Search Results (168)

This article advances the thesis that the development of Artificial Intelligence, far from representing an absolute rupture with nature, progressively incorporates characteristics inherent to environmental design. Rather than emerging as a purely abstract creation or something detached from the natural world, many AI systems are conceived through the observation of structures, behaviors, and adaptive strategies already present in living organisms and ecosystems. In other words, this means that AI can be understood as a kind of technical continuation of environmental solutions refined by evolution itself. The article further argues that AI design increasingly follows an ecological logic in which intelligent systems respond to environmental conditions, adjust to change, and expand human capacities through biological references. Finally, it is argued that Artificial Intelligence cannot be adequately understood through the traditional opposition between nature and artifact. Because it emerges from the convergence of biological inspiration, technical infrastructures, and informational processes, AI occupies a hybrid ontological position that differs both from living organisms and from classical artifacts, thereby requiring new conceptual categories within the philosophy of technology. Full article

Background/Objectives: While Lebanon’s Vision 2030 prioritizes strengthening Lebanon’s chronically constrained, fragmented, and shocked primary healthcare system, implementation is hindered by weak sensing mechanisms, misaligned spatial distribution, and poorly integrated referral pathways. This study develops a preliminary, context-specific, systems-level healthcare policy assessment and framework for primary healthcare reform by applying biomimicry principles derived from the drought-resistant root architecture of grapevine (Vitis vinifera). Methods: Publicly available data from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, national assessments, and non-governmental organization registries were synthesized to examine mismatches between healthcare need and service capacity. We developed a preliminary healthcare Need Score for Lebanon’s eight governorates based on clinical demand, capacity strain, and socioeconomic vulnerability. An Agent-Based Approach within a biomimicry framework was used to translate grapevines’ biological strategies into healthcare policy design principles. Results: Structural deficiencies were identified in Lebanon’s primary healthcare system, including absence of standardized need-based sensing, uneven geographic service distribution, weak-referral integration, and limited adaptive feedback. Our preliminary Need Score was used four clinical demand indicators for iron deficiency, neonatal and maternal deaths, pre-mature births and birth defects, and disease incidence. Service-capacity strain indicators were primary healthcare center density and staffing. Finally, socioeconomic vulnerability indicators were percentages for non-Lebanese population and food insecurity. The proposed policy framework can translate frontline stress signals to rule-based responses, guide adaptive redistribution of capacity, and structurally anchor primary healthcare centers to referral hubs through defined catchments and electronic referral loops. Conclusions: Biomimicry can shed insight into how to improve primary healthcare governance under chronic scarcity. Need Scores and biological resilience principles can strengthen primary healthcare systems in low-resource settings while aligning with healthcare policy objectives like those in Lebanon’s Vision 2030. Full article

The design of innovative biomaterials increasingly aims to reproduce the structure, properties, and behavior of natural tissues. Biomimetic materials are generally considered to promote biointegration. In bone tissue regeneration materials, biomimicry and mechanical competence represent complementary design objectives whose relative importance depends on the clinical requirements and the expected timeline of bone regeneration. In the present investigation, two types of 3D-printed PLA scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration, featuring conventional cubic and biomimetic gyroid-based triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) architectures, respectively, were evaluated. Their degradation behavior was investigated during immersion in a protein-rich cell culture medium under dynamic conditions at 37 °C, followed by mechanical characterization and analytical modeling of the property evolution. The cubic scaffolds exhibited approximately 210% higher apparent compressive modulus and more than fourfold higher apparent compressive strength compared with the gyroid scaffolds in the initial state. During 21 days of immersion, gyroid scaffolds showed progressive mass loss reaching approximately 13%, whereas cubic scaffolds exhibited a slight mass increase associated with fluid uptake. Both architectures experienced a reduction in mechanical properties; however, the gyroid structures showed faster structural deterioration due to their higher porosity, increased fluid accessibility, and greater fluid uptake and degradation-induced structural deterioration. The Residual Property Model accurately predicted the mechanical degradation of cubic scaffolds but was unable to predict the gyroid response due to the dominant contribution of mass loss and structural degradation. The overall results indicate a trade-off between the two architectural approaches, whereby enhanced biomimetic features are associated with reduced mechanical performance. Full article

