Vincent 2014 Architecture

7262019 Vincent 2014 Architecture

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullvincent-2014-architecture 114

See discussions stats and author profiles for this publication athttpswwwresearchgatenetpublication271625607

Biomimetics in architectural design

ARTICLE in INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS INTERNATIONAL middot DECEMBER 2014

DOI 101080175089752014911716

CITATIONS

3

READS

665

1 AUTHOR

Julian Francis Vincent Vincent

University of Oxford

184 PUBLICATIONS 5397 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Available from Julian Francis Vincent Vincent

Retrieved on 22 February 2016



This article was downloaded by [Julian Vincent]On 26 June 2014 At 0842Publisher Taylor amp FrancisInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number 1072954 Registeredoffice Mortimer House 37-41 Mortimer Street London W1T 3JH UK

Intelligent Buildings InternationalPublication details including instructions for authors and

subscription information

httpwwwtandfonlinecomloitibi20

Biomimetics in architectural designJulian FV Vincent

a

a Independent Researcher

Published online 25 Jun 2014

To cite this article Julian FV Vincent (2014) Biomimetics in architectural design Intelligent

Buildings International DOI 101080175089752014911716

To link to this article httpdxdoiorg101080175089752014911716

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor amp Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the ldquoContentrdquo) contained in the publications on our platform However Taylor amp Francisour agents and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy completeness or suitability for any purpose of the Content Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authorsand are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor amp Francis The accuracy of the Content

should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses actions claimsproceedings demands costs expenses damages and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content

This article may be used for research teaching and private study purposes Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction redistribution reselling loan sub-licensingsystematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden Terms amp Conditions of access and use can be found at httpwwwtandfonlinecompageterms-and-conditions



COMMENTARY


Julian FV Vincent

Independent Researcher

( Received 21 February 2014 accepted 31 March 2014)

In a brief review of aspects of biology relevant to architectural design a number of biologicalorganisms are considered delivering design ideas for the improvement of tree structures in theSagrada Familia better insulation (ideas from penguin feathers and birdsrsquo nests) and cooling of

buildings in a hot climate light but stiff 1047298oor plates (derived from the morphology of

cuttlebone) supply of 1047298uid through a branching system of pipes and a better 1047297reextinguisher using ideas from the spray mechanism of the bombardier beetle

Keywords biomimetics birdrsquos nest bombardier beetle cuttlebone 1047297re extinguisher penguinfeathers tree structures

Introduction

The twinning of biology and technology requires care and sympathy since the two -ologies are so

very different Biology is descriptive open-ended and full of surprises Technology is numerical

close-ended and (ideally) never surprising The common ground is that both are explorations of how to solve problems give a technologist a problem and (s)he will solve it encapsulating the

idea (if it is good enough) in a patent which reduces the likelihood of someone else using the

idea and making money from it By contrast every organism is a solution to the general problems

of survival ever improving But there is a dif 1047297culty with the logic although we might guess at it we

do not really know what particular problem the organism is solving Put simply the engineer can tell

you the answer to the question lsquoWhat is 6 multiplied by 7rsquo but the biologist cannot produce a

unique question to which the answer is lsquo42rsquo There are millions of questions to which the answer

is lsquo42rsquo lsquo40+2rsquo lsquo39+3rsquo lsquo2times3 times (5 + 2)rsquo and so on This apparent impasse can be partially resolved

by making comparisons at the non-numeric level of design Architecture as a subset of design has

been at the forefront of biomimetics for many years In many instances architects have expressed biological origins mainly as shapes (Aldersey-Williams 2003) but increasingly biology is used

to suggest ways of achieving function This is a more complex aspiration but all the more worth-

while The assumption is that organisms have found ways of implementing functions that are more

ef 1047297cient and effective than our own In many instances this is demonstrably true not least because

organisms have available to them mechanisms that range in scale from quantum effects to ecosys-

tems Unfortunately our technology is hampered by the need to understand before implementation

is properly possible Biology has no such limitations ndash its only criterion is the survival of the cheap-

est (Vincent 2002)

copy 2014 Taylor amp Francis

Email julianvincentcantabnet

Intelligent Buildings International 2014

httpdxdoiorg101080175089752014911716



Biology in architecture

It is important to 1047297lter out the urban myths and loose thinking that currently abound in biomi-

metics because only then will general rules appear clearly enough to be formalized and used

for analysis and prediction The Eiffel Tower was designed by considering the wind loads on a

tall building its hierarchical structure was a response to the limited access to the building site(Anon 2010) The design of the roof of the Crystal Palace was invented by John Claudius

