Biomorphic Structures: A r c h i t e c t u r e I n s p i r e d b y N a t u r e
ASTERIOS AGKATHIDIS
Published in 2017 by Laurence King Publishing Ltd 361–373 City Road London EC1V 1LR United Kingdom email:
[email protected] www.laurenceking.com © text 2017 Asterios Agkathidis Asterios Agkathidis has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author o this work. All rights reserved. No part o this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any orm or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any inormation storage or retrieval system, without permission rom the publisher. A catalogue record or this book is available rom the British Library ISBN: 978 1 78067 301 1 Original concept design by & SMITH Layout design by the Urban Ant Cover design by Pentagram Printed in China
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CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
BIOMORPHIC DESIGN
WATER, WA TER, EARTH AND GEOLOGICAL
PLANTS AND BRANCHING
ANIMAL STRUCTURES
FORMATIONS
SYSTEMS
AND PROPERTIES
1.1
Introduction and terminology ........8
2.1
Hill and valley ............................26
3.1
Branched blocks ........................70
4.1
Gradient transparency ...............108
1.2
A historical review: rom Art Nouveau
2.2
Influx ........................................4 ........................................4 0
3.2
Tree-structure Tr ee-structure canopy ................. 80
4.2
Snakeskin................................. ................................. 114
to algorithmic design ................12
2.3
Caves and erosion ......................4 ......................4 8
3.3
Callipod....................................90
4.3
Bird’ss nest .......................... Bird’ ................................124 ......124
The approach o this book ...........22
2.4
Liquid contours ..........................58
3.4
Rose pavilion .............................98
4.4
Error as optimization ..................130 ..................130
4.5
Dream vaults.............................142 .............................142
1.3
5.0 5. 0 CONCLUSION Index........................... ...............................................154 ....................154 Bibliography ......................... ....................................156 ...........156 Credits ............................. ............................................158 ...............158 Acknowledgements Acknowledgeme nts .......................... ..........................160 160
BIOMORPHIC DESIGN
1
INTRODUCTION AND TERMINOLOGY
The concept o ‘biomorphism’ came originally rom Goethe, although the term itsel was first introduced by the British poet and writer Geoffrey Grigson in 1935, in reerence to the work o the sculptor Henry Moore (Kosinski 2001). Derived rom the Greek words βίος ( lie, lie, living) and μορφή (orm), it described a creative synthesis bridging the gap between Surrealism and abstract art, and it has been associated ever since with fluid, organic shapes in art, architectur architecture e and design. In architecture in particular, the term is ofen used to describe orms and patterns inspired by nature. The theory o organicism promotes harmony between architecture and nature to the point where orm and natural context merge into one. Key proponents have included Imre Makovecz (Kuhlmann 1998) and Frank Lloyd Wright, who, as Aldersey-Williams (2003) points out, took the approach to new heights. Even though organicism and biomorphism are related (and are ofen used – incorrectly – synonymously), there are significant differences between them. Organic architecture, as Wright himsel defined it, does not necessarily resemble natural orms, but rather relates to materiality and integration into a natural context.
Figure 01: Golden ratio diagram Figure 02: The Parthenon o Athens
E. Steele and presented at a 1960 ‘Bionics Symposium’, entitled ‘Living Prototypes – The Key to New Technology’ (Nachtigall 2005). Aiming to inorm engineering and technology with knowledge and aspects o perormance as they have evolved in nature, bionic design can be seen as an aspect o biomorphism. However, bionic, or biomimetic, architecture implies not only the ormrelated aspects o mimicry, but the inherent qualities o construction as well (Gruber 2011). 2011). Gruber also points out that Frei Otto’s research studies on membrane suraces, and Buckminster Fuller’s tessellation techniques or dome geometry, were most probably the first attempts to integrate bionics into architectural design. It is in the last ten years – by incorporating emerging technologies and tools, such as parametric, algorithmic and generative design methods – that architects and engineers claim to have moved beyond a mimicry o geometry and order, and into enhancing environmental, structural and material perormance by learning rom the mechanisms and properties ound in nature. New terms such as zoomorphism, geomorphism and anthropomorphism have arisen in order to speciy the particular source o inspiration or mimicry in each case (in these instances, animals, geology and humans, respectively). Even though the concepts o biomorphism, organicism and bionics appeared in the twentieth century, century, nature has
The term ‘bionics’ – combining ‘biology’ and ‘technics’, or ‘electronics’ – was invented by US Air Force colonel Jack
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BIOMORPHIC DESIGN
INTRODUCTION AND TERMINOLOGY
9
Figure 03: Caryatid statues, Erechteion o Athens Figure 06: Vitruvian Man
always been a model or artists and architects. Looking back to the origins o Western architecture, architecture, such as the design o ancient Greek temples, nature has always played an important role, not only influencing shape and appearance, but also defining proportions and structure. The golden ratio, or instance (figure 01) – as discover discovered ed by the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras, and later described by Vitruvius in his Ten Books of Architecture (reprinted 1998) – is the orm-giving algorithm that occurs in spiral structures such as snail shells and flower heads, and has been used to establish the proportions o many man-made structures, such as the Parthenon (figure 02). The Erechtheion, nearby on the Acropoli Acropoliss (figure 03), incorporates human-esque shapes as structural columns. Thus, nature, architecture, art, engineering and mathematics are at once embodied in a single work: the caryatid statue. Similar attempts to incorporate natureinspired components into architecture architecture appear in the capitals o the Ionian and Corinthian orders (figure 04), as well as capitals dating back to ancient Egypt (figure 05) and Mesopotamia (Stevenson Smith 1999).
