Biomimicry in Copenhagen

On my way back to west Wales by train after a fantastic two days of teaching biomimcry with colleagues Michael Pawlyn, working in Copenhagen with one of Denmark's leading architectural practices, Henning Larsen. Apart from being a pleasure to be in such a wonderfully car-free city, it was a pleasure to experience the quality of thinking and realisation that the designers, planners and architects at the firm were able to bring when considering the potential application of biomimicry to their professional practice.

We worked through the four levels of biomimicry, helping them connect learning and inspiration from nature to topics ranging from getting light but no heat into buildings, to the relationship between the practice, developers and government.

Whilst there, we also caught up with ex-Schumacher College Director Karen Blincoe, the Bellona Foundation's Frederic Hauge and Otto Gerlach-Hansen, who had great plans developing to lever change at December's COP15 conference in Copenhagen.

Also inspiring was an afternoon spent with Tim McAloone, Associate Professor of Industrial Design at the Technical University of Denmark, who talked through the radically improved results that he's been seeing as a result of involving his design students in refreshing and different approaches to develop understanding of sustainability and materials efficiency.

Can't wait to get back.