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Biomimetic Research for Architecture and Building Construction

Biological Design and Integrative Structures

  • on is also of general interest for the public and in politics
  • To sum up: With bio-inspired and the potential for more sustainable architecture and construction technologies the book meets some of the most urgent problems in a world with increasing population that more and more accumulates in megacities and deceasing resources
  • There does no comparable book exist dealing with bio-inspired construction technology and architecture in the depth and width as this book
  • The authors of the book chapters are worldwide renown specialists in their respective field of research and their interdisciplinary cooperation in the various research projects will cause wide interest ranging significantly over the field of bio-inspired construction technology and architecture
  • Bio-inspiration in technology and architecture is of more and more increasing interest as well in research as in application and represents one of the most discussed and fascinating topics as well in translational biology as in architecture and construction technology
  • The “biomimetic promise”, i.e. biomimetic solutions have an especially high potential to be sustainable and ecologically friendly solutions is a widely accepted idea and will be discussed for the first time in detail in some of the chapters of this book. This discussi

Part of the book series: Biologically-Inspired Systems (BISY, volume 8)

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Table of contents (20 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Biomimetic Research: A Dialogue Between the Disciplines

    • Jan Knippers, Thomas Speck, Klaus G. Nickel
    Pages 1-5
  3. Bionics and Biodiversity – Bio-inspired Technical Innovation for a Sustainable Future

    • Wilhelm Barthlott, M. Daud Rafiqpoor, Walter R. Erdelen
    Pages 11-55
  4. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transport in Frost-Resistant Plant Tissues

    • Lukas Eurich, Rena Schott, Arndt Wagner, Anita Roth-Nebelsick, Wolfgang Ehlers
    Pages 97-108
  5. Plants and Animals as Source of Inspiration for Energy Dissipation in Load Bearing Systems and Facades

    • Katharina Klang, Georg Bauer, Nicu Toader, Christoph Lauer, Kathrin Termin, Stefanie Schmier et al.
    Pages 109-133
  6. Compliant Mechanisms in Plants and Architecture

    • Simon Poppinga, Axel Körner, Renate Sachse, Larissa Born, Anna Westermeier, Linnea Hesse et al.
    Pages 169-193
  7. Branched Structures in Plants and Architecture

    • Larissa Born, Florian A. Jonas, Katharina Bunk, Tom Masselter, Thomas Speck, Jan Knippers et al.
    Pages 195-215
  8. The Skeleton of the Sand Dollar as a Biological Role Model for Segmented Shells in Building Construction: A Research Review

    • Tobias B. Grun, Layla Koohi Fayegh Dehkordi, Tobias Schwinn, Daniel Sonntag, Malte von Scheven, Manfred Bischoff et al.
    Pages 217-242
  9. Continuous Fused Deposition Modelling of Architectural Envelopes Based on the Shell Formation of Molluscs: A Research Review

    • James H. Nebelsick, Christoph Allgaier, Benjamin Felbrich, Daniel Coupek, Renate Reiter, Günter Reiter et al.
    Pages 243-260
  10. Analysis of Physcomitrella Chloroplasts to Reveal Adaptation Principles Leading to Structural Stability at the Nano-Scale

    • Pouyan Asgharzadeh, Bugra Özdemir, Stefanie J. Müller, Oliver Röhrle, Ralf Reski
    Pages 261-275
  11. Developing the Experimental Basis for an Evaluation of Scaling Properties of Brittle and ‘Quasi-Brittle’ Biological Materials

    • Stefanie Schmier, Christoph Lauer, Immanuel Schäfer, Katharina Klang, Georg Bauer, Marc Thielen et al.
    Pages 277-294
  12. Evolutionary Processes as Models for Exploratory Design

    • Long Nguyen, Daniel Lang, Nico van Gessel, Anna K. Beike, Achim Menges, Ralf Reski et al.
    Pages 295-318
  13. Fabrication of Biomimetic and Biologically Inspired (Modular) Structures for Use in the Construction Industry

    • Daniel Coupek, Daria Kovaleva, Hans Christof, Karl-Heinz Wurst, Alexander Verl, Werner Sobek et al.
    Pages 319-339
  14. Structural Design with Biological Methods: Optimality, Multi-functionality and Robustness

    • Debdas Paul, Layla Koohi Fayegh Dehkordi, Malte von Scheven, Manfred Bischoff, Nicole Radde
    Pages 341-360
  15. Bio-inspired Sustainability Assessment – A Conceptual Framework

    • Rafael Horn, Johannes Gantner, Ludmila Widmer, Klaus Peter Sedlbauer, Olga Speck
    Pages 361-377

About this book

This book comprises a first survey of the Collaborative Research Center SFB-TRR 141 ‘Biological Design and Integrative Structures – Analysis, Simulation and Implementation in Architecture’, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft since October 2014. The SFB-TRR 141 provides a collaborative framework for architects and engineers from the University of Stuttgart, biologists and physicists from the University of Freiburg and geoscientists and evolutionary biologists from the University of Tübingen. The programm is conceptualized as a dialogue between the disciplines and is based on the belief that that biomimetic research has the potential to lead everyone involved to new findings far beyond his individual reach. During the last few decades, computational methods have been introduced into all fields of science and technology. In architecture, they enable the geometric differentiation of building components and allow the fabrication of porous or fibre-based materials with locallyadjusted physical and chemical properties. Recent developments in simulation technologies focus on multi-scale models and the interplay of mechanical phenomena at various hierarchical levels. In the natural sciences, a multitude of quantitative methods covering diverse hierarchical levels have been introduced. These advances in computational methods have opened a new era in biomimetics: local differentiation at various scales, the main feature of natural constructions, can for the first time not only be analysed, but to a certain extent also be transferred to building construction. Computational methodologies enable the direct exchange of information between fields of science that, until now, have been widely separated. As a result they lead to a new approach to biomimetic research, which, hopefully, contributes to a more sustainable development in architecture and building construction. 


Editors and Affiliations

  • Inst. of Building Structures, University of Stuttgart Inst. of Building Structures, Stuttgart, Germany

    Jan Knippers

  • Angewandte Mineralogie, Universität Tübingen Angewandte Mineralogie, Tübingen, Germany

    Klaus G. Nickel

  • Botanischer Garten der Uni. Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Thomas Speck

About the editors



Jan Knippers (corresponding editor), University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany 


Klaus G. Nickel, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany


Thomas Speck, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany


Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Biomimetic Research for Architecture and Building Construction

  • Book Subtitle: Biological Design and Integrative Structures

  • Editors: Jan Knippers, Klaus G. Nickel, Thomas Speck

  • Series Title: Biologically-Inspired Systems

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46374-2

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-46372-8Published: 27 December 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-83504-4Published: 07 July 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-46374-2Published: 19 December 2016

  • Series ISSN: 2211-0593

  • Series E-ISSN: 2211-0607

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 408

  • Number of Illustrations: 82 b/w illustrations, 115 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Life Sciences, general

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access