Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent sustainable Construction - I3con

More documents

Recommendations

Info

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION HANDBOOK 2 234 Beyond biomimicry: What termites can tell us about realizing the living building J Scott Turner 1 and Rupert C Soar 2,3 1 SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, Syracuse, New York, USA 2 Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicester, UK 3 Freeform Engineering (Pty) Ltd Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK Abstract Termites and the structures they build have been used as exemplars of biomimetic designs for climate control in buildings, such as Zimbabwe’s Eastgate Centre, and various other “termite-inspired” buildings. Remarkably, these designs are based upon an erroneous conception of how termite mounds actually work. In this article, we review recent knowledge of the structure and function of termite mounds, and outline how new biomimetic building designs could arise from this better understanding. We also suggest that the termite “extended organism” provides a model to take architecture “beyond biomimicry”—from buildings that merely imitate life to buildings that are, in a sense, alive. Keywords: biomimicry, termite, Eastgate Centre, Macrotermes, termite mound, gas exchange, temperature regulation, homeostasis, rapid manufacturing, free-form construction, extended organism Introduction Since the mid 1990’s, termites and the structures they build have inspired biomimetic designs for passive climate control in buildings. Our recent studies on the structure and function of termite mounds have revealed that termite mounds do not actually work in the way that architects and entomologists have long thought. The actual workings of termite mounds may, in fact, hold a much richer trove of “termite-inspired” designs than has previously been imagined. In this article, we review these recent discoveries, and offer some visions of new biomimetic building designs that could arise from this better understanding of the structure and function of termite mounds. The Eastgate Centre. A biomimicry watershed Harare’s Eastgate Centre, which opened in 1996, deservedly stands as an iconic biomimetic building (Figure 1). Mick Pearce, the project’s lead architect, wanted the building to reflect two tenets of his philosophy of “tropical architecture”—first, that design principles developed in the temperate northern hemisphere are ill-suited to tropical climes like Zimbabwe’s; and second, that effective design should draw inspiration from local nature, which is rife with plants and animals that live there comfortably [1]. Where Pearce drew his inspiration was from the remarkable mound-building termites of southern Africa (Figure 1). These creatures are themselves architects of sorts, building massive mounds that in some instances tower several metres high. The mound is widely thought to serve as climate-control infrastructure for the termite colony’s subterranean nest. Pearce reasoned that the architectural principles of the termite mound, honed to sleek efficiency by the relentless refining of natural selection, could inspire buildings that perform equally well. By all measures, his vision succeeded brilliantly.
HANDBOOK 2 SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION For the past several years, we have been studying the structure and function of the termite mounds that inspired Mick Pearce. In the process, we have learned many things, among them something quite remarkable: the Eastgate Centre is modeled on an erroneous conception of how termite mounds actually work. This is not intended to be a criticism, of course: Pearce was only following the prevailing ideas of the day, and the end result was a successful building anyway. But termite mounds turn out to be much more interesting in their function than had previously been imagined. We believe this betokens expansive possibilities for new “termite-inspired” building designs that go beyond Pearce’s original vision: buildings that are not simply inspired by life - biomimetic buildings - but that are, in a sense, as alive as their inhabitants and the living nature in which they are embedded. Figure 1. The Eastgate Centre and a Macrotermes mound. a-b: The exterior of the Eastgate Centre, showing chimneys along the roof 4 . c: The interior atrium of the Eastgate Centre 5 . d: A mound of Macrotermes michaelseni in northern Namibia. How the Eastgate Centre is like a termite mound If Eastgate was inspired by termite mounds, what precisely about them was the inspiration? This is not as simple a question as it might seem. Termite mounds are structurally diverse - some are festooned with one or more large vents, others have no obvious openings to the outside, and shapes range from cones to pillars to hemispheres [2-6]. Most biologists believe this structural diversity betokens a diversity of function [7]. As we shall show, this turns out mostly to be incorrect. What makes Eastgate all the more remarkable is that it melds many of these diverse, and in some instances contradictory, design features into a single, functionally coherent, building. 4 www.archpaper.com/features/2007_14_imitation.htm 5 http://blog.miragestudio7.com/wpcontent/uploads2/2007/12/eastgate_centre_harare_zimbabwe_interior_mick_ pearce.jpg 235
Page 1:
Industrialised, Integrated, Intelli
Page 4 and 5:
SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION HANDBOOK 2
Page 6 and 7:
Page 8 and 9:
Page 10 and 11:
Page 12 and 13:
Page 14 and 15:
Page 16 and 17:
Page 18 and 19:
Page 20 and 21:
Page 22 and 23:
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57:
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60 and 61:
Page 62 and 63:
Page 64 and 65:
Page 66 and 67:
Page 68 and 69:
Page 70 and 71:
Page 72 and 73:
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
Page 196 and 197: SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION HANDBOOK 2
Page 260: SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION HANDBOOK 2
show all

Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent sustainable Construction - I3con

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?