BIOMIMICRY Design Innovation inspired by Nature

Nature is the ultimate designer.

Resourceful, ingenious, sustainable, beautiful; Nature is a true teacher in innovation.
Some of the brightest minds in history – from Leonardo da Vinci to Albert Einstein – have been inspired and guided by its systems and creations. Some of mankind’s biggest inventions have come from observing nature’s variety and insightful ways of working and solving problems.

Today, we face a world of challenges in our society. For designers, challenges become opportunities to innovate. But in an era of renewed urgency towards a more sustainable future, how can nature inspire the next generation of designers?
This is where Biomimicry in design really comes into its own.

Defined by the Biomimicry Institute as; “an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies”, Biomimicry can be seen as one of the most fascinating and important methodology a designer can adopt today.

Nature is a balanced ecosystem. By studying its designs, one can extract clever ways of problem solving, which we – as humans – can then translate into our own contexts. Because this is a way of emulating natural processes, Biomimicry assures a more sustainable approach to man-made change; one that is much more in sync with the world we inhabit.

Flight, aerodynamics, green energy, fractal designs and advances in material technology are but a small fraction of things we have learnt from studying nature’s creations and the systems behind them.

Inspiration is everywhere in nature. Whether we can seek it in its beauty or find it in its functionality, Biomimicry in design always leads to fascinating outcomes!

Eleven Magazine seeks nature-inspired designs in the fields of Architecture, Design, Technology and Fashion that showcase innovation and biomimicry practices.

What this means is ultimately up to you.

Designs can be existing prototypes or new conceptual ideas. So, if you have a biomimicry idea, then we would love to see it!

Registration Fee:
Early Bird: £60 GBP
Standard: £80 GBP
Late Bloomer: £100 GBP

Competition Schedule:
11 November 2016: Registration opens. Early Bird fee applies.
1 December 2016: Standard Fee applies
1 March 2017: Late Bloomer fee applies
11 March 2017: Registration Closes. Projects submission deadline.
14 March 2017: Public online voting for People’s Choice Award opens.
9 May 2017: Public online voting for People’s Choice Award closes.
11 May 2017: Winners Announced and published!