“Thanks to a smart TED talk by biologist Janine Beynus that made the rounds a few years ago, books like Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, and new online resources like AskNature.org, more and more designers are realizing a simple truth when trying to find responsible, ecological solutions: If we’re trying to do it, chances are, nature already did it better.
Biomimicry is quickly becoming a cornerstone of sustainable design, but for designers who want to incorporate biomimicry into their work, many don’t know where to start. Some famous biomimetic solutions have gotten passed around the mainstream press–including examples like self-cleaning surfaces modeled on lotus flowers, or the sticky repositionable tape inspired by gecko feet–but biomimicry isn’t as easy as using nature as a crib sheet. “One of the big realizations that designers have when they play with biomimicry is that it’s not a tool, it’s a mindset shift,” says Dayna Baumeister, who co-founded the Biomimicry Guild with Benyus in 1998. “Because of that–because of the fundamentally different way of thinking–it’s hard.”
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