Loudon in the 1047297rst decade of the nineteenth century 40 years before the iconic building was

designed (Colquhoun 2004) and has no botanical inspiration in its form By contrast the work

of Gaudi was by all accounts well rooted in the natural world even though he often used bio-

logical motifs for decoration only as in the columns on the facade of Casa Batllo that are distinctly

bone-like in form In the crypt of the Sagrada Familia are some illustrations of his method of

working showing that he established the lines of thrust required to support the structure then

drew around the lines to establish the placing of the material required This produced tree-like

structures Unfortunately he seemed to be unaware of the importance of curves at joints

which nature arranges so that there are no areas where a crack can start (Mattheck 1998) The

science of fracture mechanics was not available to Gaudi although he could have followed the

curves suggested by observing a forked tree (Figure 1 left) It is possible that his experimental

methods alerted him to a problem with fracture at these branching points and that he tried to

cure this by adding large lumps ndash rather like a canker on a tree ndash to reinforce these areas

(Figure 1 right) They are currently regarded as architectural features rather than structural bugs

It is possible to derive some general indicators that can help transfer thinking between an

engineering mindset and one based on biology (Vincent et al 2006) In one attempt problems

were categorized into whether their main argument involved substance structure energy

space time or information It then becomes apparent that our technology ignores information

almost totally despite our current proliferation of computing and control systems Especially

in materials processing the most important control parameter is energy which is the most impor-tant whereas in biology energy is the least important and information and structure are the most

important Depending on the size range information can be passed to the synthetic units of a cell

Figure 1 Columns in Gaudirsquos Sagrada Familia Left a branching column with the outline of a divided treesuperimposed Note the difference in shape of the internal corner Right the lumps are probably Gaudirsquos sol-ution to the inevitable stress concentrations which the sharp corners of his design will engender

2 JFV Vincent



or shared throughout a population or ecosystem leading to systems integration That sort of inte-

gration is largely realized through structures in this paper I shall be considering structures at the

level of materials but lsquostructurersquo ranges from the molecular (where liquid crystalline self-assem-

bly drives the development of morphology) to the environmental and so can equate with buildings

and communities

An early study which made use of this shift in thinking resulted in a novel insulating roof for

use in a hot climate allowing excess heat free escape during the night but limiting ingress of heat

during the day (Craig et al 2008) This was designed by rejecting the use of energy to drive an air

conditioner (the usual solution) and realizing that the chill of the night sky could be accessed by

structuring the roof properly The insulating layer was made of a honeycomb structure orientated

with the holes vertical An outer ceramic layer re1047298ected short-wave radiation (heat direct from the

sun) but allowed long-wave radiation (from the building) to pass out unhindered Thus heat could

be radiated out directly at night Temperature reductions of up to 13degC could be obtained with no

energy input This type of thinking ndash using general rules derived from analysis of many examples

ndash is preferable for design since it makes no assumptions about the structure However such

studies at a more detailed level are still in the early stages so in what follows a number of bio-logical examples apparently ripe for mimicking are presented Most of the examples come from

work by myself or close colleagues

There is a standard con1047298ict in any structure if it is light it requires less material for its general

support Unfortunately it is also likely to be weaker and less stiff However there is a structure in

biology the phragmocone of the cuttle1047297sh (otherwise known as cuttlebone Figure 2) This lsquo bonersquo

is an open cellular structure (Figure 3(a) and 3(b)) made primarily of calcium carbonate around

an organic matrix of chitin and protein It contains a gas (some form of lsquoair rsquo) secreted into it by the

cuttle1047297sh and acts as a 1047298otation device allowing the cuttle1047297sh to swim at a particular depth with

neutral bouyancy at considerable saving of energy Thus the range of depths that the cuttle1047297sh can

expect to patrol in search of food depends on the strength of the cuttlebone under pressureAlthough it contains only about 5 solids the cuttlebone of Sepia of 1047297cinalis can withstand a

compressive stress of some 15 MPa (Gower and Vincent 1996) allowing the cuttle1047297sh to dive to

