Through the conscious emulation of nature’s genius, biomimicry offers an alternate approach to design that seeks to create conditions conducive to life. Nature itself is a master designer that develops extensively tested strategies for survival within the Earth’s operating conditions through the process of evolution. This design process can be decoded to create an ethos that identifies humanity’s place in nature, (re)connect with the natural world and emulate its proven strategies. This project combines methodologies of user-centered research and design for sustainability to craft a unique experience at an upcoming Tybee Island Marine Science Center (TIMSC) facility located in Tybee Island, GA. This experience serves as a source of biomimetic inspiration to its visitors.
TEAM
A diverse group of 11 eclectic designers from 7 disciplines and 5 countries took up the challenge of designing a highly engaging experience under the guidance of expert biologist, Cathy Sakas. By identifying our strengths, we defined clear responsibilities for everyone, with mine being design research and strategy development.
RESEARCH
We started with the exploration of Georgia’s coastal ecology in order to understand the organisms and systemic interplay surrounding TIMSC with the intent of bringing back this excitement towards reconnecting it with nature. We observed each location on a micro, meso and a macro level, looking at both specific organisms and holistic ecosystems. We practiced quieting human cleverness by stripping ourselves of certain senses to heighten other more instinctive senses.
Other design research tools were employed to gain a better understanding of the concept. Through observations, in-depth interviews, and shadowing of visitors and educators at the TIMSC, a culmination of qualitative and quantitative human-centered data was collected and synthesized using our favorite method— Affinitization. From hundreds of stickies to a few carefully clustered bunch, our team squeezed valuable insights that helped us visualize a systemic map of the facility. This led to the identification of opportunity spaces for the seamless integration of biomimicry to the already functioning flow of the center.
WORKSHOP
As we approached the exploration phase of our process, it was important for us, designers, to understand the perspective and needs of key stakeholders, and to include their expertise in our creative course of action. Thus, a co-creation session was facilitated with the educators, designers and board members of TIMSC. Five groups were formed, each comprising of a board member, an external designer, two educators and two facilitators. We provided each group with twenty minutes of time and a set of cards— one 'How Might We’ and two ‘Function’ cards, the former informing an opportunity space and the latter offering biomimetic inspirations. They were then prompted to design an installation for the new center.
CONCEPT
Post ideation, with a series of iterations, a rather elaborate system was developed that holistically catered to visitors and educators alike. A total of 8 biomimetic installations, each specific to an organism, were developed for the visitors that either implicitly or explicitly prompted an inspiration from Georgia coast’s favorite creatures. For the educators, six activities, which were inspired by the same organisms, were designed and articulated on what we called ‘Activity Cards’. These Activity Cards were meant only for the educators’ reference purposes to facilitate activities with the same goal of prompting an inspiration. To extend the experience beyond the physical space of TIMSC, we repurposed Function Cards (which were used in our workshop) as collectibles that would be sold at the souvenir shop of the new center. The concept was created with intricate details, thanks to our cross-disciplinary team, and using principles of experience and game design.
