Iran J Sci Technol Trans Sci

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40995-017-0397-4

RESEARCH PAPER

Biomimicry, An Approach Toward Sustainability of High-Rise Buildings

Seyedehaida Mirniazmandan1 • Ehsan Rahimianzarif2

Received: 3 March 2017 / Accepted: 24 November 2017

 Shiraz University 2017

Abstract
Buildings are the main destination for the nation’s power supplies. High-rise buildings due to their large scale require much
more materials for their construction compared to low rises. In addition, they use more energy and emit greenhouse gases;
as a result, they have major environmental impacts. Therefore, high rises seem to be non-sustainable. With increasing
popularity of high rises, achieving a high level of sustainability has become the leading subject of the architectural designs.
Hence, the efforts for combining technology and biology are to a great extent these days. Biomimicry is a concept that talks
about the ideas inspired by nature, and it has been offered as an optimal solution for the conflicts between nature and
human activities. As it is said, nature is an excellent and the final response to the problem of sustainability. Therefore,
architects have employed biomimicry approach in their designs to minimize buildings negative impacts on the environment
and reach overall architectural sustainability. This paper studies different approaches and levels of biomimicry and
discusses their application in high-rise buildings. It is shown that employing different principles of biomimicry may result
in diverse outcomes in terms of tall buildings’ sustainability.

Keywords Biomimicry
High-rise building
Nature
Sustainability
Tall building

1 Introduction Biomimicry claims that nature is the most effective source

of innovation for designers. Biomimicry is an inspiration
With the population growth and the scarcity of land in the for intelligent and innovative engineering for minimizing
inner cities, the average building height is increasing. or eliminating the negative impact of the construction
Separating living or working places from the ground and industry on the environment and reaching overall sustain-
placing them in height solves the scarcity of land in the big ability of the buildings.
cities, but it also separates people from nature and ground. The growing international research on biomimicry in the
On the other hand, high-rise buildings have destructive building sector reveals various obstacles in the path of this
environmental impacts such as carbon dioxide emission method. One of them is the lack of a clear approach that
and high energy consumption. One innovative approach to architects can employ (Vincent et al. 2006). In this regard,
achieve harmonious coexistence between human society this paper studies different approaches and levels of bio-
and nature is biomimicry. Architects have considered nat- mimicry that have evolved during recent years, exempli-
ure as a great source of inspiration for centuries. Nature fies, and discusses three tall buildings that biomimicry
provides creative solutions for human problems. principles are applied in their design. The case studies
show that employing different levels of biomimicry might
result in various effects in high rises’ sustainability.
& Seyedehaida Mirniazmandan
mirniazmandan@gmail.com
Ehsan Rahimianzarif 2 Biomimicry Definition
ehsan.rahimian.z@gmail.com
1
Department of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, The term biomimicry derives from two words; bio means
PO BOX 14155-6619, Tehran, Iran life, and mimicry means imitating. Some scientists pre-
2
Department of Architecture, Iran University of Science and ferred to use the term biomimicry, and the others preferred
Technology, PO BOX 16765-163, Tehran, Iran to use the term bionic (Pawlyn 2011). The main aim of

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biomimicry is the creation of great designs by imitating 5.2 Biology Influencing Design
various living organisms that they have evolved during the
3.8 billion years (Aziz 2016). Benyus (1997) defined bio- In this strategy, designers have the knowledge of biological
mimicry as ‘‘a new discipline that studies nature’s best research. This knowledge influences human designs rather
ideas and then imitates the designs and processes to solve than first determining human design problems. This
human problems.’’ approach is also called ‘‘bottom-up approach’’ (Knippers
and Speck 2012) and ‘‘solution-driven biologically inspired
design’’ (Helms et al. 2009). Figure 1 illustrates these two
3 Background of Biomimicry approaches.

