bioSEA

Grateful for DesignSingapore’s support which enabled bioSEA to design our Biomimicry design toolkit.

The Good Design Research grant is a good platform to spur new thinking, ideas and research in design.

The Bodhi Comeback!

It’s Vesak Day today. It’s also the International Day of Biodiversity.

On this occasion of Buddha’s birthday, let’s celebrate the resilient Bodhi tree Ficus religiosa - the sacred tree under which Buddha got enlightened.

Let’s also celebrate the biodiversity on this planet that makes us thrive and be resilient.

Photo: Lim Chu Kang Singapore

Grateful for the opportunity to work with Anuj Jain from bioSEA to produce these elephant skin-inspired tiles for his awesome Biomimicry exhibition at the National Design Centre from 21 Sep to 01 Oct 2023.

Thank you to all those who attended and supported the launch of the Biomimicry Design Toolkit! We were extremely heartened by the amount of enthusiasm shown to adopt and mainstream biomimicry into built environment design. We would like to express our gratitude to DesignSingapore Council for providing us with this opportunity for research and, a platform to showcase our work. We would also like to thank Mrs Kirtida Mekani and Mr Duleesha Kulasooriya for opening and closing the event respectively, Dr Lena CHAN, Mr Richard Hassell, Mr Chee Yung Kuan, Mr Jeff Carnell for joining the panel and sharing their insights on the challenges and opportunities for adopting biomimicry into industry practise and Dr Zheng Kai for facilitating the discussion.

We are incredibly proud to have our Biomimicry Design Toolkit out in the world and urge you to purchase a copy today. An e-book version can be purchased at this link - https://biomimicry.biosea.sg/order/. If you are interested in purchasing a physical copy, please drop us an email at [email protected] as limited copies are available for delivery in Singapore.

Last but not the least, this book would not have been possible without the efforts of the entire team behind it, the (i) Authors - Dr Anuj Jain, Atticus Cummings, Grace Lim SY, Leanne Haan, Lisa Teo, Maitreyee Fadnavis, Munshi Toh, Nathan Hays, Ruiee Dhuri, Saloni Swaminathan, (ii) Advisors & Collaborators - Chee Yung Kuan, christian delacruz, Jodie Monteiro, Katharina Hecht, Kuowei Chiu, Lidia Badarnah, Petra Gruber, Rupert Soar, Shruti Pilare, Zheng Kai and (iii) Contributors Priyanka Sancheti, Celine Tan, Madhvi Chulet, Bu Jing Yi, Janee Lim, Kelly Siman, PhD, Nicholas Loh, Shruti Sunil, Alysa Marie Tan and Teoh Jia Heng. And a special shout out to NTU’s Prof Hortense Le Ferrand’s and Eugene Soh for the collaboration on the fabrication of elephant skin tiles and James Khoo for his work on the video features.

We hope you enjoyed the event and will continue to support bioSEA’s efforts to grow and mainstream Biomimicry design into the built environment!

📣 Launch of the Biomimicry Design Toolkit 📣
Supported by DesignSingapore Council

Date: 20th April 2023
Time: 5:30-7.30 PM
Venue: National Design Centre, Auditorium

Register here : https://forms.gle/xfcCeXUhxG6nN4Vd6

Biomimicry, or the practice to mirror strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges, is an underutilised tool with enormous potential to transform the built environment and its response to rising temperatures.

Nature has evolved in tropical biomes and offers diverse and creative adaptations that solve for thermoregulation. Extrapolating these adaptations into architectural design paves the way for Nature-inspired solutions that will cool our expanding concrete jungles.

Join us in the launch of our Biomimicry Design Toolkit and explore how to integrate biomimetic principles into green building design.

The launch will be followed by a panel discussion that brings a diverse set of experts and practitioners in this field.

In 1999, Evelyn Eng-Lim and Lim Tian Soo bought 2.2 hectares of land and set up the Green Circle Eco-Farm. Over the past 23 years, they managed to transform the plot into a one-of-a-kind food forest that became a hub for sustainable farming practices, biodiversity conservation and education. Unfortunately, after a lengthy lease battle the plot had to be returned to the government for fore-planned development.

Ju Hu Soh and Tingxi Jemima Song from Humankind Design recognised the value of GreenCircle Eco-Farm and brought together Anuj Jain from bioSEA and Aditi Punj Sood and Vivian Lee from Living Soil to celebrate the land in one last hurrah before the end of the lease. Watch as Anuj talks about the unique components that bring a food forest to life while Aditi and Vivian draw attention to the fertile soil that takes years to cultivate. Finally they convene to acknowledge the special shared space created by the ecosystem at Green Circle Eco-Farm's food forest that provides for and nourishes both humans and wildlife.

Conversations on a local food forest at Green Circle Eco-Farm -
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL20lKiTddPZmVYeCTCdFLP0ttpX-Jqi0k

Learning from and building on what once was will guide the food sustainability journey Singapore has charted for itself in the years to come. Green Circle Eco-Farm will be dearly missed by all those who had the chance to experience it.

www.youtube.com

We would like to thank everyone who attended the Enhancing Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on Buildings symposium! We had the privilege of hearing from a diverse range of speakers and further had the opportunity to platform necessary dialogue surrounding the essentiality and utility of biodiversity in the built environment.

This event is but a first step towards achieving a larger vision. As Singapore aspires towards becoming a City in Nature, we hope to champion interdisciplinary conversations that can help to actualise this dream.

We look forward to the many discussions had during the symposium going beyond and becoming actionable outputs in the months to come. We are working towards creating opportunities and spaces for collaboration and urge you to reach out to us if you would like to be a part of the efforts moving forward.

Additionally, if you would like a recording of the pleneary session, please drop us an email at [email protected].

📣 SYMPOSIUM 📣

Enhancing Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on Buildings

Sign up now:
https://forms.gle/U7JqzLKrQcoUDTFL9

Cities are a key driver of the transition to a more sustainable world. With decarbonization and low energy initiatives dominating the urban sustainability discourse, an important variable that could bolster sustainability efforts is the quantification and optimisation of ecosystem services – the services provided by the environment that benefit humans.

Such services are not only provided by green spaces, but also by green infrastructure on buildings, especially in dense cities like Singapore that promote green vertical urbanism. Strategically designed green infrastructure has the added potential of benefiting biodiversity which can lead to the creation of sustainable homes and habitats.

Our symposium will bring together local and international speakers (including industry, government, and academia) as they discuss ways to enhance biodiversity in buildings and how the benefits provisioned by ecosystem services can be quantified and translated into effective architectural & landscape design interventions for the built world.

In Singapore, both Enviroenmntal Impact Assessments (EIA) and Environmental Management and Mitigation plans (EMMP) are diligently carried out in the pre-development phase. However, there are often limitations in its implementation as the project enters its design and development phase. We had an opportunity to chat to the youth at Singapore Youth Voices for Biodiversity (SYVB) and Lepak in SG about some of the challenges we encounter in our line of work and how we collaborate with landscape designers and architects to explore solutions that minimise environmental harm, benefit biodiversity and balance the residential and recreational needs of human beings.

We discussed how shifts in policy, increased interdisciplinary collaboration and the provision of incentives to build for biodiversity could increase the adoption and application of proposed strategies in EMMPs. While there are ways to go in ensuring that the utility of EIAs and EMMPs is optimised in the development phase, it was heartening to see the passion and drive the youth of tomorrow bring to protecting and conserving our natural spaces!

Thank you for having us!

It’s never too young to start learning about wildlife!