150 m or so with a safety factor of around 1 (pressure changes slowly with depth and the

Figure 2 Identity and location of the cuttlebone (phragmocone) in a cuttle1047297sh




cuttle1047297sh can always swim upwards to relieve the pressure) which appears to be typical for this

structure Its bending stiffness has not been measured but it still appears to be one of the most ef 1047297cient structures Its interest lies in that it offers an alternative to honeycomb as the 1047297lling in

a sandwich structure and so can be used as a 1047298oor plate

Instead of the hexagonal cell of a honeycomb it has a series of sub-parallel meandering plates

(confusingly called lsquo pillarsrsquo) that have a greatly increased area of insertion (modelled as fractal)

on the sheet that forms the upper or lower surface of the sandwich (Figure 3(b)) Thus one of the

problems of a sandwich structure ndash delamination ndash is mostly solved The structure performs

mechanically according to Timoshenkorsquos analysis (Figure 4) and so can be scaled appropriately

using the relevant material and structural parameters (Timoshenko 1936) The pillars are treated

as plates subject to Euler buckling So if they are shorter than a critical length they do indeed func-

tion as pillars breaking only when their compressive strength has been achieved Under thosecircumstances the strength will be a simple function of the total cross-section area of the

pillars If the pillars have a higher aspect ratio they will tend to buckle elastically before

failure which is probably safer from a structural point of view but might be a little disconcerting

for those using the building

Although the phragmocone structure might be rather more dif 1047297cult to form than a honeycomb

either in situ or as a separate component using a moving printhead extruder as in rapid

Figure 3 (a) (Top) Lateral view of cuttlebone showing lsquo pillarsrsquo (about 1 mm high) between layers (b)(Bottom) Vertical view of a layer of the cuttlebone cut to show the undulating lsquo pillarsrsquo and the morecomplex curves of the insertion into the plate

Figure 4 Model of a single layer of the cuttlebone and the measurements required to model its mechanical behaviour

4 JFV Vincent



prototyping it has the advantage that the gaps between the supporting lsquo pillarsrsquo form conduits

giving the sandwich structure extra functionality as ducting or support of wiring or piping

The phragmocone in Figure 3 is that of S of 1047297cinalis There are other species such as Sepia

orbignyana that go to 500 m and therefore need greater resistance to implosion Sepia elegans

will dive to 450 m The structure of the cuttlebones of these Sepia spp has not been quanti1047297ed

or explored so it seems likely that there are tricks to be learned that may be of use to civil engin-

eers These will probably be to do with the degree of tortuosity of the curves of the plates of the

fractally increased complexity of their insertions on the dividing layers and the volume fraction of

material

All organisms and their constituent cells are insulated in some way from their immediate sur-

roundings This provides us with a large selection of possible models for enclosures and facades

Current interest is mostly with insulation where animals such as penguins and polar bears are per-

ceived as interesting models Both these animals can exist in air temperatures of minus40degC with a

body temperature of around +40degC They are actually warmer when in water This temperature

gradient of 80degC or so is resisted across a layer of hairs or feathers of only a few centimetres

plus an underlying layer of fat The fat layer insulates not by any intrinsic characteristics but because fat cells have a very low metabolic rate and therefore require minimal blood supply

The temperature gradient across the pelt is therefore probably nearer 50degC or 60degC Penguin feath-

ers have a large number of barbules 3 microm radius 1047297laments with hooks along their length radiating

from the base of the feather shaft (rachis) These are collectively the lsquoafter feather rsquo The hooks

interact with adjacent barbules forming a stable network An initial simple model considered

the barbules as layers (shields) re1047298ecting and radiating heat from the pelt and conduction convec-

tion and radiation from the skin surface were calculated (Dawson et al 1999) The close network

restricts convection to more or less zero and feather keratin has a low conductivity The estimated

heat loss was about 20 greater than measured from a penguin

A later more sophisticated analysis resulted in a lower estimate of heat loss about 10 lessthan the measured amount (Du et al 2007) Increasing the diameter of the barbules in the math-

ematical model increased radiative heat loss very signi1047297cantly (Figure 5) The 1047297neness of the bar-

bules is therefore an important factor the network resulting in air pockets more or less

immobilized about 50 microm across A further factor that makes penguin feathers an attractive

