Biomimetic Design - BCI1
Be, Contemplate, Design 1 - Observing Nature as a Designer: 10 minutes w/ eyes closed, 10 minutes with eyes open, and 10 minutes imagining.
Location: Tahoe City, CA
Conditions: 3-4PM. 75°. Sunny with patches if blue sky surrounded by areas of smoke to the north and south. Intermittent winds, typical of afternoons in Tahoe.
A short walk into the woods near Tahoe City provides a space to work on observing nature as a designer working on using all senses and contemplating about what I am experiencing with a designer’s mindset.
Observations:
This time of day is the hottest and stillest time of day. The woods were relatively quiet besides a few chipmunks, cars going by in the valley below, the sound of wind through the trees, and some type of bird I could not identify by its song alone.
A lone ant crawled across my leg no doubt wondering if I had brought some snacks along with me. A single crow circled above but was quiet and seemed to be without his or her local murder, mob, or horde, horde, mob, muster, or parcel - the somewhat dark names for a group of crows. In the mornings they are very chatty when I walk by and do seem to want me to leave, the terms are fitting then, they are highly social birds, this one certainly seemed mellow perhaps in accord with being uncharacteristically solo.
The smell of smoke stings my nostrils and shortens my breath but the bright blue sky above lets me know it is not too bad today. I feel the winds shifting as I sit there, they are not cool but warm and match the temperature of the still air but keep me alert with their loud oncoming sounds. I hear them moments before I feel them as they rush through the trees. They are from the West and then more North West which will, in turn, bring back the smoke from the fires to the North.
Everything around me is dry, dry, dry. Years of over-managed forest fire protection have built up a layer of dry sticks below me which have formed a softer decayed layer underneath - it is surprisingly comfortable to sit on as everything is brittle and breaks beneath me into a cushion. Yet somehow the trees look healthy, the manzanita are growing and the ground cover plants continue to creep along but everything lacks luster and plump and the manzanita seems to have fewer dried blossoms bearing seeds as there was less water and energy to put bring about a nice full bloom. The creeping snowberry leaves are curled yellowed and parched and looking and I see no trace of blooms. These plants are conserving and working to survive not thriving, how have they managed off of the long past winter snows and barely two or three brief showers over the past 4 months. This local environment is being affected by global changes, it is evident as the fire and smoke have driven away people and the forest sits dry and quiet, maybe everything needing to slow its pace and conserve and wait for rain or snow.
The evergreens have varied needle shapes, the long uplifting needles of the pines, and the short bunched fir trees have both adapted to survive here in a different way. How has each decided to adapt differently, do they each provide unique habitats to specific species, will a chipmunk or woodpecker prefer one over the other?
(This post is intended for my colleagues at the MASD program. It is an exercise in developing my Biomimetic Design skills with the goal of receiving construtive feedback to further my skills.)