Nature as an answer

I present here a brief summary of the actions that we have initiated in the ITDAHu (Institute of Technological Research for the Environmental Design of Human Habitat), which I direct in the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the National University of the Northeast (in the Argentina Republic), in the search for sustainable design patterns. We see it as appropriate to focus our attention on nature, which has continued through centuries of history and evolution to solve its own problems effectively and efficiently.


Introduction
If ature is the aswer what was the questi" The phrase begs t rge Wagesberg (2002) PhD i Physics Prfessr at the Uiversity f Barcea i "Thery f Irreversibe Prcesses" 1 I seected it t tite y presetati csiderig that it suaries t a arge extet the accuuati f situatis that ccur whe we study ature ad I cae t the ccusi that the aswers we fid i it are cutess ad evertheess ay f the we have t yet fud the questis that gave the rigi 2 Biiicry heps us uderstad these aswers ad teaches us hw t use the fr ur c gd 3 What I a presetig i this artice is a brief accut f the few actis that we have carried ut i these first steps i search f these questis tgether with a grup f researchers ebers f the ITDAHu (Istitute f Techgica Research fr Evireta Desig) which I direct i the Facuty f Architecture ad Urbais f the atia Uiversity f the rtheast i Argetia We started with a Pstgraduate Curse  "Itrducti t Biiesis Appied t Architecture" hed ast year at the Facuty f Architecture ad Urbais f the atia Uiversity f the rtheast i Argetia Fr there we ied t the Pytechic f Turi thas t the aageet f Prf Cateria ee fr the ipeetati f a it prect  "Techgies fr Sustaiabe Cstructi The Biietic Apprach ethds aterias ad appicatis" Withi the fraewr f this Prect we have carried ut Seiars  Wrshps the first e at the Pytechic f Turi  ay 2 3 ad 4 2018  "Appicati f Biietics t the Prect f Sustaiabe Architecture ethd appicatis ad aterias" ad the secd i the FAU f the UE i Argetia  ue 28 29 ad 30 2018 " Biiicry ad Sustaiabe Prect A apprach based  frs prcesses ad systes" We are currety ied t the Iteristitutia IterUiversity Iteratia etwr f Biiicry Studies based at the Uiversidad de Pas Vasc i Biba (Spai)  We study biiicry studies accrdig t three appraches a Aaysis f a rea case f biietics b atura suti appicabe t the desig f a bect c Techica prbe ad resuti thas t biietics I each f these appraches we appy the apprach fr three axes frs systes ad prcesses 2 Backgrounds arc uci Vitruvi Pi (Re 1st Cetury BC) i his b "De Architectura" better w as "The Te Bs f Architecture" aready receded taig it accut the rietati f the buidigs pacig the i suitabe areas where there is prvisi f water that are sufficiety prtected etc I his b he as ade a study f the prprtis f the hua bdy that ceturies ater eard Da Vici irtaied i the "Vitruvia a" (Figure 1) eard f Pisa (Pisa 1170) w as Fibacci brught us cser t ature by usig the breedig f rabbits t discver ad devep a series that iterestigy eugh (a aswer whse questi has t yet bee resved) is refected i the prprtis ad atura sequeces f fwers the rgaiati f the braches f trees the haric grwth f ivig beigs 4 The Fibacci series 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 … Fray uca Pacii (Sasepcr 1447) averaged the ciquecet reftates the ccept f the uber f gd i his b "The Divie Prprti" (1509) 5

