Abstract
Amidst the inter-related challenges of climate change, resource scarcity, and population growth, the built environment must be designed in a way that recognises its role in shaping and being shaped by complex social and ecological systems. This includes avoiding the degradation of living systems in the design and construction of buildings and infrastructure, as well as enhancing the built environment’s resilience to disturbance by those systems. This paper explores the potential for biomimetic place-based design (BPD) to inform resilient and regenerative built environment outcomes by learning from local ecosystems. One recognised hurdle is the upfront resourcing required to establish the biomimetic knowledge base for each project. However, conducting BPD projects at-scale (i.e., city or region) can improve the method’s value-proposition by better leveraging upfront research efforts, design concepts, and strategies. This research identifies existing barriers to the widespread adoption of BPD and presents an action framework for capability-building across industry, government, and academia to enable application at-scale. Drawing on findings from workshops in the USA and Australia, it creates a resource for colleagues looking to apply BPD in a city or region and offers next steps for research and development.
Highlights
Cities are impacted by a range of complex and dynamic stressors, including changing climate conditions and increased intensity of extreme weather events, along with the interplay of trends such as population growth, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity [1,2]
It includes the Genius of Place (GoP) design methodology developed by Baumeister et al [8], which uses eight steps to guide designers in identifying functional challenges, discovering organisms that are well-adapted to delivering that function or managing that challenge, and translating these to design concepts that are appropriate for the context
In the preliminary scoping workshop, participants identified several key opportunities associated with the BPD approach, including the GoP methodology
Summary
Cities are impacted by a range of complex and dynamic stressors, including changing climate conditions and increased intensity of extreme weather events, along with the interplay of trends such as population growth, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity [1,2]. Lazarus and Crawford, and Taylor Buck [5,6,7] refer to the significant opportunity to investigate biological strategies developed by ‘champion adapters’ within ecosystems and translate these into design principles for built environment design and engineering. Such approaches support a design that is locally-attuned, adaptable, and resilient to local operating conditions and challenges [7,8]. It includes the Genius of Place (GoP) design methodology developed by Baumeister et al [8], which uses eight steps to guide designers in identifying functional challenges, discovering organisms that are well-adapted to delivering that function or managing that challenge, and translating these to design concepts that are appropriate for the context
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
