NATURE IN DESIGN - PAST

I believe nature has always inspired designers in many ways. Whether its aesthetically or in the way things function, nature takes a great part in design, and after all, nature surrounds us everywhere we go, so taking inspiration from it seems like an easy task.


If we go way back in time and look at architecture as a media for the use of nature in design, we can see that even the ancient Greeks used leaves to decorate their pillars. This only happens in Corinthian style pillars, but we can see that some of the earliest forms of meditated architecture take inspiration from nature, even if its just from a style point of view.

FIG1: Corinthian Greek Column. Image by Historyforkids.org, Oct 2011.

But how has nature influenced designs that are more recent both aesthetically and in functionality?
A prime example of how architecture can find more efficient designs in terms of cost and functionality is the Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe (Mick Pierce and Arup Associates, 1996). This building copies the self cooling systems of African termite mounds. This means that all the cooling in the building can be done naturally and there is no need to use expensive and non environment friendly cooling systems like air conditioning.

FIG2-3: Eastgate Centre, Image by Mario Jimenez 2010.

Another prime example of this is the Eden Project (Eden Trust, 2001), in Cornwell. The Eden Project consists in a number of Geodesic Domes that emulate different weather conditions. This means they can have tropical like weather in one dome, and Mediterranean in another. The shapes of the Domes resemble that of bubbles, yet the functionality of the actual building borrows a lot from animals in nature.  Finished in 2001, this is one of the most interesting buildings done yet, and the fact that it attracted a massive amount of tourism and held a large number of exhibitions, proves that its popularity was vast.

FIG4: Eden Project, 2001.

Another form of media in which nature in design has been very popular are books. Some examples are: "Design with nature" (McHarg, I.L, 1995), "The nature of design" (Orr, D.W. 2004) and "Invention and evolution: design in nature and engineering"( French.M. 1994)

FIG5: Design with nature, 1995.

FIG6: The nature of Design, David W.Orr, 2004.

FIG7: Invention and Evolution: Design in nature and Engineering, 1994.

These are just a few of the many books that talk about nature in design, or nature related to design in any way.


In animation, nature has always played a massive part. We've seen it many times, when the characters in animations are animals and the whole film is based around the animals portrayed and the natural laws they follow. One of the best examples is "The Lion King" (Disney, 1994). This animation film, although it varies a lot from the actual factoids of nature, it still borrows a lot of the hierarchy, action and feel of the environment in which its set. This of course being Africa.
Other films like "The little Mermaid" (Disney, 1989) borrow a lot of features from nature, and implement them into their designs to make cohesive, living sequences. The fact that these animations were published and were in cinemas all around the world, proves the popularity of nature inspired animations.

FIG8: The lion King, Disney, 1994.

FIG9: The little mermaid, Disney, 1989.

To really see how the past affected the nature inspired designs of the present, we need to look at what was displayed for these people in media when they were growing up. Take for example, Michael Bay, creator of the transformer films. He grew up in the 70's - 80's which is when the first "Amazing Spiderman" (Marvel Comics, 1963) comic was released. The first Transformers (Marvel Comics, 1984) comics also appeared at that time, and both have designs inspired by nature, whether its in the actual hero or a result of robotics. so it makes perfect sense for Michael Bay to want to takes these inspirations and make them the way he imagined them when reading them as a kid. For this, he had to wait until technology allowed him to realise that dream, and in 2007 he released his first Transformers film.

FIG10: Ravage.

I think the same thing can be said for the people who are doing robotics and getting amazing results nowadays with designs inspired by animals. The source of inspiration and the dream of seeing these childhood admirations become real could very well be the very reason for which these people are creating things inspired by nature.


One of the things I have been noticing while doing my research, is that nature inspired designs in films, comics, animation and video games, are often related to Evil. 

Take for example Proffesor Octopus in the Spiderman (Columbia Pictures, 2004) series. Although it is adapted from the comic  (Which is the media we will discuss next), Octopus's mechanical arms are inspired by the tencacles of an octopus.

FIG11: Doctor Octopus, A nature inspired Villain. Sony Pictures, 2004.

Dr.Octopus in Spiderman, Ravage in Transformers, mechanical spiders, all these creatures have a relation to evil. 
The question is why? I believe the answer is that these things appear to be so technologically advanced, that the intelligence, opportunity and power that they posses is seen as a threat. We know that Designs inspired by nature (in terms of functionality) are very advanced compared to other non nature based designs, so imagining the use of those designs for evil sounds like the perfect obstacle to overcome for a hero.
Another exmple of animal based designs portrayed as an evil is the mechanical spider in "Wild Wild West" (Peter's entretainment, 1999)

FIG12: Wild WIld West mechanical Spider, 1999.

