Evoking Spatial Experience Through Biomimicry and Biophilic Design

Date
2018
Authors
Gao, Mengmeng
Supervisor
Yap, Leong
Item type
Research Project
Degree name
Master of Design
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Auckland University of Technology
Abstract

This project in biomimicry and biophilia is a very challenging project for me as a landscape design graduate. I have always loved to design landscapes and interior spaces in which people are able to enjoy themselves. Biomimicry and biophilic design have opened my mind to the idea that spaces created according to nature provide a much more beautiful experience for the occupants. The principle and theory of biomimicry have provided me with new interest and enthusiasm to improve my landscape design skills in ways that I never imagined possible before I conducted my literature search and literature review in both biomimicry and biophilic design. I have come across many fantastic concepts based on nature that I believe creativity alone would not have come up with: the innovation, beauty and sustainability that nature can tell us about. In this design project, I have combined the theory and principle of biomimicry and biophilia to create an emotional and meaningful experience in various forms and in the shape of pavilions in which people can have meaningful conversations. Also, most importantly, this is a great experience in the visual, spatial, architectural and natural environments. To ensure that I can create this kind of experience for the human factors used, such as the four pleasures, to enable me to design not only a beautiful pavilion and spaces but also a pavilion that is a psychological, physiological and social experience for people. Some aspects of nature enable me to create a structure that mimics the form, function, and system of natural plants and insects. This is what biomimicry is about. All the concepts and nal design of my pavilion have mimicked the organic shapes of nature. Also, I have been influenced by the application of biophilia which lays out a range of tools for understanding design opportunities and is an effective way to enhance the well- being of humans. The pavilion that I have designed is based on the mushroom, and a piece of leaf; the process has confirmed my thinking about the beauty and signi cance of biomimicry. Due to limited time and technical skills, I have made visual prototypes of various pavilions but they are not perfect; they are merely examples of how I can apply my humanity in research, using approaches such as heuristics and trial and error. Based on the mimicking of nature, through biomimicry and biophilic design, I want to introduce a natural structural space that is seldom imaginable by the human brain alone. The project has taught me and prepared me to be a more imaginative, sensitive and sustainable landscape architect, and I will pursue that aspiration in the future.

Description
Keywords
Biomimicry , Biophlia , Spatial experience , Landscape architecture
Source
DOI
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