Biomimicry invented and published by Prof. Janine Benyus

in her book (Innovation Inspired by Nature) in 1997. She 6 Biomimicry Levels
proposed biomimicry as a new science that studies the
models of nature and imitates their designs for solving In addition to these two approaches, three levels of
human problems (Benyus 1997). biomimicry that can be applied in design problems are
Biomimicry is nothing new; people have been inspired form, process, and ecosystem (Zari 2007). Through each
by nature for a long time. However, Leonardo da Vinci level, there are five possible dimensions to imitate
conducted the first scientific study in this field in 1482. He (Table 1).
tried to invent flying machines by studying the mechanism Although these levels may have some overlap, they are
of the birds flying. Although he was not successful with his necessary for completing biomimicry approaches.
flying machine, his idea was an inspiration for the Wright
brothers to invent the first airplane in 1948 that is the best-
known biomimicry invention (Vierra 2011). 7 Sustainable Architecture

Sustainable buildings are ‘‘causing as little environmental

4 Biomimicry in Architecture interference as possible, such as, the use of friendly envi-
ronmental materials that do not constitute a health hazard,
Nature is everywhere and affects everything; it initiates life low energy requirements, renewable energy use, high-
in the creatures. One of the important solutions for design, quality and longevity as a guideline for construction, and
whether in architecture or other arts and sciences, has been last but not least, an economical operation’’ (Bauer et al.
modeling and imitating nature (Antoniades 1990). Solving 2009). In sustainable architecture, the building interacts
several problems in architecture is only through the inno- with the environment and adapts itself to the climate
vative solutions; the models inspired by nature can cause conditions. As Richard Rogers said, the buildings are
creativity and innovation in the architect’s mind. The similar to the birds that they dress their feathers in winter to
transition from nature to architecture is a logical process adapt to the new condition and to regulate their metabolism
because the natural models have provided the best type of (Mahdavinejad et al. 2013). The benefit of sustainable
adaptation under a variety of conditions over the years. construction to the natural environment and human health
is undeniable. It has been shown that increasing about 2%
in the initial investment cost (in order to support sustain-
5 Biomimicry Approaches able design) leads to nearly 20% saving in overall building
cost (Lotfabadi et al. 2016).
Approaches to biomimicry as a design process fall into two As Kim and Rigdon (1998) stated, there are three fun-
categories (Zari 2007). damental levels of sustainability in architecture: reducing
resource consumption that deals with reusing and recycling
5.1 Design Looking to Biology natural resources used in construction; designing based on
life cycle which presents a way to analyze construction
In this approach, designers identify a human need or design process and its impact on environment; and finally human
problem and they seek the solutions in nature and organ- design that focuses on the interaction between human and
isms (Zari 2007). This approach is used when designers are the natural world.
confident about the aims of their designs. This approach is
also called ‘‘top-down approach’’ (Knippers and Speck
2012) and ‘‘problem-driven biologically inspired design’’
(Helms et al. 2009).

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Fig. 1 Biomimicry approaches Top-Down Bottom-Up

(taken from Knippers and Speck
2012)
1. Design Problem

2. Search for biological 6. Design solutions

analogies
5. Technical
3. Identification of implementation
appropriate principles
4. Abstraction,
4. Abstraction,
detachment from detachment from
biological model biological model

5. Testing, analysis and 3. Understanding the

feedback principles

6. Design solution 2. Biomechanics,

functional morphology
and anatomy

1. Biological research

Table 1 A framework for the application of biomimicry. Adapted from Zari 2007
Level of biomimicry Example—a building that mimics termites