Figure 5 Heat 1047298ux through a penguin pelt for two diameters (r ) of the barbules Redrawn from Journal of Theoretical Biology 248(4) Du et al An improved model of heat transfer through penguin feathers anddown 727 ndash 735 Copyright 2007 with permission from Elsevier




model is that they have signi1047297cant musculature at their base where they insert into the skin Thus

they can lay 1047298at against the penguin or stick out revealing the mass of the after feather Although

the heat loss of the pelt has not been measured with the feathers in these two positions it presents

a possible mechanism for modulating the insulation

The nest of a bird has a number of functions one being to protect the eggs both visually and

thermally In the south of the UK near the Atlantic coast the direction of prevailing wind is SW

Some 30 pigeon nests were collected noting their orientation (Schaper 2004) Nests were

mounted singly on a horizontal sting in a wind tunnel with a thermistor and heat source in the

nest and a sheet of foil 1047297xed over the top of the nest The temperature of the nest was maintained

at 40degC and the voltage delivered to the heater to maintain that temperature was monitored Pre-

liminary results (Figure 6) suggest that the nest was best insulated from the SW and one can

imagine the bird sitting on the nest rearranging its twigs in order to cut down the draughts

Unfortunately these results were only ever preliminary Although we tried to determine the

cause of the insulation we could not 1047297nd any signi1047297cant differences in porosity around the per-

imeter of the nest However it is quite possible that it uses micro-control of temperature and

air 1047298ow in a similar way as the termite nest (Turner and Soar 2008)The cuttlebone 1047298oorceiling plates can provide intrinsic ducting for ventilation but it would

be dif 1047297cult to design the most effective ducting system this way First think of the distance of the

delivery point (the volume to be ventilated) from the supply point (the entry point of fresh air) It

does not much matter where the energy to move the air is placed ndash one can as well have a pump as

a stack effect If each delivery point were supplied by a separate pipe and had the same amount of

air delivered then the most effective system would have the same pressure drop from one end of

the pipe to the other and those places closest to the supply point would need the smallest diameter

pipes That way there would be no need for valves to modulate the 1047298ow ndash delivery would be even

across the system But this method although intellectually simple would be expensive on the

pipework Better to have a manifold with pipes branching off The sizedistance rule wouldstill apply (Figure 7) but a branching system is more complex

It is worth looking at the way animals and plants move 1047298uids around assuming that they are

doing it ef 1047297ciently and with built-in controls Scaling issues come into this in that many systems

rely largely on diffusion ndash the tracheal system such as that found in insects for instance which is

the only air ducting system taking oxygen directly to the tissues It relies largely on diffusion

Figure 6 Insulating properties of a pigeonrsquos nest Vertical axis represents the voltage necessary to maintaina temperature of 40degC inside the nest

6 JFV Vincent



although mass transfer occurs in the larger insects Thus the tracheal system may not be a good

model and also it has not been analysed as a 1047298ow system Also the chosen model has to be one of

supply (like the arterial ndash capillary system) rather than collection (such as the phloem system of

plants) and a factor of 10 increase in size is necessary to account for the difference in 1047298ow charac-

teristics encapsulated in the Reynolds number of air compared to water That works in favour of

scaling up size but since blood is non-Newtonian (its viscosity is not independent of shear rate ndash it

reduces as shear rate increases) the analogy breaks down when 1047298ow rates are considered

Empirical rules for arterial branching have been known for 120 years or so (MacDonald

1983) If an artery branches into two each of the same diameter the branches make equalangles with the line of the original artery If a small artery branches off a large one it will

make an angle of nearer 90deg but the larger one will reduce in diameter slightly (Figure 8)

This has to happen to supply the pressure needed to drive 1047298uid down the small branch The

smaller the branch the shorter it is if it is not to drop pressure below the average for the

system However this is not the only cost-function consideration At any junction an optimal

con1047297guration must minimize over a range of parameters such as the surface and volume of

the lumen of the artery the energy needed to pump the 1047298uid and the shear force acting on the

walls (Zamir 1976) To minimize the surface area we need the minimum amount of wall material

to minimize volume we need the whole system to have the least volume to minimize energy we

need to have the minimum work of pumping or extraction (depending on where the work is sup-

plied) and to minimize shear force we need to have a thin boundary layer Zamir considers that

shear force is the most important factor and here we can do something There are several

ways in which the boundary layer can be made more turbulent and thus thinner such as

