Beauty and Function of Marine Organisms | Christian Hamm-Dubischar | TEDxHochschuleBremerhaven

Key Concepts

• Datoms: Tiny marine organisms serving as a primary example of form following function and inherent beauty.
• