Nature’sOpera,ngSystemsTheBiosphereisadatabasefullofstrategies,processesand

pa=ernsthatshowushowwecanorganizethepeopleworldinabe=erway

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Thispresenta,oniswri=enandarrangedbyStefaanVandist,www.trinity‐planning.be.Itispartofthe10Adver,singHarvestcollec,on,andfirstshownatthe“whatmakesyouhorny”seminarofBoondoggleAmsterdam.(#wmyhattwi=er)

#wmyh

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Iamanamateurphotographerofthenaturalworld,itspa=erns,processesandstrategiesinwhichorganismsaresuccessful.Whatweseeherearetermitesusingapipeasahighway.Althoughtermitesarealwaysonthemove,theynevercrash,neverhavetrafficjams,neveraretrappedbyobstacles…Ontopofthat,theyreachouthumansbyfarwhenitcomestobiomass.Butno‐onesaystherearetomanyantsintheworld.Theyfer,lizeanddrainthesoil.Theyareextremelywellinterconnectedwiththenaturalworld

BRUTALFORCE

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Howeversomespeciesmightberudesome,mes,nature’sopera,ngsystemsareverygentletotheirenvironment.Inthepeople‐worldhowever,wetake‐make‐wastethings,o^eninabrutalway!

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Thewaywetakemineralsfromthesoiliso^enin‘cubngawayamountaintop‐style’,whichisnotasgentleasthewaymineralsaredistractedfromthesoilinthenaturalworld.Bytreesforexample.

BRUTALFORCE

BRUTALFORCE

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Thewaywemakethingsisveryenergyconsumingandhasaheavycostforourenvironments.Weheat‐beat‐and‐treatthings.Wemanufacturewithhightemperatures,highpressuresandtoxictreatments

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Eventhewayweharvestfoodisbrutalforce.Weliterallyscrapealllifeoftheoceanfloorwhenfishing

BRUTALFORCE

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Thewaywemoveourassfromonepointtoanotherisbadorganizedandlargelybasedonbrutalforce.Everyyear,humanityburnsapproximately 100.000 years of ancient plant growth.

BRUTALFORCE

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TheJurassicCaronthisbillboardpromisesmethatitisintelligent,butitisdefinitelynotevenclosetotheintelligentdesignof…ahummingbird.

BRUTALFORCE

LEARN

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Ahummingbirdisnotlargerthenathumb,flies30milesanhour,andflies2000milesayear.Itcanoperate3dimensionalandhardlymakesnoise.Itcanflyoveropenwaterfor600mileswithoutastop,onjust2,1gramsoffuel.Itfuelswithnectar,notgasoline,andthemoreitfuels,themoreitguaranteesthesurvivaloffloweringplants,itselves,itsoffspringandotherspeciesthatdependonnectar.Imaginethesameprinciplewouldcountinourwayofmobility?

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LEARN

Today in Industrial agriculture, there goes a lot of money to pesticides and fertilizers. On top of that, soil needs to be ploughed every year. In high scale monocultures, we need an average of 10 kilocalories of oil to produce 1 kilocalories of food. The pre-Columbian prairie-type of growing our food is more economical and ecological, consisting of different species in an order that co-exists with the natural world. Wouldn’t it be a more healthy, more protective and more pleasant to look at?

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LEARN

To make complex materials we heat, beat and treat. We heat petroleum products to high temperatures, subject them to high pressures and treat them in chemical baths (that are very toxic, and very expensive) Spiders make six kinds of silk, that are five times stronger – ounce by ounce - than steal. Imagine we could emulate spiders and take carbon-based, abundant and raw materials an allow them to self-assemble in silent processes, operating in water at room temperature and produce biodegradable fiber.

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LEARN

A leaf has tens of thousands of tiny photosynthetic reaction centres. In fact solar panels are mimicking natural operating processes as well. Every leaf or grass helm is currently producing energy in a more effective way than we do. Within each leaf, sun’s energy is absorbed, sending a negative charge to one side of a membrane and a positive charge to the other side. It is essentially a tin battery. Wouldn’t it be great if we could mimic that molecular battery to split water and make storable hydrogen? Probably a next step in solar to think about.

