up at night .) But it isn ’ t just that , the cost to produce and ship food has gone down . And we grow less of our own food ( Putnam and Allshouse , 1994 ), probably because we don ’ t have the time to grow it . Unfortunately , the way we lowered the cost of producing and shipping food wasn ’ t simply in growing and trucking efficiencies , we also made the food less healthy . A lot has been written about this by many really good authors ( Michael Pollan , Mark Schatzker , Nina Teicholz , to name just three ) so I ’ ll digress . Suffice it to say the generalization I made is true at the personal as well as the corporate or commercial levels , we can all readily think of examples where we invest too much in the things that burn out fast , and too little in the things that should last . The take home is : are we making the right level of investment based on the expected ROI ?
If we examine the other side of this coin , we have to admit we also have a hard time imagining how the “ waste streams ” the decomposed or eroded pieces of the systems or objects we design can serve as investment capital in a new system or object . Recycling is one means of addressing this idea , and there are some really cool design hacks for shipping containers , and palettes , or repurposed this or that , but I ’ m also imagining a larger perspective . What are the possibilities at a planning level ( think Smart Cities )? Do we routinely examine the closed loop opportunities at a community planning or site planning level that covert traditional waste streams into downstream resources ?
To be honest , in the design world , we ’ ve only just begun to scratch the surface in this regard . And while there has
8 | LEARNING FROM NATURE been a renaissance in how designers think about storm water , wind , and solar energy as untapped resources , there ’ s more . As an example , what is the energy generating potential of stormwater ? Recall that at one point in history water in-flow was the most abundant most readily available source of energy in many parts of the temperate world . Today we have millions of gallons of water in-flow following every storm .
3
3 : KEEP IT ELEGANTLY SIMPLE
One of the ways that Nature balances rules one and two is by avoiding over designing objects or systems . That doesn ’ t mean Nature is austere in its design , but it also isn ’ t hubris . We are all really familiar with the amazing and inspiring beauty in Nature . But in Nature , where there is form ( or color ) there is function . Nature builds irreducibly complex systems . An irreducible complex system has all the components needed to meet the functional expectations without unnecessary accoutrement . The flip side is , if you remove any of the components from the object or system fails to function .
An example from the built world is the classic snap mouse trap . The snap mouse trap has all the pieces needed to do the job of catching mice . It doesn ’ t need more than the basic pieces of a platform , spring , snap bar , latch , and trigger . But it also doesn ’ t function without any one of these pieces . There is some latitude in the size or form of the components on a mouse trap but the various components have to maintain a degree of balance . The diameter of the snap bar can vary some without affecting
up at night.) But it isn’t just that, the cost to produce and
ship food has gone down. And we grow less of our own
food (Putnam and Allshouse, 1994), probably because we
don’t have the time to grow it. Unfortunately, the way we
lowered the cost of producing and shipping food wasn’t
simply in growing and trucking efficiencies, we also made
the food less healthy. A lot has been written about this by
many really good authors (Michael Pollan, Mark Schatzker,
Nina Teicholz, to name just three) so I’ll digress. Suffice it to
say the generalization I made is true at the personal as well
as the corporate or commercial levels, we can all readily
think of examples where we invest too much in the things
that burn out fast, and too little in the things that should
last. The take home is: are we making the right level of
investment based on the expected ROI?
If we examine the other side of this coin, we have to
admit we also have a hard time imagining how the “waste
streams” the decomposed or eroded pieces of the systems
or objects we design can serve as investment capital in a
new system or object. Recycling is one means of addressing
this idea, and there are some really cool design hacks for
shipping containers, and palettes, or repurposed this or
that, but I’m also imagining a larger perspective. What are
the possibilities at a planning level (think Smart Cities)?
Do we routinely examine the closed loop opportunities at
a community planning or site planning level that covert
traditional waste streams into downstream resources?
To be honest, in the design world, we’ve only just begun
to scratch the surface in this regard. And while there has
8 | LEARNING FROM NATURE
been a renaissance in how designers think about storm
water, wind, and solar energy as untapped resources,
there’s more. As an example, what 2FRVW&wvVW&FpFVFb7F&vFW#&V6FBBRB7F'vFW"frv2FR7B'VFB7B&VFǒf&P6W&6RbVW&w'G2bFRFVW&FRv&BFFvRfR֖Ɩ2bv2bvFW"frfvpWfW'7F&02TUBTTtDŒ4PRbFRv2FBGW&R&6W2'VW2RBGv2'fFrfW"FW6vr&V7G2"77FV2F@FW6( BVGW&R2W7FW&RG2FW6v'WBB66( BV'&2vR&R&Vǒf֖Ɩ"vFFRr@7&r&VWGGW&R'WBGW&RvW&RFW&R0f&"6"FW&R2gV7FGW&R'VG2'&VGV6&ǐ6W77FV2'&VGV6&R6W77FV2FP6VG2VVFVBFVWBFRgV7FWV7FF0vFWBVV6W76'66WG&VVBFRfƗ6FR2bP&VfRbFR6VG2g&FR&V7B"77FVЦf2FgV7FWRg&FR'VBv&B2FR67626W6PG&FR6W6RG&2FRV6W2VVFVBFFFR"b6F6r֖6RBFW6( BVVB&RFFR&62V6W2bFf&7&r6&"F6@G&vvW"'WBB6FW6( BgV7FvFWBR`FW6RV6W2FW&R26RFGVFRFR6R"f&ЦbFR6VG2W6RG&'WBFRf&W06VG2fRFFFVw&VRb&6RFPFWFW"bFR6&"6f'6RvFWBffV7Fp