Helping Designers Navigate Science
Posted: September 23, 2011 Filed under: Biology Research, Biomimicry Methodology | Tags: alena konyk biology to design, biology and design research, concept definition, concept harvesting, design research and biomimicry, how to read a science paper, the difference between science and design 4 Comments
Alëna's superb and brave diagram above is kind of fascinating... I think this warrants a full discussion in the future...
For those of you who haven’t met Alëna, or followed her comments within the blog, I’d just like to point out that she is bloody superb. On her blog there is an excellent overview of “how to read science papers” that is a superb resource. For the most part, I’m probably going to repeat what Alëna already laid out beautifully, but thought I should put it in my own words and lock it in.
How to read a science paper
Is Urban Sprawl a Bad Thing?
Posted: September 1, 2011 Filed under: Biomimicry Methodology, Scenarios of Sustainability | Tags: biology and design parallel design process, biology insight into design, bridging biology research to design, design research and biomimicry, ecosystem engineers and urban development, strategic research, strategic sustainability, urban planning and biomimicry, why is urban sprawl bad? Leave a comment
Is it possible to compare a groundhog's burrow to our suburbs?
Continuing on from the my thoughts yesterday, how do you explore design research and biology research in parallel?
Using nature to prove your idea
It is very tempting to look to nature to find “proof” that justifies your pre-existing idea. Often it is easy to find a connection between natural systems and the theoretical best-practices within the fields of urban planning, architecture and industrial design. But if you are already aware of these ideas, has the biology research really helped you? And if these best-practices remain theoretical and mostly unachieved, are you even asking the right questions?
Perhaps in some cases this is all the heart desires, confirmation that you’re exploration is heading in the right direction, and new stories to help convey the thinking to your often unwilling audience.
But biomimicry should be about making “new” insights and observations that shift, challenge and expand how we approach design, business and engineering challenges. In order to achieve this level of insight a completely different mindset is required. The investigation requires ego to be set aside and preconceived wisdom to be parked on the back shelf and freedom to explore some rabbit holes whose end destinations may be unclear.
Is urban sprawl a bad thing?
Biomimicry is Not “Just” Biology Research
Posted: August 31, 2011 Filed under: Biomimicry Methodology | Tags: biology and design parallel design process, biology and design process, biology and design research, biomimicry design methodology, biomimicry design process, design research and biomimicry, identifying design challenges through design process, integrated design methodologies, parallel design methodologies 10 Comments
Superb diagram by Carla Gould and Jessica Ching - mapping out from hindsight the evolution of an 18 month biomimicry design project.
Having taught biomimicry for 6 years now, you’d think preparing for another wave of students would be relatively straight forward. In fact, it is probably more complex now that it ever has been before. Bruce Hinds (my co-teacher) and I have taught this enough times to be confident with the material, so much so that we are growing increasingly ambitious for meaningful projects to emerge from the class. Consequently, the question that drives the class has evolved from “how can we do biomimicry” to “where should we do biomimicry”. In other words;
What design topics should we tackle?
Why is this a challenge?
Biomimicry is not “just” biology research. It also includes design research. While this might be obvious for some, there are many more who think the design insights should magically appear from thin air, with no need for context from the area of research. The reality suggests otherwise, and requires that in the limited time we have in the class room, our students need to cover twice as much ground. On one hand you think sounds straightforward, the students are in their higher years, and therefore have been exposed to a lot of design process already, but the reality is, introducing biology research adds a layer of healthy complexity to the design research and makes the whole process more time consuming (also pronounced “rewarding”).
And guess what, this is also the reason why businesses and design practices are not jumping vigorously on the biomimicry bandwagon; it’s hard work.
Bouncing Ideas 
Recent Comments