Biomimetic architecture
Introduction
biomimicry (from bio, "life", and mimesis, "to imitate"), also known as biomimetics or biomimicry, is the science that studies nature, as a source of inspiration for innovative technologies, to solve those human problems that nature has presented to them, through models of systems (mechanics) or processes (chemistry), or elements that imitate or are inspired by it.
Concept
Biomimicry is the term most used in scientific and engineering literature to refer to the process of understanding and applying solutions from nature to human problems, in the form of biological principles, biomaterials of any kind. Currently, emerging fields of science, such as nanotechnology and biomedical engineering, are using novel synthesis methods in the attempt to imitate the high-yield self-assembly synthesis that nature has developed over millions of years.
Goals
This method aims to improve the quality of life of humanity. It is also based on socioeconomic sustainability, based on the foundation that nature is the only model that lasts for millions of years.
Another important purpose is the ecological commitment that biomimicry entails, so that the solution to ecological problems is found in the optimization of nature; such as how to filter the air, clean the water and nourish the soil. This would imply that human social and economic systems, by imitating the solutions given by nature, are subordinated to the environment and not the other way around.
Through 3.8 billion years of evolution, nature has given rise to optimally designed structures that we can imitate for human purposes. Biomimicry studies nature's models and imitates or is inspired by its designs and processes to solve human problems. It consists of learning to design sustainable technologies by adapting structures developed by nature. It is a new way of seeing and valuing nature, which introduces a vision based on what we can learn from the natural environment.
As a consequence of this branch of science, so-called biodegradable plastics were born. Synthetic plastics, such as the well-known polyethylene, are made up of polymers derived from petroleum substances and take about 500 years to degrade, so they are not susceptible to being assimilated again into nature. At a time in which oil is a non-renewable and almost exhausted resource, and in which we are aware that the products of its use are harmful to the environment, the idea of a new type of plastic was born, a new material based on a new base phenomenon that makes up the plastic polymer and that is capable of returning to nature through the processes of biodegradation and composting without emitting pollutants.