Ayres Knowledge Center Learning From Nature | Page 9

Although picturesque, this lighthouse does not enhance the ecological stability or habitat of the site.
the system as a whole. The platform could be longer or
thicker without losing efficiency, but the system doesn’t
gain a lot by an overly large platform, and loses function
by a platform that is too small. However, if the snap bar
exceeded the length of the platform the system wouldn’t
work. Or, if the spring was too loose to move the snap
bar, the system wouldn’t work. The mouse trap also won’t
work if all the components are the same. If a mouse trap
were a pile of springs it won’t catch mice. Lastly, adding to
the mouse trap superfluous designs, for example printing
the platform with artistic swirls, or even the text, “Mouse
Stand Here” with an arrow indicating where the mouse
should stand, wouldn’t make the trap more effective. And
since printed text wouldn’t make the trap more effective
(i.e. the ROI would be zero, see rule No. 2), unless mice
learn to read 16 , then why do it? Nature operates the same
way. Accoutrement has meaning or it isn’t necessary. 17
Just like the snap mouse trap, Nature allows for some
flexibility in the objects or systems it builds, but pushing
the allowable variability too far causes a failure. Riparian
systems (creeks, streams, rivers) are a balance of water,
soil, air, vegetation, micro and macro organisms, minerals,
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and energy. We are well acquainted with what can happen
when a riparian system has too much energy, destructive
erosion. We also know what happens with too much soil,
siltation. Adding unnecessary components to a riparian
system, like a boat house or a dock might not impact the
operational function of the system 18 but it also doesn’t
improve the system either – not from Nature’s perspective.
Here’s the takeaway. Do design professionals, as a whole,
take a holistic view of the work they develop to understand
if it has all the parts, or too many parts, to function?
There is a place for aesthetic expression – Nature does it
too, but different than us, Nature does it for a purpose.
Aesthetic expression often leads to something called
mutual satisfaction of the users. Artistic expression in
Nature improves the quality of life for the organisms that
experience the aesthetic expression. It helps birds mate, it
attracts bees to the flowers, it warns humans to stay away
from jellyfish, and so on.
I love to paint, but my painting also has a purpose. It allows
me to relax and it provides me with an opportunity to
share, what for me is an intimate part of me, with those I
And if they could read, how long would it take a mouse that could read, and therefor reason, to figure out, this is a trap?!
I’m inclined to say unlikely because at the time of writing I can’t think of a form that doesn’t have function in nature, but the scien‐
tist in me is reticent to make an absolute statement that it never happens. Nature is a big place.
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Actually, adding built spaces to a riparian system usually degrades the system. At a minimum it impacts the flow of the system and
it often changes the vegetative cover, to name just two changes that are very common.
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