Word: benyus
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...learn from nature to get water without wells, materials without mining, or cooling without AC? Over 150 graduate students, faculty members, and Cambridge residents packed into a crowded Loeb Auditorium at the Graduate School of Design to hear author Janine M. Benyus address those very questions...
Biomimicry, as Benyus puts it, is about asking, “What would nature do if it sat at the design table, from the smallest light bulb to a city or region? What would nature’s consultation do to change the way our designs look and function...
...such problem: residents in Japan became bothered by the mini-sonic booms created by the bullet train as it exited tunnels near residential areas. Benyus said that the solution was found by turning to a bird called the Kingfisher, which catches its prey by dive-bombing into bodies of water without creating a single ripple thanks to certain properties of its tapering beak. Design firm JR West solved the noise issue by adapting the nose of the train to mimic the Kingfisher’s beak, increasing the train’s speed by 10 percent and reducing energy consumption...
Students in attendance said they appreciated the novel examples that Benyus shared. Constantine A. Bouras, a GSD student who took exhaustive notes on the talk, said that it was “imperative that biological mechanisms be integrated into architecture...
...Benyus said she hoped scientists at places like the Wyss Institute would keep striving to learn more from nature...