Biomimetic buildings.

The more technology advances, the more there seems to be a basic human yearning to return to nature. This is reflected in a growing number of designers, architects, and artists who are turning to nature’s example to model uses of new technology. San Francisco architect Charles Lee does just that. Lee is a designer, artist, and researcher with the group Bios Design Collective, a group that works on the premise that technology is a biological process. That is to say that the things that we build are prosthetic extensions of the human condition and are inseparable from the biological world in which they exist. So why not draw inspiration for design from the process of evolution? In the image here of a model house, Lee’s design blurs the line between living organism and object. Lee’s Dissipative System, designed in 2010, combines possible tectonics and materials to explore the possibility of a new biomimetic approach toward building. The house is created with a thermo-chromatic tile that functions like an organic skin to regulate heat. Curved, smart, solar-controled glass changes density in response to the environment outside to help regulate light transmission. Dissipation heat-sinks help create passive thermoregulation in the building, even when the temperature outside varies. A glazed ceramic tile used for the interior and exterior of the shell, like that of the exoskeleton of a beetle found in nature, changes color in response to the change in humidity and temperature. Lee’s design concept is currently being exhibited in a touring exhibition entitled Nature’s Toolbox: Biodiversity, Art, and Invention. Organized by Art Works for Change and curated by Randy Rosenberg, the exhibit includes the work of 35 contemporary artists who were asked to create work around the idea that the quality of human life can be improved even as we live in harmony with nature. Art Works for Change produces traveling contemporary art exhibitions that address social and environmental issues. It applies the transformative power of art to promote awareness, inspire action, and provoke dialogue. The exhibitions serve as catalyst and crucible where artists, museums, advocacy organizations, and the local community can unite in common cause.