Figure 7 Relationship between diameter length and branching angle to provide 1047298uid at the same pressureto a delivery point




shallow longitudinal ribs which would not only improve the 1047298ow in the way of shark skin den-

ticles but would also increase the resistance of the pipe to local buckling an effect noted in

hedgehog spines (Vincent and Owers 1986) and in the rachis or quill of a feather on the compres-

sive (upper) surface of a primary for instance which is exposed to compressive forces when the

wing is beating downwards

The Bombardier beetle (Stenaptinus insignis) squirts a hot mixture of quinones and hydrocar- bons from an internal reaction chamber powered by oxygen produced by the action of catalase on

hydrogen peroxide a highly exothermic reaction (Dean et al 1990) The heated oxygen expands

rapidly within the chamber and shoots the mixture out via an elastically controlled valve as a

pulsed jet at about 500 Hz This mechanism has been modelled to give a system that can

produce a jet of liquid with controlled droplet size (Beheshti and McIntosh 2007) This has

been given the trade name microMist by Swedish Biomimetics 3000 the company developing

devices based on this technology Most important the jet is coherent over a surprisingly large dis-

tance one of the mechanical versions of the system can eject a parallel-sided jet over a distance of

4 m This has a number of implications for extinguishing 1047297res The water that is sprayed onto a

1047297re extracts heat from the

1047297re and reduces its temperature below the ignition temperature of the1047298ammable material It does this by evaporating thus absorbing energy The water will evaporate

faster if it is 1047297nely divided so a jet of small droplets will be more effective at absorbing the heat

Further if the water evaporates before it hits the ground the water is both more effective and also

is less likely to cause damage On occasion the damage done by the excess water is worse than

that done by the 1047297re Additionally the microMist water jet being parallel sided does not entrain extra

air as does a conical jet ndash as a jet expands it will pull in more air and so exacerbates the 1047297re by

giving it more oxygen So microMist works at several levels ndash less water used less collateral damage

and less air brought into the 1047297re This type of 1047297re control can be used in 1047297re extinguishers or

sprinkler systems

There are concepts to be gleaned from the study of biology but it is in the nature of problem-

solving that solutions do not come from the most obvious places Witness the concept of a 1047298oor

plate derived from study of a 1047298otation device The route to a solution must be expected to be

devious This raises the question of how broadly to search for solutions to a given problem

Figure 8 Ratio between pipe sizes over a range of branching angles Redrawn from copy 1926 Rockefeller University Press Journal of General Physiology 9835 ndash 841

8 JFV Vincent



which must be closely related to the credibility of biomimetics as a useful activity Sectors of the

design community involved in this area ask the question lsquoHow would nature hellip rsquo 1047297nishing the

question with a particular function such as join two pieces of material together There is a

problem in this naive approach ndash the closer the question is de1047297ned the less likely one is to

1047297nd a robust answer since biology and technology are so very different Solutions to problems

in the two areas are rarely coincident Unfortunately this approach to biomimetics has been

adopted by the great proportion of those aspiring to use biological principles in their technology

Some lucky examples exist (the bombardier beetle is a good one)

Counterintuitively therefore within limits the more broadly the question can be formulated

the more likely a useful answer will be derived In order to bene1047297t from this it is necessary to

encapsulate biology in similarly broad (and therefore increasingly abstract) terms An early

attempt at such breadth divided solutions to problems into six categories ndash substance structure

energy information time and space (Vincent et al 2006) This classi1047297cation was suf 1047297cient for

Craig to derive the design for his insulating roof described above from the implicit principles

of the biomimetic design Greater detail is possible without compromising generality using

the Hegelian dialectic (itself derived from pre-Platonic thought) that posits that a problem iscomposed of a desire (thesis) thwarted in some way (antithesis) but resolved by a suitably

chosen synthesis This coding was used by Genrich Altshuller in his formulation of TRIZ (a

