BEYOND THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIOMIMICRY IN ARCHITECTURE: A MODEL TO SHIFT FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Abstract

In the last decades, the world has witnessed a gradual transition from carbon-intensive approaches to more sustainable approaches. Biomimicry is one of the evolutionary sustainable approaches which is based on searching for solutions for human problems by imitating nature. Biomimicry approach has gained a great momentum in many design disciplines. However, it is still an emerging field on the architectural design level. This could be attributed to the absence of a holistic process-based tool that guide all interested stakeholders to the right steps towards a successful biomimicry-based architectural design. The research aims at developing a design process model of biomimicry-based architecture. The model represents comprehensive process-based model that guides designers in developing a biomimicry-based architecture. The proposed model focuses on the “process” rather than the “product”. To achieve this aim, three main objectives have been defined and addressed in the three main parts of this research. Part one introduces a literature study of two research fields which are biomimicry and design process models in order to investigate how biomimicry and architectural design process can be correlated. Part two Reviews the different research methods and approaches to identify the research method that fits with the current research type, problem, and objectives. While in part three, the analytical study is presented including developing the proposed model, model validation, and the discussion of the validation results. The literature study in part one has resulted in identifying the main aspects that should be addressed in a biomimicry-based architecture. This conclusion has helped in developing a framework of biomimicry-based architecture. The developed framework has paved the way for developing a design process model for biomimicry-based architecture. The proposed model is based on the decomposition structure in which each function is decomposed into sub functions. IDEF0 modeling technique has been adopted to present the different phases and stages of the proposed model. The model is then validated via a survey questionnaire with biomimicry and integrative architectural design process experts. The results of the questionnaire have been discussed and the required amendments have been identified.