of nature’s microscopic structures and patterns to
the planet’s surface in ways that create landscapes
create macroscopic designs, such as incorporating
that have been captured in various forms of digital
the pattern of fish gills in building artificial habitat
artwork. Recent interest in emulating these
structures for oysters. Her artwork serves a valuable natural patterns to design sustainable and ecoscientific purpose in uniting cultural and biological
compatible creations (e.g., green roofs, artificial
evolution through so-called geotherapy.
wetlands) relates to their influencing hydrologic
regimes, temperature dynamics, and aesthetics
Wave Rhythms: Researchers are now able to
of a landscape. Perhaps the world’s most famous
transpose the vibrational signatures of chemical
green roof lies atop the School of Art, Design &
mixtures, marine algae, and even DNA molecules
Media at NTU in Singapore, where the top of a
into the hearing range
five-story building serves
of humans to create
as a gathering place for
“nature-based” music. A
students, blends seamlessly
functional form of this
into the surrounding
music was composed
topography, insulates
from the sonification of
the entire structure, and
ocean wave dynamics,
harvests rainwater for
which created audible
irrigation.
versions of the graphical
data and revealed
Water Flowforms: Sonuances that were not
called water flowforms are
visible in the graphics
constructed with different
alone. Composer Bob
shapes, lengths, materials,
Sturm mapped the
and designed flow rates.
temporal spectrum
Cascading down a stairof ocean buoy data,
stepped series of vessels,
characterized by the
the water vortices possess
infrasonic frequencies
distinct patterns and
(0.025 to 0.058 hertz)
rhythms that are evident in
of ocean waves, into
the designs of John Wilkes.
the audible frequencies
Once considered strictly
(20 to 20,000 hertz) for
architectural features,
humans. In doing so,
flowforms were studied
he was able to produce
by a group of European
stereo sonifications by
na