Russian acronym translated as the theory of solving problems inventively) which relies heavily

on design changes and so is almost entirely descriptive (Altshuller 1988) The problem is then

de1047297ned in terms that are selected from a list that covers all possibilities although made somewhat

inscrutable by the degree of generalization that such coverage requires The thesisantithesis pair

points in turn to one or more design changes (TRIZ labels them lsquoInventive Principlesrsquo) that

provide the synthesis The choice of suitable principles was derived from an examination of a

large number of published (Russian) patents This system seems to work reasonably well but

partly because the list was developed during the 1960s and 1970s there is an obvious lack of prin-ciples covering information and some of the interpretations seem to be caught in a time-warp

The key is to de1047297ne all changes in terms of function A function can be implemented with

current or future technology an object and its form are frozen in its past

To return to the beginning of this essay there are good reasons for this -ological twinning the

main one being skills of survival Most of mankind shows the behaviour of an invasive species

wastefully and mindlessly consuming resources These two words ndash mindless consumption ndash

characterize our species The most important factors sustaining our lsquocivilizationrsquo are energy

and raw materials (Vincent et al 2006) Not only do we not recycle materials enough we

make it more dif 1047297cult to break them down because the primary processing is at such a high temp-

erature that we need to return to high temperature to remodel them Not just metals Plastics are processed at 120 ndash 150degC so we need to heat them to similar temperatures to reprocess them Why

cannot we use a lower temperature ambient like animals and plants With their lower processing

temperatures the energy of the bonds holding biological materials together is on average also

lower so it requires less energy to destabilize them ndash the 1047297rst stage in recycling At the same

time we can show that organisms living in a sustainable fashion rely on information and structure

to drive the choice of materials and the way they are used At the molecular level of information

transfer the genetic code is the inherited wisdom of survival and adaptation over millions of gen-

erations Its wisdom teases structures from the surroundings using the least resource Biological

materials are lightweight and tough So whilst the mantra by which Man implements technology

is lsquoMaterials are cheap design is expensiversquo organisms work on the rule lsquoMaterials are expensive

Design is cheaprsquo In other words if we take enough time and effort to design something properly

(currently an expensive occupation) it needs half the amount of material and can still be more

durable This statement has been con1047297rmed a number of times and is more easy to prove with




todayrsquos engineering of computed design and three-dimensional printing which can produce the

complex shapes that only 10 years ago were rejected as being too expensive to fabricate

Indeed we can not only use less material but the resource material itself will be less critical in

the design A lovely example is mother-of-pearl the stuff of snail shells It is 3000 times

tougher and more durable than an equivalent size lump of the materials from which it is made

(mainly crystalline chalk)

If we could embed this different attitude into our technology if we could use it to change the

way we do things we might 1047297nd ourselves on a path to survival and a better life But to do this we

need to go deeper into our understanding of how biological systems work Biomimetics is not just

the bucolic vision ndash pretty 1047298owers pretty trees cuddly animals ndash there is the belief that the lessons

we learn from biology could improve the way we live But we cannot change much at the present

rate at which biology is invading our understanding of technology Velcro an iconic product of

biomimicry is good but it is been around for over 50 years and it has not changed our world We

need to extract not just individual gizmos and widgets from our study of nature but also some

general principles We need to look at the basis of engineering at the design rules and costing

and take the lsquo biorsquo out of lsquo biomimeticsrsquo Although this sounds counterintuitive I believe it isthe secret of biomimetics Until biological ideas can be couched easily in thoroughgoing engin-

eering terms it will not be accepted in the mainstream of technology Engineering is numerically

assessed design One of those numbers is cost Biology has to show how engineering can be not

just more effective and kinder to its surroundings but cheaper as well The reduction in cost can

come from a number of effects

1 Multifunctionality Living organisms are capable of doing many things at once and quite

commonly can do the same function in several different ways At 1047297rst sight this seems like

wastefulness but actually it allows the organism to exist in varying environmental con-

ditions An example is the byssus thread of the mussel a seashore shell1047297sh that hangsonto rocks with a multiplicity of threads ndash the byssus The threads are secreted as

water-miscible chemicals which are moulded by the mussel and rapidly assemble at the

molecular level into a strong waterproof thread The molecular assembly process of

long-chain molecules will expel water (that is what happens with spider silk) plus the