Liquid metals, particularly gallium-based alloys, uniquely combine fluidic compliance with metallic conductivity, which makes them ideal candidates for biomimetic design. Rather than treating biomimicry as the mere imitation of biological forms, we argue that liquid metal biomimicry should be understood as the realization of biological strategies through the intrinsic physics of fluidity and interfacial dynamics. This review organizes existing research within a hierarchical framework that couples physical liquidity, interface biology analogy, and functional emergence to explain how adaptive behaviors naturally arise from dynamic liquid metal systems. We examine representative systems across morphological and functional dimensions and contend that their true significance lies not in replicating nature but in addressing problems that conventional rigid materials cannot solve. Looking forward, we identify several transformative directions that collectively chart a roadmap toward truly intelligent and autonomous bioinspired systems. By bridging the physics of fluidity with the principles of biological adaptability, liquid metal biomimicry holds transformative potential for soft robotics, wearable electronics, neuromorphic computing, and biomedical engineering. Full article

Additive manufacturing delivers internal substructures that alter the mechanical performance, yet their exploitation is still limited in structural part design, to a certain degree due to the absence of comparative studies. All slicer software solutions can exchange the infill with predefined infill patterns. Often their performance properties are unknown, and engineers make choices that depend on the printing time or material use. We conduct an experimental campaign to understand infill patterns’ effect on the mechanical performance. This work is inspired by biomimicry and studies honeycomb-, gyroid-, and Archimedean chords-type infill patterns in order to determine their performance. Experimental analysis via the three-point bending test has been conducted by using samples from PolyLactic Acid (PLA) with infill densities of 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100% for these infill patterns. An additional set of samples was printed with Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) for additional evaluation of Archimedean chords. We characterize the mechanical performance by comparing strength properties and observe that a mass-normalized flexural strength measure is meaningful when selecting an adequate infill pattern. Honeycomb showed the highest absolute flexural strength; strength per mass peaked at 90% infill. Mass reduction effected by infill density reduction fails to be linear; lowering infill down to 50% decreases mass marginally by up to 17% only. The performance of each infill pattern and comparisons between mass, strength, and print time are described to serve as a guide for designers. Full article

Sustainability challenges in the built environment demand a shift in architectural education from form-based approaches toward adaptive, systems-oriented, and performance-driven thinking. This paper examines an integrated pedagogical model combining biomimicry, parametric thinking, and modular design to enhance sustainable design learning in architectural studios. Using a qualitative case study approach, this research investigates Architectural Design Studio 4 at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK), where third-year students followed a three-stage discovery-based process. Students first analyzed biological systems to identify transferable principles, then translated these principles into parametric modules using computational tools such as Dynamo and Revit, and finally applied the systems to high-rise architectural design. The findings indicate that integrating biomimicry with parametric workflows encouraged optimization, adaptability, and reusable design strategies rather than fixed outcomes. Modular design approaches helped students manage architectural complexity, while computational tools supported performance-based exploration and informed decision-making. The absence of a predetermined final design fostered critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills. This study contributes empirical evidence to architectural education research by demonstrating that process-based, discovery-oriented studios can strengthen students’ understanding of sustainability, systems logic, and adaptability, preparing future architects for contemporary environmental and technological challenges. Full article

