Biomimicry & Ecosystem Functions

Critical to our initiative is developing a common understanding of and language around what we mean by "biomimicry in the built environment" and "lost ecosystem functions."

Participants had a brief introduction to the practice of biomimicry, including understanding that design decisions are choices filled with assumptions impacted by the language we use and the stories we tell about our place. Participants then began to learn how to listen for ecosystem functions and how they are achieved (strategies) through learning about the stories of our local ecology. Guest speaker presentations focused on the high-level functional categories of water, carbon & energy and biodiversity management. We then tied biomimicry and ecosystem functions together through the introduction of our Deep Roots Initiative.

Ecosystem Functions in Context

Exploring the Lurie Garden

Connection with nature is key to the practice of biomimicry, so after an introduction to ecosystem functions, everyone gathered to tour the Lurie Garden. The Lurie Garden is an oasis of biodiversity within the city; built as a garden roof above a parking garage. Millennium Park Executive Director, Scott Stewart, and TGDA founder, Terry Guen, led our groups through the tour to discover its history, its beauty, and the functions it performs for the ecosystem it inhabits.

Biomimicry Chicago co-leaders Amy Coffman Phillips and Rachel Hahs led the group through an activity to discover these ecosystem functions through a biomimicry lens. For example, we discovered that the soil performs the function of “sequester carbon”, leaves “cool ambient temperature” and mycorrhizal fungi “transport resources and signals.” Using these abstracted functions, we began to explore how nature solves the same challenges that we do in the built environment. We began to ask the question “what would nature do here?” but also critically, “what wouldn’t nature do here?”

Comparing and Contrasting Ecosystems
& the Built Environment

Lurie Garden Case Study

Participants had a chance to apply what they explored in the morning session about ecosystem functions and the Lurie Garden into a brainstorming of what functions the Lurie Garden does or does not perform. To take it one step further and explore our Deep Roots concept of measuring the performance of our built environment to an ecological performance standard for each function,  we then as a large group conducted a quick and dirty analysis of how well the Lurie Garden performs.

Brainstorming Ecosystem Functions in Buildings

Legat CasE study

After working with our Deep Roots metric concept for the Lurie Garden, we gave participants a chance to apply this idea outside of the realm of “green infrastructure” and start to bring it into the realm of “grey infrastructure.” A representative from our sponsor, Legat Architects, shared an example of a green school they recently completed and challenged everyone to explore how ecosystem functions are being or could be applied to a building project. Participants used the cards at right to brainstorm how to achieve ecosystem functions in building design.