Organism level: Form The building looks like a termite

Mimicry of a specific organism Material The building is made from the same material as a termite; a material that mimics
termite exoskeleton/skin for example
Construction The building is made in the same way as a termite; it goes through various growth
cycles for example
Process The building works in the same way as an individual termite; it produces hydrogen
efficiently through meta-genomics for example
Function The building functions like a termite in a larger context; it recycles cellulose waste
and creates soil for example
Behavior level: Form The building looks like it was made by a termite; a replica of a termite mound for
Mimicry of how an organism behaves or example
relates to its larger context Material The building is made from the same materials that a termite builds with; using
digested fine soil as the primary material for example
Construction The building is made in the same way that a termite would build in; piling earth in
certain places at certain times for example
Process The building works in the same way as a termite mound would; by careful
orientation, shape, materials selection, and natural ventilation for example, or it
mimics how termites work together
Function The building functions in the same way that it would if made by termites; internal
conditions are regulated to be optimal and thermally stable for example. It may also
function in the same way that a termite mound does in a larger context
Ecosystem level: Form The building looks like an ecosystem (a termite would live in)
Mimicry of an ecosystem Material The building is made from the same kind of materials that (a termite) ecosystem is
made of; it uses naturally occurring common compounds and water as the primary
chemical medium for example
Construction The building is assembled in the same way as a (termite) ecosystem; principles of
succession and increasing complexity over time are used for example
Process The building works in the same way as a (termite) ecosystem; it captures and converts
energy from the sun and stores water for example
Function The building is able to function in the same way that a (termite) ecosystem would and
forms part of a complex system by utilizing the relationships between processes; it
is able to participate in the hydrological, carbon, nitrogen cycles, etc., in a similar
way to an ecosystem for example

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7.1 The Basic Principles of Sustainable mimicking how it is able to take part in the larger context
Architecture of the ecosystem it is in, has the possibility to produce
designs without environmental impact (Reap et al. 2005).
• Locational, functional, and structural solutions need to Because mimicking organisms is just a specific feature, for
be selected in harmony with the local conditions, such instance, designing a building in the form of cacti (simple
as topography, microclimate, soil composition, water shape imitation) may not increase building overall sus-
surfaces, flora. tainability. In behavior-level biomimicry, the behavior of
• Size must be limited, including the footprint, i.e., the the organism is mimicked. In this level, designers have to
reduction in used green areas. figure out if the organism behavior is suitable for human
• Natural features must be enhanced, and it is advisable beings to imitate, and which part its behavior will increase
to use renewable energy resources such as solar energy, building sustainability.
wind, biomass. For example, mimicking the building behavior (and
• The daily use must be carefully planned and organized; outcome of that) of termites might be appropriate for the
otherwise, the building cannot be considered creation of passively regulated thermally comfort-
ecological. able buildings. Mimicking the social structure of termite
• Building structures, sanitary engineering systems, alter- colonies would not be suitable, however, if universal
native ways of construction are to employ environment- human rights are valued. Ecosystem-level biomimicry has
friendly building materials and consider ecological the advantage of being used along with other levels of
construction theories. biomimicry (organism and behavior). It can also be used in
• Environment-conscious ventilation, energy, material different temporal and spatial scales (Zari 2007). This
consumption must be observed in the functioning of approach has the potential to be used in two metaphoric
the building as well (Lányi 2007). and practical level. Designers with little ecological
• Recycling materials, conserving water in different ways knowledge can apply metaphoric level in their design, but
such as harvesting rainwater, and recycling gray water. still there is a chance of increasing building sustainability
as Korhonen (2001) said. On the contrary, profound
understanding of ecology and biology is required for using
7.2 Biomimicry to Increase Sustainability
ecosystem biomimicry in practical level so this makes it
difficult for the architects to use this complex level of
Built environment is held responsible for environmental
biomimicry.
and social problems like excessive waste production,
energy, and material use, and greenhouse gas emission
attributed to the habitats humans have created for them-
8 High-Rise Buildings
selves (Zari 2007). With this rapid development of urban
construction, a mechanism should be applied to reduce
Tall or high-rise building is a type of building with a small
these harmful effects.
footprint and roof area in comparison with its huge façade
Biomimicry suggests innovative and eco-friendly
surface (Lotfabadi et al. 2016). Tall buildings construction
approaches that can provide compatible and flexible solu-
is the result of the scarcity of land and the urban population
tions (Marshall and Lozeva 2009). Any organism in nature
growth.
avoids excesses and overbuilding and attains maximum
Tall buildings are classified into three types (Fig. 2):
efficiency with minimum material and energy. Nature
recycles everything and finds a use for everything, adapts • Tall buildings with the average height of 50–300 m.
itself to local conditions, runs on the sun and other natural This building type constitutes 90% of the total tall
sources of energy, and uses only the energy and resources buildings worldwide.
that it needs (Benyus 1997). Biomimicry provides a wide • Supertall buildings with the average height of 300–600
range of solutions for structural efficiency, water effi- m. This building type constitutes 10% of the total tall
ciency, zero-waste systems, thermal environment, and buildings.
energy supply, which are essential for any sustainable • Megatall buildings with height more than 600 m. This
building design (Singh and Nayyar 2015). Nature itself is a building type constitutes 0.05% of the total tall
great mentor for living in harmony with it; for instance, we buildings around the world (Elotefy et al. 2015).
can learn from plants that how they make use of air pol-
Living in tall buildings has its own advantages. It can
lution and convert carbon dioxide into oxygen.
offer accommodation for a wide range of people close to
Considering biomimicry levels (organism, behavior and
their workplace that causes fewer work trips and less fuel
ecosystem), mimicking an organism alone without
consumption. The modern high rises provide amenities