Urinary cancers present a severe clinical challenge due to high recurrence rates. Standard intravesical therapies suffer from limited efficacy because of the urinary tract’s robust physiological defenses, namely, the dynamic washout effect during voiding and highly restrictive urothelial barriers, such as the anti-adhesive glycosaminoglycan layer and intercellular tight junctions. This review aims to explore how biomimetic engineering can overcome these obstacles by transitioning drug delivery from passive carriers to active, nature-inspired systems. We conducted a comprehensive review of the recent literature focusing on biomimetic strategies for intravesical drug delivery and urinary cancer theranostics. The analyzed approaches are categorized into chemical biomimicry (such as adhesion and camouflage) and structural/functional biomimicry (including adaptive devices and microrobots). Biomimetic strategies significantly enhance targeted drug retention and tissue penetration. Chemical biomimicry, utilizing mussel-inspired catechol chemistry and cell membrane camouflage, effectively bypasses the urothelial anti-adhesive defenses and reduces the immune clearance. Structural and functional biomimicry, such as naturally derived carriers and actively propelled magnetic or biohybrid microrobots, enables the precise spatial localization and controlled payload release in dynamic fluid environments. Furthermore, lab-on-a-chip technologies and patient-derived organoids (PDOs) offer scalable platforms for screening cargo-specific efficacies and tailoring treatments, providing a crucial bridge to personalized precision medicine. Integrating nature-inspired designs with advanced nanotechnologies provides a highly promising pathway with which to overcome the mechanical and biological barriers of the urinary tract. These biomimetic innovations hold the potential to shift the therapeutic paradigm for urinary oncology, paving the way for more efficient, targeted, and personalized precision medicine. Full article

Although nanomedicine has enabled significant advances in drug delivery, the clinical translation of conventional synthetic nanocarriers is limited by immune clearance, non-specific biodistribution, and gastrointestinal instability. This poses major challenges for therapy targeting the intestines. Cell membrane-coated nanotechnology (CMCT) and membrane vesicle-based systems have emerged as biomimetic platforms integrating synthetic nanomaterials with naturally derived biological interfaces. These biohybrid systems inherit biological functions originating from cells, including immune evasion, prolonged circulation, lesion homing, and microenvironment-responsive interactions, through the direct transfer of intact membrane components. This review summarizes recent advances in CMCT and membrane vesicle-based strategies for intestinal drug delivery. It covers fabrication methodologies, programmable manufacturing approaches, and functional regulation enabled by diverse membrane sources and hybrid engineering designs. Applications in inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer, and intestinal infections are highlighted, emphasizing key therapeutic mechanisms, such as targeting inflammation, neutralizing toxins, modulating the immune system, and regulating the microbiome. We also discuss the major challenges of translation, such as preserving membrane and coating integrity, ensuring oral stability, achieving batch reproducibility, and ensuring biosafety. Overall, this review establishes a conceptual and engineering framework to guide the transition of membrane-based nanocarriers from passive biomimicry to adaptive, clinically translatable intestinal delivery systems. Full article

The goal of the present paper is to apply a novel biomimetic design strategy for the analysis, emulation, and technical evaluation of design solutions inspired by the morphogenetic logic of the walnut shell microstructure. The shell consists of specialized cells, called sclereids, which develop protrusions and mechanically interlock with neighboring cells, providing exceptional toughness through increased surface contact. To extract and transfer this biological principle, a generative algorithm was developed using the evolutionary solver Galapagos within the Grasshopper visual programming environment. The algorithm generates protrusions on the interfaces of structural blocks and optimizes their contact surface area while maintaining constant block volume. Additional design constraints, including symmetry and manufacturability considerations, were introduced to improve structural performance and computational efficiency. A series of physical specimens with variations in key geometric parameters, such as protrusion number and height, were fabricated using fused filament fabrication (FFF) with PLA material and evaluated through in-plane and out-of-plane three-point bending tests. The results show that increasing the number of protrusions significantly enhances mechanical performance, while increasing their height improves stiffness and interlocking up to a certain threshold, beyond which structural performance decreases due to stress concentration effects. This behavior can be attributed to improved load transfer and stress distribution across the enlarged interfacial area, as well as progressive mechanical engagement between complementary protrusions. The computational model is in good agreement with the experimental results, confirming the validity of the proposed approach. The study demonstrates that biomimetic optimization of interfacial geometry can enhance the mechanical behavior of interlocking systems and provides a framework for translating biological morphogenetic principles into engineering design applications. Full article

