The SiOO X Story – Protecting the Planet - Book - Page 29
Chapter 3
Biophilia and Biomimicry
Government policy regarding the built environment during the
19th and 20th Centuries was largely concerned with meeting
physical needs, such as provision of clean water and effective
sanitation. However, as humanity continues its journey into the
21st Century there is an increasing realisation that a reconnection with nature is also urgently needed. Living in the ‘concrete
jungles’ that we have created is leading to increased stress levels,
ill-health and anti-social behaviour.
Biomimicry comes from the observation of how the functioning
of natural organisms arises from the structure of components.
Self-cleaning surfaces inspired by the lotus leaf, bacteria repellent surfaces which are based on a shark’s skin, the story of
Velcro. The more we study natural organisms, the more we are
amazed by how supremely they are adapted to their environ
ment. Silicification in plants was first described in 1804 by Nicholas de Saussure (1764–1845), who was professor of minerology
and Geology at the Geneva academy. He is most famous for
showing that the carbon in plants comes from the atmosphere
and that oxygen was released during photosynthesis. He found
that the weight of carbon absorbed was less than the weight
gain of the plant and reasoned that water is also absorbed and,
in so doing, he correctly outlined the chemical reaction that
takes place during photosynthesis. In his book ‘Recherches
Chimique sur la Végétation’, he also showed that the mineral
composition of plants differed from that of the soil. It is now
known that most plants contain substantial quantities of silica.
The reasons why plants accumulate silica in this way is still debated in the scientific literature, but it is known that silica deposition
is one response of plants to abiotic stresses (e.g., drought, salt,
heat, cold, mechanical stresses and UV radiation).
By the same token, our living spaces can be transformed to
have a positive effect on human behaviour and health. This is
now becoming recognised amongst policy-makers and there
are initiatives to improve the aesthetics of living spaces. It is
increasingly recognised that exposure to nature has positive
benefits on mental and physical well-being and this desire for
a connection with nature has been termed biophilia. This term
was first used by Erich Fromm in his 1973 work ‘The Anatomy of
Human Destructiveness’, who defined biophilia as a ‘passionate
love of life and of all that is alive’. This word was later used by
the biologist Edward Wilson in his book ‘Biophilia’ (1984), who
proposed that the innate tendency of humans to be drawn to
nature has a genetic basis. We are now seeing a burgeoning of
a biophilic movement in architecture, where nature is incorporated either directly, or indirectly in the design of new buildings.
Incorporating nature and natural materials into hospital rooms
has been shown to improve recovery rates and, in the workplace,
leads to increased productivity and reduced absenteeism. These
are directly measurable benefits. Yet, these ideas are hardly
new – for example, they were the inspiration for Art Nouveau
designs, but this gave way to Art Deco and Modernism. Now is
the time for a renaissance of design ideas inspired by nature.
Where biophilic design principles are used as an inspiration for
architectural designs, biomimicry offers a new way of building.
Supplementing plants with silica has also been shown to increase their resistance to attack by herbivores, fungal and bacterial pathogens, viruses and nematodes. Silicon, the second
most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and seventh most
abundant element in the universe has a fundamental role to
play in nature in the protection of plants.
Photo: Alan Coultas.
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