Archinect
anchor

Biomimicry in Urban Design

nomadzilla

O.K., here's the question:
If you were to name one natural element which "behaves" rather similar to an urban fabric , what would that element be? (eg. a forest, some kind of microscopical species, etc.) and why?

thanks for the feedback and merry x-mas ;)

 
Dec 23, 07 3:23 pm

anything with feedback loops?

Infrastructure networks, that work like organic dynamic systems??

Not sure ??

Dec 23, 07 3:51 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller

Water- urban fabric is modeled after hydrology, not the other way around...

Dec 23, 07 4:12 pm  · 
 · 
citizen4nr

thats open to interpretation. you can make a connection to any biological system at any scale, whether individual (like an organ system of an animal) or collective (hives, ecosystems, etc). what are you trying to do with this information?

Dec 23, 07 4:26 pm  · 
 · 
nomadzilla

-treekiller, i didn't mean "the other way around", but what you're suggesting is odd too, the urban fabric evolves over generations and ages, it might have some similarities to hydrology, but being modeled after it .... I'd be quite interested if you have any references for that.

-citizen, well, first step for me is to find a complex, natural and dynamic system that functions similar to that of a city, since a city (or a urban cluster) seems to act collectively regarding most issues (specially when it comes to transportation), a biological/natural element might be more appropriate and accurate . don't you think?

Dec 24, 07 9:44 am  · 
 · 
ff33º
http://database.biomimicry.org/start.php


I always wanted to do a project from here.

Dec 24, 07 10:40 am  · 
 · 
PerCorell

Walmart.

Dec 24, 07 1:34 pm  · 
 · 

Could you expand on that, TK? Do you mean that cities are sited near bodies of water at ports and rivers? Or are you talking about finer grained organization within cites, at the scale of streets?

Dec 24, 07 2:40 pm  · 
 · 
philipb

Go check out TED talks, there was a fairly recent one on this guy who was studying fractal patterns in indigineous populations. He found that these patterns were simultaneously present in nature (ie leaf patternings) and were also the foundations of village planning in some cultures.

Dec 25, 07 2:35 am  · 
 · 
McMath

It depends on the type of city. I like to think of the typical North American city as a “breathing” city. It inhales in the morning, sucking thousands of commuters into its centre, and exhales in the evening, spewing everyone back out and dispersing them. But we all know that sort of thing is terribly inefficient. I suppose a city should behave like a beehive. At first glance, it appears chaotic, but out of that chaos emerges a greater order, which keeps the colony alive. I don’t think I phrased that very well (it's late), but hopefully you can decipher it. Happy Christmas to you too.

Dec 25, 07 4:41 am  · 
 · 
treekiller

hydrological urbanism - like a chia pet, add water and they grow:

cities and hydrology mirror each other by flows, topography, size of watersheds/hinterlands, and more.

Earliest (american) cities tended to be situated at natural harbors, on rivers, and at waterfalls. transportation access, industrial power and drinking water were all critical factors in the growth of cities until the 20th century. Later cities were freed from riverfront/waterfront locations by the railroads and highways - but access to water was the catalyst for growth from the hydropower boom of the pacific northwest/quebec, to making the desert southwest explode thanks to the hoover dam. take away the water and all cities will whither.

Cities have often preserved significant watersheds from development by the demands for water. the first example is the wissahickon in philadelphia, owens valley, then croton reservoir, quabbin reservoir, lake lanier and others.

at a finer grain, the natural drainage influenced the layout of the pre-jeffersonian streets, with a ridge/high street, a river road, and connections in between. then as the cities grew, the natural drainage got transformed into the stormwater/sanitary sewers and the valleys filled in. the growth of the urban system inversely impacted the health of the watershed in most situations.

read more here when it is published....

mcmath - that is poetic and often true. it's becoming less prevalent with the growth of edge cities and the replacement of the nuclear center with corridors and rings- then we're left with chaos.

Dec 25, 07 10:26 am  · 
 · 

The breathing city?