Compliant mechanisms have contributed to many advances in soft robotics, and there is strong motivation to translate these ideas to assistive devices where adaptive motion at the human interface is required. This work presents novel reconfigurable compliant joints (RCJs) as a parameterized joint element for functional biomimicry in lower-extremity joints for prosthetic knees and ankle–foot orthoses, with concepts that extend to other limb joints. The RCJ uses a rigid hub and outer ring joined by an array of flexible links with centerlines defined by cubic Bézier curves. Link shapes are organized into four Bézier classes (A–D), with base types using 10, 12, or 14 uniformly distributed link slots and variants generated by modifying active-link count and distribution, forming a structured morphology space of 12 configurations for machine design. Dual-extrusion 3D-printed prototypes are characterized by a custom testing apparatus using a 2.2 kN load cell at 25 mm/s over a 0–90° rotation range across six recorded load cycles to measure torque–angle curves and stiffness under large deformations. Angle-dependent stiffness is evaluated over three fixed intervals (0–30°, 30–60°, and 60–90°) to quantify multi-stage behavior. A 2-dimensional corotational frame model and a Simscape Multibody model, including a rolling-contact knee configuration, use the same parameterization to relate geometry, nonlinear mechanics, and system-level motion. Experiments and simulations show multi-stage torque–angle profiles and predictable stiffness modulation across all configurations, with both magnitude and transition angle tunable through Bézier class and active-link distribution, positioning the RCJ as a CAD/CAE-compatible joint architecture for assistive devices or wearable robotic systems and a basis for advancing functional biomimicry in compliant mechanism design. Full article

This study explores the potential of biomimetic reasoning to inform early-stage design thinking, with a focus on enhancing the consideration of material utilization and textile waste. While sustainability efforts within the field of textiles are often focused on recycling and end-of-life management strategies, it is important to recognize that a substantial proportion of final waste-related outcomes are determined during the conceptual design stage and the initial prototyping iterations. This study investigates the potential of organizational principles derived from natural systems to inform the definition of problems, the generation of ideas, and early conceptual prototyping. This is achieved by the introduction of ecological constraints and material life-cycle awareness in conjunction with user-centered requirements. To address the conceptual gap between biological forms and manufacturing, biomimicry is approached as a mode of systemic reasoning, utilizing topological skeletonization as a tool for logic extraction rather than formal imitation, with emphasis placed on continuity, modularity, and adaptive organization. This computational proof-of-concept employs a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) framework, utilizing biological venation as a topological guide to demonstrate how distinct organizational logics influence pattern configuration while incorporating manufacturing-inspired constraints (such as path continuity and density) as optimization penalties. The findings are exploratory in nature and are confined to the computational domain; while the study utilizes proxy indicators to simulate potential textile behaviors, it acknowledges the lack of direct experimental validation of physical fabrication as a current limitation. By framing waste as an outcome of upstream design choices, this paper contributes a methodological perspective. This perspective places biomimetic design thinking as a reflective tool within sustainable and regenerative design practice. It also supports earlier engagement with ecological considerations in textile development. Full article

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is an advanced additive manufacturing technology that utilizes bioinks composed of living cells and biomaterials to construct tissue-like structures for a wide range of medical applications. This paper reviews key applications, including tissue engineering, organ modeling and printing, drug testing and development, disease modeling, cosmetics and chemical testing, regenerative medicine, and personalized medicine. In parallel, biomimicry of natural plant architectures offers powerful opportunities for innovation in biomedical material design. Among these, the rose stands out for its intricate hierarchical geometry, which provides not only aesthetic appeal but also exceptional mechanical resilience. Incorporating rose-inspired structural elements into 3D-bioprinted medical constructs can significantly enhance mechanical strength, flexibility, and surface adaptability. This review also highlights plant- and rose-inspired approaches in medical applications and outlines the potential of rose-inspired 3D bioprinting to advance the design of functional and biomimetic tissue models. Nature provides a rich source of inspiration for biomimetic design, and translating biological principles into engineering solutions can contribute to sustainable technological development aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this regard, roses and other plant systems offer valuable structural and functional inspiration for advancing 3D bioprinting in medical applications. Full article

