Many would say that Nature had it right, and that she’d be much better off environmentally speaking, without human interference. However, since we’ve now burned through the industrial revolution and now find ourselves struggling for solutions to house a human population boasting 7-10 billion by 2050, architects, and scientists alike are asking, “Should design imitate nature?”

For the third and final installation of the MOV’s BuiltCity talks (with Architecture Canada), “Nature, Urban Space, & Biomimicry” Thomas Knittel of HOK and Dr. Faisal Moola, Director of Science at the David Suzuki Foundation responded with a resounding “Yes!”

With close to 80% of Canadians living in cities, and largest population booms expected right here in Vancouver (and Montreal/Toronto), it’s clear that our developmental policy needs change. As Faisal emphasized in his talk, “with scarce resources and little guidance, municipal governments are charged with developing and enforcing many of the policies and programs necessary to ensure that urban development doesn’t consume what’s left of the natural world closest to home.”

For Thomas, this means moving away from a model of simply reducing harmful developmental practices, towards a model of positive impact. At HOK, they’re focusing on a few key principles, based on examples from the natural world. Take, for example, the delicate bones of a vulture's wing, which can be mimicked in the structural design of a building’s framework to concentrate material where it is needed most, and reduce waste elsewhere.

As exemplified by this orphanage built in Haiti, whose design mimics the function of a forest canopy, HOK calls this process a Fully Integrated System (FIT).

The evening’s lecture was a unique contrast in perspective, pairing Knittel’s practical experience, with Moola’s policy/natural capital point of view. 

Pointing to another HOK project in Lavasa, India, Thomas spoke to how, recognizing the ecological performance standards of a region are key to the FIT model of development, which aim to create the best social, economic, and environmental capacity of design. For example, if a desert plant grows in a way which provides a degree of self-shading, water storage, and a balance between overheating and sun collection for transpiration during cool nights, why wouldn’t a building in the desert follow similar principles?

Following the presentations from Knittel and Moola, there was an interactive discussion, moderated by Ray Cole. Questions were raised about the ability to distinguish between simply a ‘beautification’ vs. ‘biodiversity’-enhancing project; audience members wondered what the most important area of policy change to push forward to encourage the practice of biomimicry; and some technical discussion emerged around the limits to a biomimicry-styled design process? Is it simply the next trend? Overall, it was agreed that we cannot place the same design demands on all buildings. Warehouses, schools, factories and houses have different requirements and restraints, exactly the same way ecological life has more and less generous players. A sustainable future must recognize that complexity.

Ray Cole, professor at the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, and co-founder of the Green Building Challenge, summed up the evening stating that we as humans have been more demanding than nature itself, and that the positive messaging of biomimicry and ideas of nature for enhancing life is the type of powerful point that will sow seeds for the fundamental will to change.

UP NEXT: While the BuiltCity lecture series has wrapped up for now, the MOV has a stellar lineup of architectural and planning-based dialogue planned with the upcoming SALA Speaks series taking place every Sunday in March at the Museum of Vancouver.  

[Photos by Hanna Cho and Gala Milne // Images courtesy Thomas Knittel and Faisal Moola]

If you’re anything like us, this week your social media feeds are full of black and white images of Dr. Martin Luther King II, and segments of the “I have a dream” video. At MOV we’re happy to celebrate the birthday of this influential man with the re-posting of an interview with Vancouver’s Derrick O’Keefe and a colleague of Dr. King’s, Jack O’Dell.

Our own living legend, David Suzuki, keeps the fight for equity alive in a letter to the federal Conservatives regarding the northern pipeline project, being pushed through without proper environmental assessment and community collaboration. A controversial issue in a city heavily populated by both industry workers and environmentalists.

…And arts-&-culture-workers! At the MOV we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on the provincial Liberals as the decisions over gaming grants and their allocation to arts groups develops. I wonder… would gaming grants cover the costs for a gondola to the museum? Probably not, but it’s a neat (and expensive) idea for the ever-burgeoning life atop Burnaby Mountain.

Participants of a CUP student journalism conference in Victoria drummed up some good material this past weekend, as many were affected by a norovirus outbreak!