assembled molecules are chemically crosslinked which stabilizes them further plus they

have a waterproo1047297ng chemical (Dopa) secreted into them which drives the water out

and induces more crosslinks plus the same Dopa acts as a waterproo1047297ng varnish plus

it also acts as a glue to hold the thread onto the rock All this makes for a very safe

system that can work under a variety of conditions and the few chemicals involved can

each have a number of effects2 Evolutionary design Otherwise known as lsquotrial and error rsquo This is one of the big advan-

tages of biomimetics since natural selection has ensured that only the best adapted (and

the adaptation is global ndash it takes into account all aspects of the organismrsquos way of life)

survive so that we are then presented (as explained above) with the design answers to

a number of problems But since nature does not worry about maths it is not limited as

is a large part of our engineering by computing and mathematics which cannot cope

with the multiplicity and non-linearity of effects and properties With modern methods

of manufacture (such as lsquoadditive manufacturersquo or lsquo3D Printingrsquo) we can produce

complex shapes which would be impossible to make in any other way and can deliver

improved performance (durability lightness less material needed etc) which has been

based on the study of natural forms An early developer of such ideas was Claus Mattheck

who developed ef 1047297cient structures from measuring and modelling the shapes of trees He

showed that simply changing the shape of a curve around a corner can affect the durability

10 JFV Vincent



of an object by factors of 1000000 or more (Mattheck 1989) No change in material just

the shape And of course with a more effective shape the need for the material becomes

less

3 Durability It was not until I as a biologist was employed in a department of mechanical

engineering and had to teach fracture mechanics to the students that I fully realized the

importance of toughness Biological materials are unbelievably tough so tough that

they rarely break unless they are supposed to such as the line of weakness at the base

of a leaf that allows it to fall off in the autumn Many biological materials have not

been bettered by technology ndash silk is still the strongest and stiffest 1047297 bre we know

leather is still used as the best oil seals wood is the most ef 1047297cient material in terms of

the weight needed to support a load (famously the 1047298agstaff in Kew Gardens in London

could not be so tall if it were made of any material other than wood ndash it would collapse

under its own weight) mother-of-pearl is one of the toughest ceramics (which is why it

can be cut and carved without falling apart which would happen with a more brittle

material) yet it is 95 chalk We know how some of these materials get their amazing

properties and if you take their density into account (and biological materials tend to be very lightweight) they perform as well as any standard engineering material metals

included

4 Sustainability Biological materials are made from whatever is at hand This means that not

only are resources cheap but that the materials can be recycled and returned to the soil

from which they were taken As indeed are we

To paraphrase the French mathematician and philosopher Descartes lsquoI rot therefore I wasrsquo

To that we must add lsquoand will bersquo

References

Aldersey-Williams H 2003 Zoomorphic New Animal Architecture London Lawrence King PublishingAltshuller G 1988 Creativity as an Exact Science New York Gordon and BreachAnon 2010 Origins and construction of the Eiffel tower httpwwwtour-eiffelcomeverything-about-the-

towerthemed-1047297les69Beheshti N and A C McIntosh 2007 ldquoA Biomimetic Study of the Explosive Discharge of the Bombardier

Beetlerdquo International Journal of Design amp Nature 1 (1) 61 ndash 69Colquhoun K 2004 A Thing in Disguise ndash The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton London Harper PerennialCraig S D Harrison A Cripps and D Knott 2008 ldquoBiotriz Suggests Radiative Cooling of Buildings can

be Done Passively by Changing the Structure of Roof Insulation to Let Longwave Infrared Passrdquo Journal of Bionic Engineering 5 (1) 55 ndash 66

Dawson C J F V Vincent G Jeronimidis G Rice and P Forshaw 1999 ldquoHeat Transfer through PenguinFeathersrdquo Journal of Theoretical Biology 199 (3) 291 ndash 295

Dean J D J Aneshansley H E Edgerton and T Eisner 1990 ldquoDefensive Spray of the Bombardier Beetle A Biological Pulse Jetrdquo Science 248 (4960) 1219 ndash 1221

Du N J Fan H Wu S Chen and Y Liu 2007 ldquoAn Improved Model of Heat Transfer through PenguinFeathers and Downrdquo Journal of Theoretical Biology 248 (4) 727 ndash 735

