Emergence: Morphogenetic Design Strategies

The bony lamellae of the femur, made of compacted collagen fibres and minerals. During self-formation a matrix is laid down in lamellar, sheet-like form which is mineralised by calcium phosphate crystals.

Since its inception, the Emergence and Design Group has collaborated with Professor George Jeronimidis at the Centre for Biomimetics of Reading University and Professor Birger Sevaldson at the Institute of Industrial Design at the Oslo School of Architecture. The focus of research is living nature’s capacity to provide versatile models for design. Here, Professor George Jeronimidis examines natural dynamic systems, material behaviour and adaptation, and presents the case for implementation of these models in architecture and engineering.

The developments in smart materials and responsive buildings are at the forefront of scientific and technical advances in engineering and have stimulated a renewed interest in biology and biomimetics.¹ Whilst there have been a number of interesting architectural applications of advanced materials in architecture, we cannot say that intelligent buildings exist. Environmentally responsive systems for buildings have certainly made rapid advances in the last decade, but they function as a collection of devices such as louvres and shades, controlled by a central computer that receives data from remote sensors and sends back instructions for activation ...