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Fig. 2 Classification of buildings based on height (taken from Elotefy et al. 2015)

such as shopping centers, pools, gyms, and public spaces

for social interaction so that residents do not need to find
other places for these activities. Residents of upper floors
often enjoy the pleasant view. On the other hand, there are
disadvantages that may cause people resistance to live in
high rises. Some people feel isolated from the surroundings
in tall buildings. Although there might be private balconies
for each floor, they are not functional most of the time
either for their small size or for strong winds. Living
adjacent to many strange neighbors might be difficult and
sometimes troublesome.
Fig. 3 US CO2 emissions by sector (Why the building sector, n.d)

9 Biomimicry to Increase Sustainability

building. Buildings are responsible for nearly half of CO2
of Tall Buildings
emissions, and they consume nearly half of all the energy
produced (Figs. 3, 4).
High rises are an unavoidable part of our modern world.
The energy consumption is increasingly growing all
The necessity of tall buildings is increasing as a result of
over the world. The environmental impact of energy pro-
land scarcity and its rising prices. Because of tall buildings’
duction and consumption has become a main concern.
large scale and high consumption of energy and materials,
their sustainability is more crucial than any other types of

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Therefore, the efficient use of energy in the building sector more efficiency and less energy and material use.
is essential (Fig. 5). Therefore, nature is a flawless model for sustainable
Our buildings will have less environmental impact engineering. Nature is an inspiration for the creative and
(such as deforestation, high energy consumption, and smart engineering. Thus, we can decrease tall buildings
pollution) if we design them to be like ecosystems and environmental impact by getting inspiration from nature
imitate nature’s processes, structure and functions. How provided biomimicry principles being incorporated into
can we design our buildings to be like ecosystems? For the design in the early design stage (not just added).
instance, ecosystems have no waste. Everything is
recycled within the system (Yeang and Powell 2007).
Provided tall buildings are designed to function like
living organisms, they will produce no wastes and use
renewable energy and material resources. Solving envi-
ronmental, sociocultural, and economic problems that
these high-rise buildings impose leads the architects
toward biomimicry architecture with a sustainable
approach. Because nature does everything on time and
there is no waste in it, all organisms are looking for

Fig. 4 US energy consumption by sector (Why the building sector, Fig. 6 Dragonfly vertical farm (taken from Vincent Callebaut Archi-
n.d) tectures June 2017)

