Be, Contemplate, Imagine

Biomimetic Design • Week 15

It’s 5PM, Tuesday, May 2, 2023 and 61°F. The strong gusts of wind would feel harsh if not for the cheerful sunshine. Neighbors are taking their necessary post-work strolls and soaking in as much Vitamin D as they can.

My chosen sit spot is on a hillside next to the Armatage Community Center in South Minneapolis, Minnesota. The trees that surround me are bare save for the buds at the fingertips that so patiently wait to burst into bloom at the right moment. In stark contrast to the early morning cacophony of bird chatter, there are no birds to be heard. Could it be that they save all energy in these types of windy conditions?

As I sit here, I can’t help but race through my checklist of things to do. It is the end of the semester and I want to ensure I have completed all tasks. The inability to calm thoughts during BCIs and meditation is not new for me. So I wait for anxieties to pass and gently remind myself to focus on the present. I place my palm to the ground beneath me. In doing so, my heart rate settles a bit. 

This has been my experience throughout this course. Calm, chaos, calm again. We visit nature, then dive into lectures and ideation, and return to nature. With time and experience, this undulation will smooth out. Yet, looking back on the course, we students have come so far. We were introduced to the concept of biomimicry, learned about life’s principles and the design spiral, took that spiral around from biology to design (B2D), and from challenge to biology (C2B). With the mix of elements involved in biomimetic design (biomimicry taxonomy, functions, biological strategies, life’s principles, etc.), I felt the processes did not truly click until the individual project. After completing the group project, I feel very confident in my ability to work with the design spiral and evaluate my design concepts against the criteria of Life’s Principles. I have even started to evaluate other course projects against the criteria of Life’s Principles. 

Perhaps the most important piece of this course was the way in which I view nature has changed. I am now genuinely interested and intrigued by, as well as eternally grateful for, the biosphere around me. If we all just look a little deeper, we may find that nature holds the solution to so many design challenges. 

I look forward to solving future design challenges through the lens of biomimicry and cherish the new skills I’ve developed over the semester.