Biomimetic Fabrication
BIOMIMETICS
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. It is an approach to design and innovation that finds inspiration in the function of living organisms. At its core, biomimetic philosophy is that nature's inhabitants including animals, plants, and microbes have the most experience in solving problems and have already found the most appropriate ways to last on planet Earth. Living beings have adapted to a constantly changing environment during evolution through mutation, recombination, and selection. To not utilize design created by nature is to recreate the wheel.
Mother nature has never filed a single patent. Indeed, she insists on the collaborative use of her 3.8 billion years of open-source, decentralized design solutions by members she has blessed with the aptitude to comprehend it.
ANTHROPODCAST PRESENTS:
Interview with a Bumblebee
PROPOLIS
Propolis, or bee glue, is a resinous mixture that honey bees produce by mixing saliva and beeswax with exudate gathered from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. The chemical composition and nature of propolis depend on environmental conditions and harvested resources. Honey bees are opportunists, gathering what they need from available sources, and detailed analyses show that the chemical composition of propolis varies considerably from region to region, along with the vegetation. Bees seal the beehive with propolis to protect the colony from the elements, such as rain and cold winter drafts.
3D PRINTING
Concrete is the closest propolis equivalent human implemented product. Its aggregate can also be sourced locally. Construction 3D Printing (c3Dp) or 3D Construction Printing (3DCP) refers to various technologies that use 3D printing as a core method to fabricate buildings or construction components. Alternative terms for this process include "additive construction." "3D Concrete" refers to concrete extrusion technologies whereas Autonomous Robotic Construction System (ARCS), large-scale additive manufacturing (LSAM), or freeform construction (FC) refer to other sub-groups. At construction scale, the main 3D-printing methods are extrusion (concrete/cement, wax, foam, polymers), powder bonding (polymer bond, reactive bond, sintering), and additive welding. A number of different approaches have been demonstrated to date, which include on-site and off-site fabrication of buildings and construction components, using industrial robots, gantry systems, and tethered autonomous vehicles. Demonstrations of construction 3D printing technologies have included fabrication of housing, construction components (cladding and structural panels and columns), bridges and civil infrastructure, artificial reefs, follies, and sculptures.
DESIGN
ANTHROPOLOGY
Design anthropology is a form of applied anthropology that makes use of ethnographic methods to develop new products, services, practices, and forms of sociality. Building on a long lineage of thought from the social sciences, design anthropology can trace its roots back to the interdisciplinary field of material culture which brought together history, sociology, psychology, archaeology, and anthropology to understand the creation and consumption of objects, as well as the meaning ascribed to objects.