Biomimicry: Nature as a Model for Design

Abstract

Being ecological involves an imposing change, but different from the one followed so far: we must not fear external threats, in fact there is nothing external since we are already part of nature, we are already ecological (Morton in Noi, esseri ecologici, Laterza, Roma, 2020). Design has the task of highlighting objects and strategies to restore the relationship between man and the context in which he lives by restoring the inclusion of social and natural ecosystems. In this context, thanks to the evolution of natural sciences and technologies, it is possible to create fertile ground for the birth of new relationships between design and nature. Designers are called upon to restore and create new connections between people and disciplines. One of the areas of scientific research, which seems to have particular relevance within the debate on environmental sustainability and sustainable design, are those of “Biomimicry” and “Hybrid Design”. Man has always drawn inspiration from nature in the design of his artefacts to find efficient solutions: today, thanks to scientific development and new technologies, we are able to analyze and reproduce processes never seen before: design today is ever closer to understanding how nature designs and builds. The biomimetic approach will be able to provide the design culture with a truly strategic contribution for the development of sustainable, innovative and future-proof design solutions, “ecologically responsible and socially responsive, revolutionary and radical in the truest sense of the terms” (Papanek in Progettare per il mondo reale. Il design: come è e come potrebbe essere, Mondadori, Milano, 1973). As he claimed Richard Buckminister Fuller: “We do not seek to imitate nature, but rather to find the principles she uses”.