Although methinks the commute will not last long..

The Varnelis book should be interesting...

I really like the idea of infrastructure development as it ties to city planning.

Decentralization anyone?

Dec 25, 07 10:56 pm  · 
 · 
philipb

What about hyper-centralization? As the other response to the collapse of the commute.

Dec 25, 07 11:32 pm  · 
 · 

@ ulterior
To clarify, i meant decentralization with regards to infrastructure.
Ie: local power production, water treatment that sort of thing....

Not decentralization of the city. Which is something i think needs to be increased.
Most studies seem to suggest that hyper-centralization is an inevitable fact of the future urban landscape...

So many urban dwellers, only so much space.

Dec 26, 07 8:05 am  · 
 · 
ff33º

How do you guys feel about those fantasy building Soleri and wroght did..."City in a building" That is a kind of mimicry I think.

Dec 26, 07 11:34 am  · 
 · 
ff33º

Wright*

Dec 26, 07 11:41 am  · 
 · 
treekiller

distributed infrastructure is just an outgrowth of networked urbanisms. since we lose over 10% of our energy between power plants and users, the incentive eliminate long distance transmission is growing. For 'wet' infrastructure, there is a similar push towards distributed treatment as ecological services and restoration get acknowledged as critical financial and environmental strategies - there are some cost advantages for scale, but not when you need an extensive collection system to pipe the yucky stuff somewhere else...

I love composting and treatment at the neighborhood scale.

Dec 26, 07 1:12 pm  · 
 · 

@ treekiller

that is what i was talking about...

Although i must admit i wasn't aware of the connection between networked urbanisms and distributed infrastructure. Although i guess from a computing perspective i see the connection. The IT industry has been a proponent of distributed computing/data centers/ etc for awhile now....

Any suggested reading?

Dec 26, 07 1:29 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller

hah, I made that up! it makes sense thought - maybe this will also make me famous!

but there was an article I was just reading in the GIS magazine (will have to post a link later) about the growth of the northeast corridor from being a linear system from wash to bos, to a broad network with nodes well outside of the traditional urban centers (like harrisburg PA and worcester MA). The author was making the point that we need to shift back to planning for the entire infrastructure network/system, not just individual links/routes. Distributing the network makes it more robust and less prone to catastrophic failure shutting everything down.

Dec 26, 07 2:05 pm  · 
 · 

@ Treekiller
the author is making a good point.. As far as i am aware that is exactly the reason why the IT industry has begun to go that way...

Distributed networks are more stable and better at adapting to change/failures...

I think personally such developments as they pertain to urban infrastructure are the wave of the future,

Dec 26, 07 2:36 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller

here's that article:

People–Nature: The Human Network as html or pdf with pretty pictures


By Michael Gallis, Gary Moll, and Heather Millar

Imagine you're a sea captain or a truck driver, a pilot, or a mother driving your child to preschool. You're focused on the people or goods you're moving and the easiest and quickest way to get where you want to go. As your cell phone rings or your BlackBerry buzzes, you concentrate on what the caller is saying.

You don't spend time pondering how your trip, or your phone conversation, is part of a much larger network of shipping, air, road, rail, and digital lines that wrap the earth. You may only be vaguely aware of how the network has evolved through many stages, relying on sail power; then steam; oil; and, more recently, the energy of computers, rockets, and other advanced technologies. You probably won't consider that during the last 50 years, this network that moves goods, people, and information around the globe has grown with lightning speed. You may not realize that this network continues to expand at an ever-accelerating rate....



1945


1960-1990


the matrix


more details

more facinating articles exploring the 'human network' further:

pdf1, pdf2, pdf3, pdf4, pdf5, pdf6...
(just clink the 'more details link above for more articles)

Dec 26, 07 8:13 pm  · 
 · 

Treekiller nice...

thanks for the links..

Will post more thoughts once read..

Dec 26, 07 10:25 pm  · 
 · 

Block this user


Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?

Archinect


This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.

  • ×Search in: