What is Biomimicry?
Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a design discipline that studies nature`s best ideas and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems. Studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell is an example of this innovation inspired by nature. The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with.Based on nature`s 3.8 billion years of R&D history designers and engineers are developing new products, new materials, new manufacturing systems, enhancing systems flow, and creating effective distribution models… just to name a few. Companies adopting the Biomimicry Guild`s design methodology include: Boeing, City of Seattle, Ecotrust, General Mills, Georgia Tech, Hewlett-Packard, HOK Architects, Nike, Proctor & Gamble, Shell, Seventh Generation and many more. On this page we have gathered links to online Biomimicry resources, a few examples of compan
Biomimicry is an innovation method that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies—new ways of living—that are well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul. The Biomimicry Guild helps innovators learn from and emulate natural models through workshops, research reports, biological consulting, and field excursions. Our Biomimicry Innovation Method can help your company create products and processes that: Are sustainable: Biomimicry follows Life’s Principles. Life’s Principles instruct us to: build from the bottom up, self-assemble, optimize rather than maximize, use free energy, cross-pollinate, embrace diversity, adapt and evolve, use life-friendly materials and processes, engage in symbiotic relationships, and enhance the bio-sphere. By following the principles life uses, you can create products and processes that are well adapted to life on
Biomimicry, also called bionics, is a branch of study which focuses on using nature as an inspiration to solve problems faced by the humans on Earth. People have been practicing biomimicry for centuries, but it has become a topic of special interest in the modern world in the hopes that it could be a driving force behind more sustainable design. Many companies have invested significant funds in biomimicry studies, which look at new ways to design everything from solar panels to textiles. Chances are high that you have an example of biomimicry in your close vicinity. Velcro, for example, is probably one of the best-known examples of this branch of inquiry, supposedly developed by a scientist who noted that burrs had amazing abilities when it came to sticking to textiles. Biomimicry has also been used to do things like redesign buildings based on insect mounds, which are designed to hold temperatures at stable levels, and using leaves as inspiration for solar panels, to increase the amou
Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a design discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf. The core idea is that Nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with: energy, food production, climate control, non-toxic chemistry, transportation, packaging, and a whole lot more.
Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a new discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. Studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell is an example. I think of it as “innovation inspired by nature.” The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with. Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate, and most important, what lasts here on Earth. This is the real news of biomimicry: After 3.8 billion years of research and development, failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the secret to survival. Like the viceroy butterfly imitating the monarch, we humans are imitating the best adapted organisms in our habitat. We are learning, for instance, how to harness energy like a leaf, grow food like a prairie, build ceramics like an abalone, self-medicate like