Fig. 2. The Golden number: 1,618033…
Haf a cetury ater Gaie Gaiei (Pisa 1564) prpses the thesis that suaries a these advaces "atheatics is the aphabet with which Gd has writte the Uiverse" atheatics is preset i every crer we study i ur urey thrugh ature 6 The faiy f ubers is ifiitey arge I wi y eti se f the st tabe the trascedeta ubers π y e ad the iagiary uber i  √ (1) a f the f great reevace i the uiversa rder Cpetig the ist f sigificat ubers I ca't fai t eti the prie ubers t y participate i the uiversa rder They as give ccrete sutis f substace ecy iiu effrt fat ad spatia rgaiatis successfuy resved structures true wrs f architecture ad egieerig as we wi see bew A few exapes wi serve t uderstad what I affir I start with a very sypathetic isect siiar t a grasshpper excessivey bisterus ad ysterius at the sae tie the cicada w i the rtheaster regi f Argetia where I ive as "cicada" (Figure 3)

Fig. 3. The cicada
We fee its presece by a deafeig shrie that is fet i the whe fied a ae caig a feae t ate We see it fr the first tie attached t the bar f se tree ad the disappear fr sight After spawig the ae dies The eggs hatch ad the arvae fa t the grud ad suberge bew the surface ad stp feedig by absrbig the fuids fr the rts f shrubs ad trees There they devep ad reai uti aduthd The curius thig abut a this is that there are tw species f cicadas e f which eerges t the surface after beig buried fr 13 years ad the ther after 17 years If we pay atteti they are tw prie ubers We w that prie ubers are divisibe y by theseves ad by e ad if we csider a predatry species f cicadas ad a pssibe ife cyces the cicidece that bth are ccetrated  the surface f the earth is icacuabe Des this frequecy respd t a prtecti echais that is prited i the geetic cde f the isect Spiders weave a et with the thread that it prduces frig a true tesied structure I reati t the sie f the spider ad the secti f the thread the thread turs ut t be 5 ties re resistat tha the stee The iage bew shws hw the tesis i the etwr are distributed uti achred i the supprts Bees ffer ather situati f uaswered questis give us the bees i the cstructi f their heycbs ( Figure 5) The ces which adpt a hexaga arrageet (accrdig t the RAE) with a ccurrece f three ces t a c edge are arraged accrdig t a pae with their uths facig e side 7

Fig. 5. Honeycomb
At the rear ather series f ces is arraged rgaied i the sae way but iterspersed s that each edge f a ayer cicides with the ceter f the ppsite ce 8 The cecti f e ayer with the ther is give by a defrati f the bases f the ces accrdig t diads that ae up a structure avidig the dispaceet f e f the ayers i reati t the ther Fig. 6. Internal distribution of bee cells The aaig thig abut this arrageet is that these rhbuses beg t a pyhedr that is w as the rhbic ddecahedr r rhbiddecahedr ( Figure 7) cpsed f tweve reguar diads that aterate three ad fur at each vertex ad is e f the five pyhedrs that by addig theseves they assify the space

Fig. 7. Rombidodecahedral equipartición
The ther fur pyhedrs that as assify space are the cube the triaguar ad exaga priss ad the Archiedea pyhedr f rd evi 9 Eterig the specific fied f architecture Africa terite uds have bee the ispirati fr severa buidigs They have the pecuiarity f eepig iside a cstat teperature f 30 ecessary fr the cutivati f the fugus that serves as fd whie it is ecessary fr their surviva because it is a very deicate isect They aage t aitai this cstat teperature by eas f gaeries that aw the etrace f fresh rig air thrugh the wer part f the terite ud ad thrugh ducts that fucti as chieys expeig the ht air thrugh the upper part The Eastgate buidig i Harare ibabwe ( Figure 8) has bee buit fwig this echais f gaeries which has achieved a very sigificat reducti i eergy csupti 10 Something similar has been achieved in Argentina, in hut built according to a design known as "Yobai Culata" (Figure 9), a Guarani term meaning "facing rooms", and presents a game with an intermediate covered patio that allows air circulation, refreshing the rooms.

