Biomimicry Taxonomy, AskNature

Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a design discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf. The core idea is that Nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with: energy, food production, climate control, non-toxic chemistry, transportation, packaging, and a whole lot more.

AskNature is a webside that organizes nature's most elegant ideas in the perspective of design and engineering. it's the online inspiration source for the biomimicry community.

Biomimicry Taxonomy, is the term used by AskNature, about ask question in nature, and become inspired.

Here’s an example of how you could use the Biomimicry Taxonomy to solve your next design challenge:

CHALLENGE: You are designing a building in an area of low rainfall. You want your building to collect rainwater and store it for future use.

1. Find the verb: Move away from any predetermined ideas of what you want to design, and think more about what you want your design to do. Try to pull out single functional words in the form of verbs. The questions you might pose through the Search or Browse options might be:

How would Nature…
Capture rainwater?Store water?

2. Try a different angle. Some organisms live in areas that don't experience any rain, yet they still get all of the water they need. So other questions to pose might be:

How would Nature…
Capture water?Capture fog?Absorb water?Manage humidity?Move water?

3. Turn the question around. Instead of asking how Nature stores water, you might think about how Nature protects against excess water or keeps water out:

How would Nature…

Remove water?

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here is a video of biomimicry& design :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n77BfxnVlyc&feature=player_embedded

the site, AskNature:

http://www.asknature.org/