Apples to apples? A great podcast from This American Life this week, exposing the inner-workings of your iphone.

And if you’re looking for a way to get to know the Year of the Dragon, Sun Yat Sen gardens has a special exhibition of water dragon artifacts on now.

At the MOVeum: This week: BuiltCity Lecture Series: Nature, Urban Space & Biomimicry – Thursday January 19 // On the radar: History of the Drive – January 26

Originally slated to close on October 23, 2011, the coming close of Bhangra.me on January 1, 2012, is bittersweet.  As one of the longest running exhibitions at the MOV, we'll be sad to see this beautiful and rich feature, disassembled.

Launched on May 5, 2011, Bhangra.me: Vancouver’s Bhangra Story was the culmination of over two years of collaborative research, a mini exhibit (April 2010), two community consultations, and hundreds of hours of primary research.  Bhangra.me was a collaboration with the Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration, and was co-curated by community researcher Naveen Girn and MOV's Curator of Contemporary Issues Viviane Gosselin

Beginning with an unforgettable opening party on May 4, 2011 where over 500 people joined special guest performers - including Mayor Gregor - in a vibrant celebration of this groundbreaking exhibition.

The research and collecting phase helped generate the first historical interpretation of Bhangra’s significance in Vancouver, and demonstrated its role as a cultural tool for inter-cultural bridging during labour disputes, challenging gender roles and re-imagining the definition of Canadian identity.

What the research, design, and curatorial team hoped to accomplish, was not just mount a beautiful exhibition displaying artefacts, but to use the exhibit itself, and related programming in order to catalyze new understandings about intercultural relations, hybrid identities, and strengthen community ties with(in) the South Asian community in Vancouver.

We're honoured to have worked with such amazing people, met so many great Bhangra fans, and we look forward to continuing to see, hear, and share Vancouver's bhangra stories on the Bhangra.me Storymap!

For those of you who haven't seen the beautiful touchscreens inside the exhibition, this is one piece of the exhibit, that will live on, indefinitely.  We invite you to add your story to the map, by uploading a photo, anecdote, to what we hope will become the next natural gathering place for Bhangra fans around the world!

Representing another first for the Museum of Vancouver, this hybrid Drupal/Silverlight powered storymap was a collaboration made possible by a community sponsorship from Microsoft Canada, in particular the Open Platforms crew, lead by Nik Garkusha.  A neat mobile version of the storymap was developed for W7 Phones by Redbit.

In all, with just a week left in what has been a truly remarkable journey, we hope you'll come check it out here at MOV, listen and dance, tell us what you think, and continue the conversation online.

Balle balle!

Chocolates and shortbreads aside, we’ve selected a few tasty stories for you to chew this week as many of us prepare for winter hibernation in Vancouver. Unless, of course, you’re one of the many who aren’t so keen to kick it in this increasingly unlivable city. Vancouver is now deemed the 22^nd ‘most livable’ city in Canada in ratio to family income. With the giant sea turtles washing ashore in Tofino and bears getting caught in our urban spaces, it seems even our wildlife can't survive long in the city.

Last refuge: space! For those of us awake Saturday morning at 5am, you might have been lucky to catch a glimpse of the lunar eclipse.

As forewarned, bright and early Monday morning, Occupy The Ports was carried out to varying degrees from Oakland to Portland to Vancouver, without the support of labour unions, and without much disturbance to regular port traffic in Vancouver

Calling all birders. Bird photographers are out in force and capturing their imagination is the impressive number of snowy owls that have made their appearance at Boundary Bay. Some 18 have been spotted at one time perched on logs and in the grasslands. It’s tough to see snowy owls any time of the year, let alone 18 in one place. They’ll be around all winter, but better to catch them now while they’re being seen.

Near the MOVeum: Migrating birds dropping in on Vancouver are at their height in December. A walk around Vanier Park (in Kitsilano) or Stanley Park will offer a lot of diversity, more so than any other time of year. Come visit the last weeks of Bhangra.me while you're in the neighborhood, and maybe you'll spot the eagle that enjoys sitting on our roof!

[photo credit: "9//365", by Jeremy Saunders; "Winking Snowy Owl", by Pandamon via flickr]