Announcing the winners of Eleven's “Biomimicry” ideas competition

Inspiration never runs out when it comes to Nature — the best designer there is. In the “Biomimicry” competition, Eleven Magazine challenged architects and designers worldwide to send their most innovative, nature-inspired ideas.

The ideas competition reeled in 71 entries, which ranged from fashion to products, and from architecture to urban-design systems. In the end, the jury picked one winner, a runner-up, a people's choice, and six honorable mentions.

Scroll down to check them out.

Winner: “Symbiotic Architecture: Space of Emotional Saturation” by Karina Ashrapova (Russia)

Project excerpt: “Modern man, who is a biological species, continues to live in artificial cities. Urban environment provokes negative psychological state of the person. It is necessary to provide a symbiotic relationship between nature, technology, bio-materials and architecture for harmonization of emotional level of the person, visual ecology, urban saturation, formation of an architectural environment. For the competent shaping of architectural space and adding emotional qualities for architecture spaces, the principles of perception of an architectural environment with the natural parameters and principles of functioning of natural organisms were brought out.

The project «Urban conservation area» is an area with 7 natural climatic areas with an artificial microclimate. There is the individual architectural imagination for each natural area dividing by similarity of landscape, spatial and volumetric features of the Arctic desert, Taiga, Forest-steppe, Tropical desert, Savanna, Monsoon forest, Wet forests.

The concept of “Living city” involves a physical ability of architectural space to interact with environment, adapt and create a new microclimate, create energy resources, reticulate waste, recover and purify air, water and land using programmed protocells, microalgae, aerobic algae and bacteria.”

Runner-up: “Nautile” by Guillian Graves, Michka Mélo (France)

Project excerpt: “*Nautile* is an innovative kettle of which conception was inspired by the Living in order to reduce environmental impact. The environmental achievements of classical kettles remain unsatisfactory. Through an approach mixing industrial design and biology, we developed a sustainable and efficient alternative to the traditional kettle : Nautile. Nature inspired this electric and combustion kettle’s forms, materials, structure and internal mechanisms as well as the manufacturing process, in order to minimize its energy consumption, which is 80 % responsible for its environmental impact. In its marine ecosystem, the nautilus moves by precisely controlling water volume fulfilling different cavities of its mineral shell. Nautile, which is built on the same basis, includes four internal reservoirs. Each one equals the capacity of one cup. Round, it optimally keeps loss of heat down. It enables the user to fill the needed capacity, and, therefore, prevents him to use unnecessary energy.”

People's Choice: “Berkeley Aquatic Park Algae Energy Pavilion” by Chloe Huang, Oscar Huang (USA)

Project excerpt: “The Algae Energy Pavilion is a conceptual design that will provide multi-functional elements to the Berkeley Aquatic Park in the City of Berkeley, California. As a shading structure, the pavilion extends from the open space area at the southeast end of the park with five “branches” arching over the pedestrian pathway into the lagoon. To resolve the eutrophication problems that occur when excessive nutrients in the water creates toxic algae blooms, the branches remove algae from the water’s surface. As an alternative energy producer, the structure will store and house the algae, and grow them for harvest. An attached underground processing center will take in the harvest, and turn them into biofuels.”

Don't forget about the honorable mentions in the gallery! You can see the entries in full here.

Images courtesy of Eleven Magazine.