Beyond biomimicry: What termites can tell us about realizing the living building.
@inproceedings{Turner2008BeyondBW, title={Beyond biomimicry: What termites can tell us about realizing the living building.}, author={J. Scott Turner}, year={2008} }
Termites and the structures they build have been used as exemplars of biomimetic designs for climate control in buildings, like Zimbabwe's Eastgate Centre, and various other "termite-inspired" buildings. Remarkably, these designs are based upon an erroneous conception of how termite mounds actually work. In this article, we review recent progress in the structure and function of termite mounds, and outline new biomimetic building designs that could arise from this better understanding. We also…
Figures from this paper
109 Citations
The challenge of biomimetic design for carbon‐neutral buildings using termite engineering
- Engineering
- 2010
A new era in how the authors think of human habitations is opened up, not only on earth, but perhaps on other planets, and using the termite model as the corner stone of innovative engineering.
Biomimetic design for climate change adaptation and mitigation
- Environmental Science
- 2010
This article examines biomimicry, where organisms or ecosystems are mimicked in human design, as a means to either mitigate the causes of climate change that the built environment is responsible for,…
Biomimetics: forecasting the future of science, engineering, and medicine
- Engineering, Materials ScienceInternational journal of nanomedicine
- 2015
This report proposes to become a blueprint for accomplishments that can stem from biomimetics in the next 5 years as well as providing insight into their unseen limitations.
Biomimicry of Termite Social Cohesion and Design to Inspire and Create Sustainable Systems
- Art
- 2011
Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a new discipline that studies nature's best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. The…
Arboreal Synergy: A Philosophical Exploration of Biomimetic Architecture
- Art
- 2016
Biomimetic architecture possesses tremendous potential for techno-ecological synergy, yet it currently lacks a strong philosophical foundation. Freya Mathews attributes synergy in nature to two…
Biomimicry : A New Approach to Enhance the Efficiency of Natural Ventilation Systems in Hot Climate
- Biology
- 2010
The present research tries to reformulate a new concept called “breathing façades”, firstly mentioned by Hassan Fathy and previously used in traditional buildings, through proposing a conceptual model as a step towards creating buildings that can breathe.
Self-organized biotectonics of termite nests
- BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- 2021
This study demonstrates how a local self-reinforcing biotectonic scheme is capable of generating an architecture that is simultaneously adaptable and functional, and likely to be relevant for a range of other animal-built structures.
3 D Tracking of Building Processes in Macrotermes
- Biology
- 2012
Mound-building termites of the genus Macrotermes actively reshape their physical environment in ways that benefit their colony. Previous studies of Macrotermes have focused on the response of…
COOLING STRATEGIES IN THE BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS AND TERMITE MOUND: THE POTENTIAL OF EMULATING THEM TO SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE AND BIONIC ENGINEERING
- Engineering
- 2018
Biomimicry, the science of emulating nature’s strategies, has remarkably contributed to solving many of human problems in different fields. This paper studied the potential of interpreting some of…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 36 REFERENCES
TERMITES AS MEDIATORS OF THE WATER ECONOMY OF ARID SAVANNA ECOSYSTEMS
- Environmental Science
- 2006
Large termite mounds, constructed by colonies of various species of macrotermitine termites (Isoptera, Termitidae, Macrotermitinae), are dominant features of the arid and semiarid savannas of…
The Structure of Mature Mounds of the Termite macrotermes Michaelseni in Kenya
- Biology
- 1985
The termite Macrotermes michaelseni (Sjöstedt) builds conical earth mounds with no external openings and a closed system of inter-connected passages in the mound facilitates loss of metabolic heat to the atmosphere.
Mound Structure and Nest Population of the Termite, Pseudacanthotermes Spiniger (Sjostedt) in Kenya
- Biology
- 1994
The mounds in western Kenya were found to be densely packed with discrete chambers containing fungus combs and the ratio of fungus comb weight to adult biomass is higher than that in Macrotermes spp.
Termite mound building
- Environmental ScienceInsectes Sociaux
- 2005
It follows that the use of termite mounds as indications of species behaviour must be considered with care if there are wide differences in environmental factors in the areas being dealt with.
On the Mound of Macrotermes michaelseni as an Organ of Respiratory Gas Exchange
- Environmental SciencePhysiological and Biochemical Zoology
- 2001
Patterns and rates of air movements in the mounds and nests of Macrotermes michaelseni were studied using tracer methods to find out how metabolism‐induced buoyant forces may interact with wind energy in a way that promotes homeostasis of the mound atmosphere.
An Analysis of the Orientation of 'magnetic' Termite Mounds.
- Geology
- 1977
It is suggested that mound shape may be determined genetically rather than by environmental factors, because shape-frequency distributions for each locality were heterogeneous, even between localities in close proximity.
The nests ofMacrotermes bellicosus (Smeathman) from Mokwa, Nigeria
- BiologyInsectes Sociaux
- 2005
SummaryTwo types ofMacrotermes bellicosus nests from Mokwa, Nigeria, are described. Both were found under similar conditions of soil, climate and drainage with no clear pattern of distribution to…
The Tinkerer's Accomplice: How Design Emerges from Life Itself
- Art
- 2007
Physiologist Scott Turner argues eloquently and convincingly that the apparent design the authors see in the living world only makes sense when they add to Darwin's towering achievement the dimension that much modern molecular biology has left on the gene-splicing floor: the dynamic interaction between living organisms and their environment.
Size relationships in nest populations and mound parameters in the termiteMacrotermes michaelseni in Kenya
- BiologyInsectes Sociaux
- 2005
Nest populations grow rapidly while the nest is young, then stabilise to a fairly constant level in maturity, so that data from surveys of mound size and density can be used to estimate termite populations.