Biomimicry – What We Can Learn From Nature
What is Biomimicry?
Biomimicry is all around us in the products we use, the buildings we design and the technologies we’ve built. Bio is the Greek word for life, and mimic means to copy, so biomimicry means to copy nature.
Biomimicry is the science and art of using ideas from nature to help us create better designs and more sustainable technologies. Using nature-inspired designs, we can innovate processes, systems and new products that will benefit everyday life. Biomimicry helps us see problems in different ways and allows us to turn to nature for novel solutions.
Learning From Nature
From flight and underwater sonar to camouflage and frictionless travel, nature did it first. For hundreds of years, humans have always looked to nature for inspiration to solve problems. In fact, Leonardo Da Vinci was inspired by bats and birds to create the first designs for his mechanical flying machine. Although he wasn’t successful in creating a machine to help him fly, his ideas lived on and inspired the Wright brothers to observe pigeons and build the first plane in 1903.
Although the idea has been around for centuries now, the term was first popularized by scientist Janine Benyus in her 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired By Nature. Benyus believed that most of the problems we face can be solved by nature as they have for thousands of years. The focus is to not just learn about nature, but to learn from it too.
Drawing Contest 2019
At Diproinduca, we are conscious of the impact that we have on the environment. Through this year’s contest, we hope to encourage the next generation of scientists, engineers, architects and designers to reconnect with the natural world in order to imagine and create solutions for some of the world’s problems.
For more information, check out our Learning Center for useful resources and videos, and visit our contest page for additional details.
Good luck! We can’t wait to see what you come up with!