Gower D and J F V Vincent 1996 ldquoThe Mechanical Design of the Cuttlebone and its BathymetricImplicationsrdquo Biomimetics 4 (3) 37 ndash 57

MacDonald N 1983 Trees and Networks in Biological Models Chichester John Wiley amp SonsMattheck C 1989 Engineering Components Grow Like Trees Karlsruhe KernforschungscentrumMattheck C 1998 Design in Nature ndash Learning from Trees Heidelberg SpringerSchaper B 2004 Energetics of Bird Nests Bath UK University of Bath

Timoshenko S P 1936 Theory of Elastic Stability New York McGraw-HillTurner J S and R C Soar 2008 ldquoBeyond Biomimicry What Termites can Tell Us about Realising the

Living Buildingrdquo In First International Conference on Industrialized Intelligent Construction(I3CON) Loughborough University




Vincent J F V 2002 ldquoSurvival of the Cheapestrdquo Materials Today 5 (12) 28 ndash 41Vincent J F V O A Bogatyreva N R Bogatyrev A Bowyer and A K Pahl 2006 ldquoBiomimetics Its

Practice and Theoryrdquo Journal of the Royal Society Interface 3 (9) 471 ndash 482Vincent J F V and P Owers 1986 ldquoMechanical Design of Hedgehog Spines and Porcupine Quillsrdquo

Journal of Zoology 210 (1) 55 ndash 75Zamir M 1976 ldquoOptimality Principles in Arterial Branchingrdquo Journal of Theoretical Biology 62 (1)

227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent



This article was downloaded by [Julian Vincent]On 26 June 2014 At 0842Publisher Taylor amp FrancisInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number 1072954 Registeredoffice Mortimer House 37-41 Mortimer Street London W1T 3JH UK

Intelligent Buildings InternationalPublication details including instructions for authors and

subscription information

httpwwwtandfonlinecomloitibi20

Biomimetics in architectural designJulian FV Vincent

a

a Independent Researcher

Published online 25 Jun 2014

To cite this article Julian FV Vincent (2014) Biomimetics in architectural design Intelligent

Buildings International DOI 101080175089752014911716

To link to this article httpdxdoiorg101080175089752014911716

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor amp Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the ldquoContentrdquo) contained in the publications on our platform However Taylor amp Francisour agents and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy completeness or suitability for any purpose of the Content Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authorsand are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor amp Francis The accuracy of the Content

should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses actions claimsproceedings demands costs expenses damages and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content

This article may be used for research teaching and private study purposes Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction redistribution reselling loan sub-licensingsystematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden Terms amp Conditions of access and use can be found at httpwwwtandfonlinecompageterms-and-conditions



COMMENTARY


Julian FV Vincent







Introduction



















est (Vincent 2002)




httpdxdoiorg101080175089752014911716






























2 JFV Vincent







and communities













































4 JFV Vincent











material






















































6 JFV Vincent



















































sprinkler systems






8 JFV Vincent

































































































10 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent



COMMENTARY


Julian FV Vincent







Introduction



















est (Vincent 2002)




httpdxdoiorg101080175089752014911716






























2 JFV Vincent







and communities













































4 JFV Vincent











material






















































6 JFV Vincent



















































sprinkler systems






8 JFV Vincent

































































































10 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent






























2 JFV Vincent







and communities













































4 JFV Vincent











material






















































6 JFV Vincent



















































sprinkler systems






8 JFV Vincent

































































































10 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent







and communities













































4 JFV Vincent











material






















































6 JFV Vincent



















































sprinkler systems






8 JFV Vincent

































































































10 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent





















4 JFV Vincent











material






















































6 JFV Vincent



















































sprinkler systems






8 JFV Vincent

































































































10 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent











material






















































6 JFV Vincent



















































sprinkler systems






8 JFV Vincent

































































































10 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent

































6 JFV Vincent



















































sprinkler systems






8 JFV Vincent

































































































10 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent



















































sprinkler systems






8 JFV Vincent

































































































10 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent

































































































10 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent





less














included






References


















227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent






227 ndash 251

12 JFV Vincent

Vincent 2014 Architecture

Documents

Transcript of Vincent 2014 Architecture