Schedule
Tue, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (9/6/2011 - 12/16/2011) Location: MAIN MAIN 227
Thu, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (9/6/2011 - 9/12/2011) Location: MAIN MAIN 227
Description
This seminar will be a 4 unit seminar. It will meet 3 hours weekly with an additional 5 meetings (3 hours each) TBA
Ecology and biology are disciplines that can influence design projects in unexpected and interesting ways. How environmental and climatic conditions have influenced the evolution of behavioral and physiological traits of animals can inform and inspire fields such as design and architecture. The term biomimetics, in all its faceted variations (bionics, biomimicry, bioinspiration) has been in use since the 1950s when Otto Schmitt defined it as ?biology + technology? and applied it mainly within the field of engineering. In the field of architecture, however, this term has been adopted only within the last five to ten years and, too often erroneously, refers to studies limited to the imitation of the morphological aspects of the biological world. A major challenge facing the field of architecture today is to go beyond the basic quest of aesthetics and to take a responsible