Fig. 5 US energy consumption

(‘‘U.S. Energy Information
Administration’’, n.d)

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10 Case Studies

10.1 Dragonfly Vertical Farm, USA

Dragonfly (Fig. 6) sets up along the East River at the South

edge of the Roosevelt Island in New York between Man-
hattan’s Island and the Queens’ district. The Dragonfly
project suggests building a prototype of urban farm offers
around a mixed program of housing, offices and laborato-
ries in ecological engineering, farming spaces which are
vertically laid out in several floors and partly cultivated by
its own inhabitants. The architecture of Dragonfly suggests
reinventing the vertical building as structurally and func-
tionally as ecologically and energetically.
Architecturally, the functional organization is repre-
sented by two oblong towers symmetrically arranged in
pair around a huge climatic greenhouse that links them and
deploys itself between two crystalline wings. These very
light wings in glass and steel retake the loads of the
building and are directly inspired from the structure of the
dragonfly wings (Fig. 7) (Vincent Callebaut Architectures
June 2017). The membranous wings are thin and light, soft,
and tough and possess enough strength and toughness, Fig. 8 Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou (Reproduced with permission
from Golenda 2015)
which could bear different loading from flapping, gliding,
and hovering in the air (Ren and Li 2013).
Two inhabited rings buttress around these wings. Their 10.2 Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou 2011, China
organically chiseled exo-structure accommodates the inter-
climatic spaces that receive the agrarian cultures. They Pearl River a 71-story tower (Fig. 8) designed by Skid-
buttress. more, Owings, and Merrill that completed in 2011 is an
The whole set forms ‘‘double-layer’’ architecture in bee award-winning building. The design won a competition
nest mesh that exploits the solar passive energy at its calling for sustainable design. Designers turned to the sea
maximum level, by accumulating the warm air in the sponge for inspiration.
winter in the thickness of the exo-structure, and by cooling They took the structure of the sponge that is about
the atmosphere by natural ventilation and by evapo-per- taking gallons of water and organisms into itself in a day,
spiration of the plants in the summer. The tower, true living and they used this idea to consume less energy in their
organism, becomes thus metabolic and self-sufficient in designs. Sponges can pump thousands of gallons of water a
water, energy, and biofertilizing. Nothing is lost; every- day, from which they draw their food. They also shelter
thing is recyclable to a continuous auto-feeding (Vincent and protect a multitude of tiny inhabitants, which benefit
Callebaut Architectures June 2017). from the flow of food-bearing water. This porous tower has
four holes that house wind turbines (Fig. 9) to create
electricity from the strong winds that blow above the
ground (Fig. 10). The building soaks up energy from the
sun as well, thanks to its photovoltaic system integrated to
the building’s external solar shading system and glass outer
skin (Frechette and Gilchrist 2008). With these and other
energy-saving measures such as radiant cooling, the
building’s energy use will be reduced by 58–60% (Delgado
2007).

10.3 DNA Towers, Yangzhou 2014, China

In October 2013, Vincent Callebaut Architectures devel-

Fig. 7 Dragonfly insect oped 24 plus-energy towers of housing, offices, or mixed

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Fig. 11 DNA towers (taken from Vincent Callebaut Architectures

Feb 2017)

endemic plant species, etc.) on the one hand, and by the

integration of renewable energies (wind turbines, thermal
solar energy, photovoltaic solar energy, geothermal energy,
biomass, etc.) on the other hand (Vincent Callebaut
Architectures Feb 2017).
Table 2 depicts more details about each building, and
Table 3 presents the applications of biomimicry in the
buildings and the biomimicry impacts on the buildings’
sustainability.

