ABSTRACT
Bioinspired design acknowledges the deep effect and inherent need that humans have for nature as well as modeling our designs and processes after those we find in the natural world. This chapter focuses on two main bio-inspired design processes: biophilia and biomimicry. The fields of neuroscience, evidence-based design, and environmental psychology are conducting research that confirms the theory of biophilia. Looking at biophilia and biomimicry from an integral perspective reveals the important opportunities afforded by these approaches. Biomimicry seeks to study nature’s system-based approach as a co-creative design and manufacturing approach, while biophilia’s goal is to reconnect occupants with nature through form, materiality, and configuration. Biomimicry requires humility and openness, and it may take a little more time at the beginning of the process but has the power to inspire our thinking and technology to go beyond brute-force techniques for solving problems.