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LEARN

Cell biologists now realize that every cell in our body is in a sense a sophisticated computer, responding to signals and information from enzymes, antibodies, antigens and so on that attract or repel one another. They scan, each other, hook together, and self-assemble. It is a less 0 and 1-kind of paradigm, it is more three dimensional, and computer scientists are noticing much different possibilities if we would compute in the same way.

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LEARN

Ecosystems like coral reefs are densely interconnected. Every niche you can possibly imagine is filled. Waste equals food in all the biosphere.

Industrial symbiosis is the idea of organizing our industry in the same way. Shift our economy form the linear ‘take-make-waste’ into closed-loop systems.

ROMANTICDREAMING?

OR

MAGICALREALISM

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REAL

The goal was to cut out the extremely loud claps that occurred when Japan's bullet train emerged from tunnels. Engineers looked toward the kingfisher, which dives seamlessly into water. A nosecone designed after the bird's beak solved the issue.

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REAL

Mercedes-Benz looked towards the boxfish for their bionic car concept. Noting the aerodynamics and efficiency of the boxfish's shape, the engineers decided to apply the characteristics of the fish to a car. The result is a very streamlined vehicle with a 65% lower drag coefficient than other compact cars out at the time (2005).

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REAL

What better examples to use for underwater turbine design than the flora and fauna of the oceans? BioPower Systems did just this. Looking at the way sea plants move in currents and the efficient movements of fish like sharks and tuna, BioPower used evolution as its role model for designing turbines for effective tidal power generation.

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REAL

The best cleaner is no cleaner. Scientists today try to find out and hack how Lotus leafs manage to stay clean thanks to the patterns in their surface.

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REAL

If you've ever tried to pick a mussel off a rock or pier piling, you've likely noticed that they sure know how to stick to something. Columbia Forest Products looked at the natural adhesive abilities of the blue mussel and came up with a way to use soy-based formaldehyde-free technology in the construction of hardwood plywood products.

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REAL

Biomimicry can be used at even the tiniest of scales. Biosignal wanted to create a way to control bacteria without killing it, so that bacterial resistance can be avoided while preventing infection. The company took inspiration from the seaweed delisea pulchra, which has a way of stopping bacteria's ability to communicate. Colonies of bacteria then cannot form and cause infection, yet the bacteria isn't killed and doesn't form a resistant strain.

1.BiomimicryVision:NatureisanR&Dlabwithabillion+yearsofexperience

Price:itisfree

Ask:Howwouldnaturesolvethis?Learn:fromform,pa=ernsandprocessesinnature

Do:Designinspiredbynature 23

READ

2.BioneeringVision:TheBiosphereisanopera,ngsystem

Ask:Howdoweusethepowerofnaturetocleanupourmess?Do:makelivingmachines,organizeourselvesbe=erwiththenaturalworld

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READ

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REAL

Mangus Larsson wants to halt the marching sands of desertification, with a 6,000-kilometer-long sandstone wall that would bisect Africa east to west at the southern edge of the Sahara. A particular microorganism can turn loose media, such as sand or soils, into rock-solid stone in about a day by creating calcium carbonate.

“The idea is to stop the desert using the desert itself,”

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REAL

This is a living machine, the Restorers of John Todd are combinations of swamps, ponds and greenhouses that treats our sewage and waste water, purifies the rivers and provides ponds to breed fish for consumption. You find prototypes in different areas and climates, in Hawaii, Holland, Barcelona, Boston and Nigeria.

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REAL

Last but certainly not least, this is fomen fermentarus, it looks like an ordinary mushroom, but Paul Stamets, an expert in Fungi discovered six ways in which this sort of mushrooms can save the world. How they can restore depleted soils, help clean up contaminated ground, help us with reforestation, help us feed growing human populations,…

HannoverPrinciples

 Naturerunsonsunlight Natureonlyusestheenergyitneeds Naturefitsformtofunc,on Naturerecycleseverything Naturerewardscoopera,on Naturebanksondiversity Naturedemandslocalexper,se Naturecurbsexcessesfromwithin Naturetapsthepoweroflimits

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WilliamMcDonough,authorofCradle‐to‐cradle

REMEMBER

Theearthbelongstotheliving!stefaan@trinity‐planning.be

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LucSchuiten–VegetalCity