Fig. 9. Yobai Culata
The hrer (furarius rufus) r Asit is a Suth Aerica bird f custs wrthy f praise I the first pace ce it is eve it reais uti the death f bth He is a true architect buidig his est with ud ad straw (Figures 10 ad 11) I 1928 it was decared a atia bird i the Argetie Repubic A case  ess curius is that f the wasp w as "Caat" (Figure 12) Its iterir its est is a csed space with a sige peig at the btt It has a syste f thera prtecti achieved by a series f prtuberaces prtrudig fr the est servig as heatsis f the iterir teperature  The phee f phtsythesis is carried ut iside the eaves f vegetabes There yu d t eed specia ts r test tubes y three cpets are ivved water which taes fr the grud thrugh its rts ad is trasprted ag with varius ieras t the st distat eaf carb dixide that absrbs fr the utside eviret thrugh its stata ad suight There the prcess f phtsythesis 1 taes pace i which water ad carb dixide cbie reeasig xyge ad frig sugar r gucse ecues that serve the fd vegetabe Pats are auttrphic which eas that they prduce their w fd A fexibe sefrepairig ccrete is beig deveped at the Uiversity f ichiga i the USA icrcracs that are fred thrugh defrati sefrepair with the hep f y tw cpets water ad carb dixide aibia is a cutry i suthwester Africa where e f the dest deserts ad with the highest dues  the paet is cated with very few rais i the year There ives a isect w by the ae f "aibia Beete" which is characteried by cectig the water it eeds by causig the fg t cdese  its tai ad fr there the drp sides dw its she uti it reaches its uth 3 Conclusions earig abut behaviur i ature heps us t uderstad the eed t devep actis tedig t iprve ivig cditis avidig the uctred use ad abuse f atura resurces The seve "Rs" f the ecgica csuer is a thery prvidig a sythesis f these actis 1 Reect Txic bidegradabe r recycabe prducts shud be eft ut f the shppig ist Eve the ceaig f the he ca be de i a ecgica way withut resrtig t idustria prducts 2 Reduce The resut f the frua is evidet fewer prducts fewer expeses ess expitati f atura resurces ess puti ad waste D t stp csuig but d it with derati 3 Reuse Prgig the usefu ife f the gds ctributes t destic savig ad t the reducti f the evireta ipact Exapes f this practice are cth bags istead f pastic bags ad rechargeabe batteries 4 Recyce ature is the best exape f recycig sice i it thig is wasted everythig is reused i e way r ather fr the beefit f ivig beigs ad the eviret Separatig waste prpery fr subsequet recycig is a acti with utipe evireta beefits 5 Redistribute The eviret ad huaity ca't supprt idefiitey this usustaiabe devepet ad therefre we ust redistribute csupti i a equitabe aer Prducts with a wer ecgica ftprit r based  fair trade pricipes ca reduce these differeces 6 Recai Csuers ca ad shud have a active participati i the activities that ifuece their daiy ife The aw cvers the pssibiity f caiig ad deadig actis that ctribute t iprvig the eviret ad the quaity f ife f cities 7 Refect Ecgica csuers are refexive ad critica recgie that hua beigs are part f a iterreated whe ature This csists f fr exape chsig gds citted t the eviret usig the bicyce as a eas f trasprt etc I 1987 the Uited atis etrusted Dr Gr Hare Brudtad ag with a grup f scietists with the preparati f a reprt that ater becae w as the "Brutad Reprt" The thesis was fuded  sustaiabe devepet i the sese f satisfyig the eeds f the preset withut cprisig the eeds f future geeratis This precept ivved tw ccepts the right ad its iits This icudes the rights f ihabitats f the ad t ae use f atura resurces taig it accut the right that as assists future geeratis i the use f atura resurces It ivves aig use f atura resurces i a ratia aer s as t t exhaust the thus eabig future geeratis t ae use f the as we This requires ad additia "R" Respect This respect is a ecessary cditi fr achievig baace withi c wefare Fiay I csider it essetia t add a ew "R withut which a the abve wud be eaigess This "R" has t d with ur attitudes ad behaviurs It creates a ew paradig that f Respsibiity We ust act with absute respsibiity i safeguardig strict cpiace with a the precedig "R"