This study reinterprets Ottoman water philosophy through a “Hierarchical Adaptation Framework” to bridge the gap between historical heritage and contemporary biophilic design. While existing literature discusses Ottoman architecture and modern sustainability separately, a theoretical integration connecting these domains remains underexplored. Focusing on Bursa’s historical water network—specifically the Waqf-managed systems—this research utilizes a qualitative methodology to synthesize heritage-based water logics into a transferable design model. The proposed framework is structured around three interconnected layers: (1) Ecological (Resilience), prioritizing resource availability and passive cooling; (2) Sensory (Psychological Restoration), leveraging acoustic and thermal properties for user well-being; and (3) Symbolic (Identity), re-coding cultural rituals for modern civic memory. By mapping these layers against Browning’s 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design, the study identifies Ottoman water architecture as a “Proto-Biophilic” precedent. The findings argue that contemporary interventions must follow a strict prioritization—ecological viability first, followed by sensory optimization and symbolic resonance—to avoid “greenwashing.” The study concludes by proposing a “Technological Biomimicry” strategy to resolve conflicts between historical abundance and modern water scarcity, offering a resilient roadmap for water-centric urbanism in the age of climate crisis. Full article

The integration of biomimetics and artificial intelligence (AI) in architecture is reshaping the foundations of computational design. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the current research trends and applications that combine AI-driven modeling with biologically inspired principles to optimize architectural forms, material efficiency, and fabrication processes. By examining recent studies from Q1–Q2 journals (2019–2025), the paper identifies five primary “interfaces” through which AI expands the field of biomimetic design: biological pattern recognition, structural optimization, generative morphogenesis, resource management, and adaptive fabrication. The paper highlights the transition from conventional simulation-based design toward iterative, data-driven workflows integrating machine learning (ML), deep generative models, and reinforcement learning. The findings demonstrate that AI not only serves as a generative tool but also as a learning mechanism capable of translating biological intelligence into architectural logic. The paper concludes by proposing a methodological and educational framework for AI-driven biomimetic optimization, emphasizing the emergence of Artificial Intelligence in Architectural Design (AIAD) as a paradigm shift in architectural education and research. This convergence of biology, algorithms, and material systems is defining a new, adaptive approach to sustainable and intelligent architecture. Full article

Due to its significant environmental impact, the built environment faces growing pressure to transition toward more sustainable practices. Biomimicry, a novel field of practice that entails design and innovation inspired by nature’s time-tested strategies, offers a promising pathway to enhance sustainability in the construction industry. Hence, this study examines the perceived benefits of applying biomimicry principles in the construction sector, aiming to identify the key dimensions that underpin its transformative potential. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted using data collected through a structured questionnaire survey, which contained 18 indicators derived from a targeted literature synthesis. The questionnaire was administered to 120 purposively sampled, duly registered, practising construction and biomimicry professionals in South Africa. The instrument captured perceptions of the environmental, economic, and socio-functional benefits of adopting and implementing biomimicry. The EFA revealed four principal factors: socio-economic and health, ecological resilience, performance enhancement and green market efficiency. These four factors cumulatively accounted for approximately 70% of the total variance, indicating a strong internal structure of perceived benefits. The findings demonstrate that stakeholders perceive biomimicry as a tool for reducing environmental footprints and as a catalyst for innovation, circularity, and regenerative design practices in the built environment. This research contributes to the emerging discourse on biomimicry in the built environment by providing empirical evidence on its multifaceted value. It highlights the importance of integrating natural design intelligence into construction to foster more adaptive, efficient, resilient and sustainable systems. The paper recommends policy support, interdisciplinary collaboration, and further research to operationalise biomimicry within mainstream construction processes. Full article