Figure 04: Corinthian capital, temple o BacChus, BaLlbek, Lebanon Figure 05: Egyptian capital
In studying the golden ratio, Vitruvius developed the notion o the so-called Vitruvian Man (figure 06) – illustrated many centuries later by Leonardo da Vinci (Feuerstein 2002) – or ideally proportioned human body,, principles that Vitruvius believed also related body to architecture. Then, in the twentieth century, Le Corbusier’s exploration o the golden ratio and the proportions o the human body inspired his ‘Modulor’ measurement system (Le Corbusier, reprinted 2000), which he applied to many o his designs, including the Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles, and the Notre Dame du Haut Chapel in Ronchamp. Numerous other attempts to incorporat incorporate e nature into design and architecture have been made, dating back to ancient times, and occurring in almost all architectur architectural al movements, beginning with early traditional architecture architecture around the world, ollowed by such examples as Arabic ornamentation, the architects and designers o the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, the work o Antoni Gaudí at the beginning o the twentieth century, that o Oscar Niemeyer and Frei Otto in the 1950s and ’60s, and continuing with the structures being built by Santiago Calatrava and Norman Foster in the twenty-first century.
10
BIOMORPHIC DESIGN
INTRODUCTION AND TERMINOLOGY
11
1.3 / THE APPROACH OF THIS BOOK
their starting point (Analysis), their morphogenetic methodology (Morphogenesis) (Morphogenesis) and their potential or transormation into architectur architectural al solutions (Metamorphosis). (Metamorphosis ). The objective was to answer the ollowing questions in particular: Which o the different approaches to biomorphic design have been applied?
This book investigates a range o contemporary biomorphic techniques by looking at 13 case studies, which demonstrate approaches and methods practised by academic institutions and proessional architects. Some o these case studies were developed as projects by undergraduate students at the University o Liverpool, carried out at Studio 04, a research-led unit run by the author.. Studio 04 is one o five graduate-ye author graduate-year ar design studios at the Liverpool School o Architectu Architecture, re, consisting o approximately 60 international students. The studio encourages the use o digital design and abrication tools, as well as physical modelling and drafing techniques, and the cohort size is large enough to provide representative outputs and results.
How can biomorphic design methodology be integrated into architectural education? What is the potential or design innovation offered by biomorphic methods? The case studies are presented in three chapters, according to their starting point – Water, Earth and Geological Formations; Plants and Branching Systems; and Animal Structures and Properties – and combined they offer an assessment o the approaches and possibilities o biomorphic design today, while also highlighting the potential o its application in architectural education and practice.
Other case studies were developed at the Architectural Association (AA) Visiting School – a three-week three-week-long design and abrication workshop, open to undergraduates, undergraduate s, graduates and young proessionals – or in a PhD research ramework ramework at schools like the Bartlett, the National Technical University (NTU) o Athens and the Federal Institute o Technology (ETH) in Zürich. Continuing with the design method introduced in Generative Design (Agkathidis 2016), these case studies are examined in terms o three main design phases:
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BIOMORPHIC DESIGN
THE APPROACH OF THIS BOOK
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