Evolver Columbus: Biomimicry Spore

Evolver Spores: Biomimicry
Wednesday, April 27th

Over the last centuries, humanity made amazing progress in science and technology. Unfortunately, in our race to build modern civilization, we cut ourselves off from the natural world, creating industries that spread toxic waste and pollution. However, over the last decades, a new field of applied science has emerged with the potential to redefine and even transform our relationship to the planet’s ecology. Biomimicry - or biomemetics - seeks to design technology based on imitating nature’s principles for use in medicine, biomechanics, architecture, electronics, social design, and more. Based on the principle of doing more with less, biomimicry looks to nature as an expert in form and function. Modern industrial methods that shape raw materials through exertion of intensive force – “heat, beat, and treat” – and are both financially and environmentally costly.

As a celebration of Earth Day this month, 40 + Evolver Spores will look at how nature’s design solutions can be used to create a truly regenerative planetary culture. Spores may choose to examine the work of biomimicists such as Buckminster Fuller, Janine Benyus, Michael Pawlyn and Jay Harman and/or explore how the shape of a bullet train was inspired by a hummingbird, or how ceramics have been created after the molecular structure of mother-of-pearl. Spores can offer collaborative workshops, learning and applying design science principles. Together, the Evolver network and global community will explore the new design solutions of both the physical and imaginal world, co-creating new relationships to our natural world.