BioChair – Adding Value to the Biomaterial Story. (original) (raw)

Exploring a Place-Based Approach to Materials Design: Harakeke Nonwovens in Aotearoa New Zealand

2019

As the interdisciplinary field of materials design expands, pressing environmental, social and economic crises mean that the impacts of materials are more clearly perceived (Drazin 2015). This presents a challenge to activate materials towards positive change. Design practices that are relational, place based and deeply attuned to justice and the Earth are needed (Escobar 2017). What might such practices look like within the field of materials design? And how might they be informed by textiles practice? To address these questions, this paper presents and reflects upon a recent study into the development of harakeke (Phormium Tenax/New Zealand Flax) based nonwovens. The aim of the study was to support the re-establishment of harakeke based industry in Aotearoa New Zealand, which recent research suggests could address a range of environmental, social and economic problems specific to the region (McGruddy 2006). The approach taken drew on notions of place-based design and textile think...

Territory-based biomaterials. Methodology to create a situated biomaterial palette

Base Diseño e Innovación, 2022

Given the growing demand for designers to incorporate material research and development processes from biological sources into their creative processes, it is essential to reflect on how and under what criteria these practices take place. This context not only implies an epistemological search to establish frameworks for global action but also emphasizes the impact these initiatives generate in the context in which they are located. Understanding the critical influence that the Global North exerts on these practices at a global level, it is urgent to ask ourselves: what should be the relevant approaches for a biomaterial practice typical of the Latin American experience? Moreover, how does the context affect the biodesigner decision-making to promote pertinent materials of each territory? This article presents the methodology "Biomaterials Based on the Territory (BBT)," a reflective and critical guide to starting a conscious process in identifying, experimenting, and developing new local materials of biological origin. We present the research developed by the Valdivia Biomaterials Laboratory (LABVA) in southern Chile as a case study. By monitoring and analyzing the process of creating a biomaterial palette, it was possible to project practices with a critical and situated vision. This process promotes material autonomy to give a local response to the socio-environmental challenges that we currently suffer.

Bio-inspired design material: a multipurpose case study

WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, 2015

Demands for new architecture that is more fluid, interactive, functional, and adaptable to the changes of economic atmosphere and design principles are changing the concept of forms and aesthetics. However, despite the role of technology, the architectural design elements of buildings have often been developed separately, in terms of artistic and functional features, in a way that affects the flexibility and quality of the design process along with its impact on the built environment. This issue calls for the need to explore an interdisciplinary design approach that combines biology and architecture in order to improve both individual and overall quality of design. This paper will, therefore, provide a review of literature that draws on the important characteristics of bio-inspired design material and its impact on an effective design in a way that can capture the specifications needed to enhance the development of a digital prototype that caters for the flexibility and overall quality of design aesthetically and functionally.

Biophilic Design Applications: Putting Theory and Patterns into Built Environment Practice

In 1984 E.O. Wilson (1984) introduced and popularized the Biophilia hypothesis defining biophilia as " the urge to affiliate with other forms of life " (Kellert & Wilson 1995: 416). Wilson's biophilia hypothesis suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. More recently, in the USA, Browning et al. (2014) have proposed '14 Patterns of Biophilic Design' within a framework for linking the human biological sciences and nature to built environment design offering a series of tools for enriching design opportunities, and avenues for design applications as a way to effectively enhance the health and well-being of individuals and society. While biophilia is the theory, biophilic design as advocated by Kellert et al. (2008) and Beatley (2010) internationally offers a sustainable design strategy that seeks to reconnect people with the 'natural environment'. Overall, from what little research has been undertaken internationally in the last 10 years, there is a solid understanding as to the applied application of this theory, its principles and processes to built environment design and no research about to how to retrofit the existing urban fabric using this approach. This paper reviews the application of biophilic design in Australia, including the scope of design, health and wellbeing literature, the '14 Patterns of Biophilic Design' and performative measures now unfolding, brings forward a new Biophilic Design Pattern, and considers the value the approach offers to built environment practice as well as to human and non-human occupants.

Identifying the Purposes of Biological Materials in Everyday Designs

Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal

The exploration of new materials has provided new insights into the progressive use of living biological materials in everyday designs. Living biological materials are expected to have the potential to overcome the depletion of non-renewable resources. Through bio-design and biophilic design in the urban environment, designers apply living systems as appropriate solutions to everyday designs. This paper aims to classify the biological materials and the sense of ownership towards biological materials embedded in products in terms of a) Function, b) Aesthetic and Semantic, and c) Emotion and Experience. A survey was conducted from 173 respondents through an online questionnaire. Keywords: biological materials; biophilic design; product designs; purposes and ownership eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd...

Bio-inspired design: explicating the value of bio-inspiration

2017

Policymakers and stakeholders are asking corporations to innovate and synchronize their practices with that of the natural environment. In this hopefully thought-provoking position paper, we use a comprehensive review of literature and industrial practice in gradually building strong arguments that bio-inspired design is a possible pathway to achieve this. This approach is directly inspired by nature, given that it is nature that ultimately will suggest novel ways to conserve biodiversity and provide human beings with a sustainable lifestyle. We strive to show the value of bio-inspired products and services, not only by virtue of being more environmentally sustainable, but, when consolidated in a concerted business model and value chain to lead to a sustainable competitive advantage for companies.