Project 1: Research Poster - Inspired by NATURE
Nature and Architecture is an elective module which aims to explore practice of developing sustainable designs
inspired by Nature. This module emphasizes the idea of adapting Nature as the design generator – a tool for
addressing challenges in sustainability issues in the built environment. It emphasizes the process of studying
and understanding nature and the issues of certain geography and mimicking the form, functions, systems and
process of that nature in generating creative design solutions, products or services that have met the current
industry. Through interactive and dynamic exercises, student will gain deeper understanding of ecomimicry,
practice solving real-world challenges using ecomimicry and explore the emerging science of looking at nature
for inspiration.
Module Teaching Objectives
The teaching objectives of the module are:
1. To introduce the importance of creating designs addressing current local environment and social issues.
2. To introduce Nature as design generator; as a solution to the challenge of sustainability.
3. To allow students to explore the opportunity to practice real-world challenges using ideas from Nature.
Module Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Understand the broad context of nature.
2. Analyse a selected nature element and present orally and visually, the analysis.
3. Understand and explain ecology of certain geography.
4. Recognise climate and contexts as design generator.
5. Analyse and explain how design ideas from nature provides ideal solutions for specific context through visual
presentations.
6. Generate ideas from Nature as their design solutions eg. Form, Function, process and system.
7. Produce an architectural design for prototype/ model/ products that mimics the nature.
Project Part II
The theory is that the animals and plants native to a particular landscape are very well adapted to utilising
the physical and biotic environment without inflicting inordinate harm upon it; therefore they serve as the
best inspiration for designing technologies and practices that also fit into the local environment. Ecomimicry,though, would strive to not only learn from Nature, but also to respect the intrinsic values of animal and plant species within the process of design.
Based on the research of your theme in Assignment 1, you shall now commence your study and analysis on
how the selected nature theme can be applied as an element in your building design.
The aim of this assignment is for you to further translate the NATURE inspired concept from Assignment 1
to an architectural design idea to be incorporated into the completed previous studio project and proceed
with the design development phase. In this project you are required to transform your understanding and
analysis of inspiration into a creative and innovative design component of the project, for example, wall
panel, structural system, passive energy generator, etc. The design component shall be linked to current
issues of sustainability.
The objectives of this assignment are as follows:
1. To develop greater awareness of sustainability in architectural design - learning from nature.
2. To apply the various terminology and researches relating to nature design inspired as introduced in
Assignment 1 (ecomimicry, biomimicry and biomemetis).
3. To allow students to develop the opportunity to generate design ideas from nature as a model for form
as well as function.
4. To develop greater awareness of the importance of creating an environmentally sustainable
product/design.
5. To be able to understand and explain the principles of sustainability from environmental and social
perspective.
6. To develop a critical and comprehensive analysis of nature and architecture.
7. To employ graphics to convey the analysis on a building/product to explain the idea of the design
8. To develop an awareness of the communicative efficacy of diagrams.
Throughout this Module, It had been very insightful towards how building designs and different application of Natures inspired elements play a tremendous role towards the evolving technology that helps us humans develop to produce sustainable architecture. Since they have been around millions of years longer than humans, it is evident that those attributes allow us to learn from them and apply it into our own form of design and way of living. With this thought of research and case study, we can continiously learn from them, not just for the benefits of our own but so that we can preserve nature around us, limiting the use of natural resources. In turn we will be able to save mother nature for generations to come and hopefully evolve as they way they do. This is so that we both man and nature can live harmoniously together, as one on this planet.