This takes me to another question, how has evil been portrayed in media in the past?





Looking at horror films from the 70's and 90's like "Frankenstein" (Tristar Pictures, 1994), "Dracula" (Columbia Pictures, 1992), "Omen" (Twentieth-century Fox, 1976)... all of these films are regarded as some of the scariest, evil portraying films of their time, and they all seem to have two common denominators:
Insanity and Creatures. Even the supernatural can be seen in most of these films, higher powers... etc.

FIG13: Frankenstein, 1994.

FIG14: The Omen, Paramount, 1976.

If we look at books, "The exorcist" (William Peter Blatty, 1971), "Gerald's Game" (Stephen King, 1992) again, we see insanity and creatures going hand to hand to create fear and evil.

FIG15: The exorcist, William Peter Blatty, 1971.

FIG16: Gerald's game, Stephen King, 1992

 The fear produced by an insane man or a creature seems to be the predominating theme, but why? I believe that this fear is produced by the fact that "something" has gone wrong. Its the fact that what is unfamiliar  causes the suspense, the unpredictability, and knowing that the evil you're looking at is a wretched mind. 

The same thing happens with creatures, they are scary because they are different and unknown... and if you portray them doing terrible things, then this fear sensation escalates.

I think this is why evil, relates to natures designs. Its such an advanced concept that, even when we see nature's work in our everyday lives, the idea that something so powerful can be concentrated into an object is scary! Making a robot panther or spider that comes to destroy the world is something so bizarre it can indulge fear. The fact that it is so new and unknown is another factor for which evil can be linked to nature in design. Not knowing what these things can do or, rather, what they can't do, can induce fear. 
These examples show how Nature in design, even when implied through evil and horror, was a popular topic covered by medias such as film, literature and comics in the past.

Another media in which nature can be seen as an inspiration for design is toys.

One of the most popular toy designs inspired by nature is the rocking wooden horse. This toy basically consists of a wooden horse carved out of wood that is put on top of two bent shapes that would allow a kid to rock the wooden horse back and forward. They've always been very popular and date back to around the 19th century, having some really interesting designs.

They are also now considered very valuable antiques.

FIG17: 19th Century Rocking Horse.

Keeping with the horse theme, another past item that borrows from these creatures are Carousels or Gallopers.

They started to be seen in fair grounds at the beginning of the 19th century. The first gallopers, powered by steam engines, we're quite complex in their design for the time. They had rows of horses that would go round an axis. These horses were Carved in amazing detail and had some very beautiful designs. Gallopers were extremely popular in fair grounds all through the 19th and 20th century and, although they lost a bit of steam at the beginning of the 21st century, they still are quite popular in fair grounds. I came across a book published in 1983 called "The carousel Anmial" (Tobin Fraley, 1983) that explains the way carousel animals are made in detail. This is also supporting evidence that these deigns were popular in the past.

FIG18: The crousel animal.Cover by Gary Sinick, 1983.

Another very interesting and fascinating take on Design inspired by nature is the work done by Ross Lovegrove.

Ross is a designer that wants to focus on the future of design in different, more efficient and healthy designs.

In 2005, Ross did a talk for "TED" where he explained how he had been approaching approaching design  in a way that it feels like the object was naturally grown, although keeping a futuristic look.

He uses BioPolymers, biomaterials, that are biodegradable and highly uselful to create amazing, natural looking shapes like "The super Natrual chair" (Lovegrove Studios, 2005) One of the most amazing examples is a chair made with polymers that have been injected with gas to create holes in the structure in a very organic way, here is a picture of the chair:

FIG19: Supernatural chair. Ross Lovergrove, 2005.

If you click on the image of the chair it will actually take you to a video in which you can see Ross Lovegrove's presentation and approach to design.

Nature has always been a source of inspiration to designers, artists, film makers, animators, video game designers.... the list goes on. The fascination that the world around us can provide is a great source to have as a starting point whenever we approach design. All the above examples prove that nature was a popular topic to use as inspiration and that was shown in a variety of different media. From architecture, to animation, to art and design... nature was a topic in which these medias could lean onto and portray efficient, aesthetically pleasing designs that could lead to what we see in today's design and what we will be seeing in the future.