Patterns Found in Nature

Diagrammatic Explorations

Possible Applications

It is questionable if the potential water collection techniques at the micro scale could be scaled up and work on a larger scale, but it could be applied in theory. Currently, fog nets are being employed in the Andes for the use of water collection from the fog.

The current project set up nets about 30 meters square along hillsides around Lima. The fog condenses on the nets and the water that drips off is collected in troughs and routed to brick tanks. The fog collectors can yield 600 liters per day, which is a substantial amount. www.bayer.com/en/64-69-Nebelfaenger-en.pdfx

This is an area with a large amount of dense fog, but I believe that this shows potential for a surface texture or material to be applied to building surfaces. The surface or material could potentially control the flow of water and concentrate it to specific areas to enhance the water collection capabilities.

Desert Beetle Water Collection

Desert Beetles utilizes patterns of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions on their backs to capture water from humid air. The Stenocara beetle, which lives in Africa's Namib desert, uses this mechanism on it's wings to collect water from fog in areas where normal condensation can't take place due to the lightness of the fog. The insect angles its wings forwards and upwards into the wind so that the water droplets in the fog collect on hydrophilic bumps and eventually become heavy enough to roll down the surrounding hydrophobic surface areas of the wing to the beetle's mouth.

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/25204

This system is being put into practice by researchers in the U.S. who developed a way to texture surfaces in the way that that beetle's wings are textured. "Nanoparticles in the coating strongly attract water droplets and force them to form much smaller contact angles with the surface. As a result, the droplets flatten and merge to form a uniform, transparent sheet."

The coating also has potential implications for reflectivity on surfaces, especially glass. It has been shown to reduce reflectivity and allow more light to pass through the glass, which could be crucial for solar cell technology which is very applicable to sustainable building technologies and practices. 

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2005/August/31080502.asp

A little background... 

Hydrophobic:

hydrophobicity is the physical property of a molecule that is repelled from a mass of water. Therefore hydrophobic surfaces repel the water from the surface.

Hydrophilic:

A hydrophilic molecule or portion of a molecule is one that has a tendency to interact with or be dissolved by, water and other polar substances. These molecules would increase the tendency of water to be attracted to, or collect in, a specific area. 

Spider Webs

The design of naturally occurring spider webs has great potential and opportunity for water collection. Although, some are skeptical of the function of the design and technology at a large scale, it is something to keep as inspiration during water collection development.

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/41622
http://www.ideaconnection.com/innovation-in-business/New-Materials-Inspired-by-Water-Catching-Properties-o-00132.html

The water collects on knots of silk connected by smooth and slender stretches of spider silk known as joints. When water reaches the knots, the condense into tightly packed structures. When other moisture in collected on the web, it is drawn toward the nearest condensed knot along the smooth segments of silk, where in accumulates into droplets.

Architectural Terminal Studio 2011/12

My future studio thesis will be focusing on the design potentials of Biomimicry and EcoDistricts. To start an initial inquiry, I will be doing some diagrammatical studies of nature.

3 Major Categories I will focus on are
-Structure
-Filtration
-Water Collection

Possible subjects:
Bees - honeycomb structure and growth
Leaves - Cellular structure and retention of water
Spider webs - Structure and water collection
Coral - structure and growth

Summer 2011 Studio with visiting Architect Jim Cutler - Project Plans

Summer 2011 Studio with visiting Architect Jim Cutler