Breathing Skins
Have you ever seen a building that breathes through thousands of pores? That may now be a possibility thanks to Tobias Becker’s Breathing Skins Project. Based on the concept of biomimicry, the technology is inspired by organic skins.
Shapes of Sweden
The project Shapes of Sweden was developed for the Volvo Design Challenge that Lilian van Daal won in 2015. For this challenge she dived into the Swedish environment and the brand proposition of Volvo.
Iridescence
Iridescence is a 3D-printed, interactive Emotive Collar by Behnaz Farahi, inspired by the gorget of the Anna’s hummingbird. It is equipped with a facial tracking camera and an array of 200 rotating quills.
Radiolaria
The salient observation about the natural world’s smallest lifeforms provides designer Lilian van Daal the framework for exploring the functional forms of unicellular micro-organisms and turning it into, Radiolaria #1.
Parametric Glacier
During the Contemporary Culture Forum White Night, an architecture, light and sound installation Parametric Glacier was on display at the Dome Cathedral garden in Riga.
Bionic Pavilion
The School of Architecture at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, have lead a collaborative research project into bionic inspired wooden shell structures.
BHP Pavilion
BHP pavilion by Matsys Design, is composed of 22 concrete “petals” that form a network of vaults that provide shade and direct the flow of rainwater into an underground cistern used for the park’s irrigation.
3D-Printed Tire
Well known tire manufacturer Michelin introduces an airless, 3D printed tire made from recycled biodegradable like natural rubber, bamboo, paper, tin cans, wood, and plastic, which means it can be totally recycled after its life cycle.
Fibonacci Series
Nature and its structures are always a central theme in Lilian van Daal ’s work. In this 3D printed material exploration the sequence of Fibonacci was applied. Lilian is exploring whether this sequence can be used for the application and improvement of interior design products.
Heaven Bloom
“Heaven Bloom” by WHYIXD is located in the lobby of a building which is constructed by GoldenJade development corp. Along with the international architecture team from Singapore, WOHA, this mansion was designed with concept of nature.
Seed and Signal
Seed and Signal by Hypersonic is a kinetic sculpture that explores the dynamics of group behavior. In nature, individuals that crowd together often exhibit dynamics whereby tiny changes in behavior can alter the balance of the group between order and chaos.
Water Reaction
Water Reaction, a project by Royal College of Art student Chao Chen, is an to create a material that reacts to external conditions with no human input required. Unlike other more high-tech approaches to this idea, Chen was inspired by a pinecone.
VULCAN Pavilion
Guinness World Records has awarded the title of “largest 3D printed structure” to VULCAN, a temporary pavilion designed by the Beijing-based Laboratory for Creative Design (LCD). Made up of 1023 printed segments, structure was 9.08 meters long.
Aguahoja
Neri Oxman and MIT have developed programmable water-based biocomposites for digital design and fabrication. Named Aguahoja, the project has exhibited both a pavilion and a series of artifacts constructed from molecular components.
Swarm Light
The ‘Swarm Light’ by rAndom International is an experimental light installation with a real ‚collective consciousness’ that subtly reacts to the viewer’s audible presence.
Crysalis III
Crysalis (III) is a sculptural piece that explores cellular morphologies using parametric tools and composite materials. Designed and built by MATSYS, the sculpture takes direct inspiration from the organization of barnacle-like cells.
Embroidered Artwork
The embroidered artwork of Meredith Woolnough explores the beauty and fragility of nature. She uses a synthetic embroidery thread and a water-soluble fabric to create her work. The water-soluble fabric is what makes her work possible.
Porifera Jewelry
Porifera is a 3D-printed brass jewelry collection inspired by the forms of deep-sea dwelling glass sponges. These ancient sponges form reefs of glass with complex, porous architectures that are home to many species.
Parametric Barnacle Lamp
In this project by Kai Zhang, designer used bristol paper as construction material. After playing around with paper and exploring possible forms he used grasshopper to parametrically generate the lamp’s form.
RADIOLARIA
The Radiolaria Bernotat Co are a family of eleven lamps made of 3D-knitted textile with glow-in-the-dark seams, inspired by the phenomenon of bioluminescence and the microscopic organisms discovered by German scientist Ernst Haeckel.
Reaction Diffusion Pattern
In Kouhei Nakama’s production, Diffusion, programming is used to generate patterns on a human form. The central question is “Why do humans not have patterned skin like animals?”. To explore this concept, Nakama implements reaction-diffusion algorithms to generate patterns that resemble those found in plants and animals.
Bix Display Skin
Affectionately named The Friendly Alien, by its designers Peter Cook and Colin Fournier, the Knusthaus Graz was built for the European Cultural Capital 2003 activities in Graz, Austria.
UAE Pavilion
Following a seven month design competition with submissions from the world’s leading architecture firms, the National Media Council of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) selected Santiago Calatrava’s proposal for the UAE Pavilion at the Dubai World Expo 2020.
Silk Pavilion
Designed by the Mediated Matter research group at the MIT Media Lab in collaboration with Prof. Fiorenzo Omenetto (TUFTS University) and Dr. James Weaver (WYSS Institute, Harvard University), The Silk Pavilion explores the relationship between digital and biological fabrication on product and architectural scales.
Sea-Urchin Shell Pavilion
The research team at the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) have taken morphological inspiration from the structure of the sea urchin and the sand dollar, both sea-bed invertebrates, to create what almost bears semblance to a floating bee hive, in a team combining architects, engineers, biologists, and palaeontologists.
Scutoid
A completely new geometric shape has been discovered by a group of researchers looking into the dynamics of cells that contribute toward the embryonic development and lead to the formation of human organs. Lehigh University professor, Javier Buceta, helped discover this geometric shape— the scutoid.
Biologic
A team of MIT researchers has designed a breathable workout suit with ventilating flaps that open and close in response to an athlete’s body heat and sweat. These flaps, which range from thumbnail- to finger-sized, are lined with live microbial cells that shrink and expand in response to changes in humidity.
Autonomous Earthworm Robot
Researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Seoul National University have engineered a soft autonomous robot that moves via peristalsis, crawling across surfaces by contracting segments of its body, much like an earthworm. The robot, made almost entirely of soft materials, is remarkably resilient.
The Navicula Light
Navicula is derived from nature, in this case from one of the many microscopic diatoms that float around in the oceans. The flowing, segmented form is shipped as kitset and assembled on site with push-in nylon clips. The thin curved pieces of CNC-cut bamboo plywood create a flowing structure
Flagellum Protein Motor
The bacterial flagellum has become an iconic example of the evidence against modern Darwinian theory as well as the evidence for intelligent design. Stephen Meyer, Scott Minnich and others scientists and scholars explore the facts about this amazing piece of nanotechnology, first made famous by biologist Michael Behe.