural structures were considered as the independent variables, whereas the design skills of architect in the harmony of architecture and structure using more naturalist strategies were considered as the dependent variable.Comparison of previous research with the survey indicates that the failure of Iran’s current architecture for the harmony with structure and better exploitation of nature is due to the incorrect reception of the Iranian public architecture in this area, which is often formed in the area of education. Finally, this research accentuates on the purposeful change in teaching method of technical courses to improve the understanding of the behavior and structures by architects. Suggestions to improve such an important phenomenon in professional workspace are also presented.
Biomimicry is an old approach, but in the scientific conceptualization is new, as an approach of innovation based on the emulation of Nature, in recent years, this approach brings many potential theories and innovations in the architecture field. Indeed, these innovations have changed our view towards other Natural organisms also to the design processes in architecture, now the use of the biomimicry approach allows the application of a great sustainable development. The Sahara area is heading towards a sustainable policy with the desire to develop this rich context in terms of architecture. This article discuss the using of biomimetic strategy in the sustainable development of Saharan architecture.
The aim of the article is to present a synthesis of biomimicry approach and propose the biomimicry as a solution for the development of Saharan architecture which can use this approach as a sustainable and innovation strategy. The biomimicry is the solution for effective strategies of development and can have a great potential point to meet the current challenges of designing efficient for forms or structures, energy efficiency, and climate issues. Moreover, the Sahara can be a favorable soil for great changes, the use of this approach is the key for the most optimal strategies and sustainable development of the Saharan architecture.
Function is a key central concept to the practice of biomimicry. Many published models of the biomimicry process include steps to identify, understand, and translate function of biological systems. Examples include functional modeling, decomposition, or abstraction with tools specifically designed to facilitate such steps. A functional approach to biomimicry yields a semantic bridge between biology and engineering, enabling practitioners from a variety of backgrounds to more easily communicate and collaborate in a biomimicry design process. Although analysis of function is likely a necessary part of biomimicry design, recent work suggests it is not sufficient without a more systematic understanding of the complex biological context in which a function exists (e.g., scale and trade-offs). Consequently, emerging tools such as ontologies are being developed that attempt to capture the intricacies of biological systems (including functions), such as their complex environmental and behavioral interactions. However, due to the complexity of such tools, they may be under-utilized. Here, we propose a solution through a computer-aided user interface tool which integrates a biomimetic ontology with a thesaurus-based functional approach to biomimicry. Through a proof of concept illustrative case study, we demonstrate how merging existing tools can facilitate the biomimicry process in a systematic and collaborative way, broadening solution discovery. This work offers an approach to making existing tools, specifically the BioMimetic Ontology, more accessible and encompassing of different perspectives via semantic translation and interface design. This provides the user with the opportunity to interface and extract information from both the Engineering-to-Biology Thesaurus and the BioMimetic Ontology in a way that was not possible before. The proposed E2BMO tool not only increases the accessibility of the BioMimetic Ontology, which ultimately aims to streamline engineers’ interaction with the bio-inspired design process, but also provides an option for practitioners to traverse biological knowledge along the way, encouraging greater interdisciplinary collaboration and consideration when conducting biomimicry research.
Computer-Aided Biomimetics (CAB) tools aim to support the integration of relevant biological knowledge into biomimetic problem-solving processes. Specific steps of biomimetic processes that require support include the identification, selection and abstraction of relevant biological analogies. Existing CAB tools usually aim to support these steps by describing biological systems in terms of functions, although engineering functions do not map naturally to biological functions. Consequentially, the resulting static, functional view provides an incomplete understanding of biological processes, which are dynamic, cyclic and self-organizing. This paper proposes an alternative approach that revolves around the concept of trade-offs. The aim is to include the biological context, such as environmental characteristics, that may provide information crucial to the transfer of biological information to an engineering application. The proposed design process is exemplified by an illustrative case study.
The assessment of adaptive facades presents a barrier as there is no established assessment technique. Many of the available facade performance evaluation systems or frameworks have limited applicability for such advanced building facades. The complexity of adaptive or dynamic facades’ evaluation is related to the performance evaluation of facade elements, systems, and overall building performance coupled with occupant behavior and occupant satisfaction. In this context, this paper presents a case study of an adaptive sunscreen facade and evaluation of its performance and occupant behavior. The evaluation mainly focuses on pre- and post-construction phases of adaptive facades: the design assist phase (including the durability test, visual mockup, onsite mashrabiya mounting, and weather stripping), the commissioning phase (field verification and performance testing), and the monitoring phase. The selected project is a 150-meter-high twin tower that stands with a honeycombinspired structure and automated dynamic solar screen that responds to the sun’s movement. These solar screens respond dynamically and automatically to the angle of the sun, which improves the control over energy consumption, solar radiation, and glare with the ability to allow natural light into the building. This paper is part of the research activities of working group 3 of the European COST
Action 1403 on “Adaptive Facades”. Different methods were used for evaluation and these include the following: interviews with the architect, facade engineer, technical control specialist and occupants,
reviews of standards and codes, review of energy models, and a systematic design process mapping. A documentation of the case study describing the post-construction occupant comfort and facade
operation was prepared. This paper’s audience comprises mainly project managers, architects, and building facade engineers together with facility managers who are concerned with the process of
design, construction, and operation of adaptive sunscreens facades. The outcome of this study identifies quantifiable performance indicators and effective strategies for the design and performance
evaluation of optimal adaptive facades.
As a result of the growing global demand for energy, together with the depletion of resources and the growing emphasis on mitigating climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, an urgent need for an evolution of the renewable energy resources has emerged. On the architectural scene, we have become accustomed to seeing buildings incorporated with photovoltaics and wind turbines. Despite the great contribution of biomass as a clean energy producer, the integration of biomass into architecture is quite modest and still in its initial phases. Microalgae, as a plant-based biomass, can outperform other renewable resources with their potential to absorb CO2, recycle wastewater, and release O2. The limited experience regarding building-integrated microalgae photobioreactors (PBRs) requires shedding light on some issues. So, this paper aims to explore the following: 1) the proper types of PBRs for integration with buildings, 2) the overall bioprocess and the design considerations regarding PBRs and their technical requirements, 3) the environmental and energetic performance of PBRs, 4) their challenges, and 5) their prospects. Thus, the paper's methodology consists of 1) reviewing the promulgated literature concerning microalgae and PBRs, 2) reviewing and analyzing three building-integrated PBRs and three urban-integrated PBRs, and 3) reviewing the environmental and energetic performance of building-integrated PBRs. The paper has concluded that the symbiosis between PBRs and façades encounters some challenges, including 1) the biorefinery infrastructure, 2) the provision of a source of CO2, and 3) the high initial cost. On the other hand, the multifaceted environmental prospects of building-integrated PBRs are represented in 1) energy savings; 2) GHG emissions reduction; 3) oxygen and hydrogen release; 4) biofuel production; and 5) wastewater treatment. The unique benefits of the bio-façades through the combination of the technical and biological cycles within buildings inaugurate an innovative approach to sustainability by integrating environmental, energetic, and iconic values.