Fig. 9 A turbine in one of the four intakes in the Pearl River Tower
(taken from Golenda 2015) 11 Conclusion

The major environmental problems of the modern world

are global warming and limited amount of energy supplies.
Growing number of high rises has been a great concern due
to their high energy consumption and negative environ-
mental impact. Therefore, it is necessary to find ways to
save energy and minimize or eliminate the harmful envi-
ronmental impact in order to reach overall sustainability of
high-rise buildings. Sustainability in building sector can be
improved by using renewable energies and new ideas in
designing. One innovative idea is biomimicry, a way of
emulating nature’s strategies to solve problems that
humans face nowadays.
The study of three tall buildings shows how various
approaches and levels of biomimicry (that are discussed in
this paper) can be applied to tall building design. Buildings
become more efficient and sustainable when the biomi-
Fig. 10 Sponge-like function of Pearl River Tower (taken from micry principles are applied. However, the impacts depend
Acvdo 2013) on the level of biomimicry that is mimicked. Overall sus-
tainability of the buildings increased when the organism
(Fig. 11). These ‘‘City trees’’ are swirling shapes that behavior or process is imitated rather than a simple imi-
combine the meaning of DNA helix structure in the con- tation of the shape. As we can see in DNA Towers the
temporary urban areas. They are respectful of the Taiji biomimicry inspiration that is just at the organism level and
Philosophy and are a source of life and dynamism, a shape imitation, slightly increased the level of sustain-
symbol of harmony revealing the notion of ultimate bal- ability. On contrary, Pearl River Tower reached the satis-
ance between the human being and the nature praised by factory level of sustainability through using biomimicry
the project. These towers are eco-designed according to both organism and behavior level. In addition, Dragonfly
bioclimatic rules (solar cycle, prevailing wind directions, building employs an organism based biomimicry and

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Table 2 Information on case studies

Name of Location Height Details and environmental objectives
building (m)

Dragonfly U.S.A. 600 A metabolic farm for urban agriculture with 28 agricultural fields. Nothing is lost in this building;
vertical farm everything is recyclable to a continuous auto-feeding
Pearl River China 309 Award-winning building for sustainable design. High performance building that claims to be the most
Tower energy efficient supertall tower building in the world
DNA towers China – Plus-energy towers producing more energy than they consume, with energy either electric, calorific,
cooling. or food. The main objective is to raise awareness of green sustainable architecture to fight
against global warming in order to maintain an eco-friendly Earth for our next generation

Table 3 Applications of biomimicry in each tall building

Name of building, Inspiration Biomimicry Biomimicry Biomimicry concept functions How biomimicry concept
location approach level affects sustainability

Design Organism The membranous wings are thin and Enough structure stiffness by
looking to and light, soft, and tough and possess using the least materials
biology ecosystem enough strength and toughness, (glass and steel), which
which could bear different loading shows good bearing capacity
Size and orientation of veins reduce The energy consumption is
the energy consumption to the reduced to the least
Dragonfly
least and keep the internal stress in
a allowed range
Dragonfly, USA
Design Organism Sponges pump thousands of gallons The tower sucks winds into its
looking to and of water into their holes, from four holes to create
biology behavior which they draw their food electricity by wind turbines

Sea sponge
Pearl River Tower,
China
Design Organism A DNA molecule consists of two Revealing the notion of
looking to strands that wind around each ultimate balance between the
biology other like a twisted ladder human being and the nature,
DNA helix better functioning under wind
loads
DNA towers, China

ecosystem level that substantially enhanced the tower’s • The design of Pearl River tower is in such a way that it
sustainability. employs wind energy and helps the tower achieve an
In this regard, all of the noted buildings have the least overall energy saving. The use of wind as a renewable
possible environmental impact as follows: energy reduces building’s dependency on fossil fuel
and minimizes the environmental problems due to
• In Dragonfly tower everything is recyclable to a
excessive consumption of energy and other natural
continuous auto-feeding, it is a true living organism,
resources.
becomes thus metabolic and self-sufficient in water,
• DNA towers represent the combination of tree and
energy, and biofertilizing.
building, and they fight against global warming in order

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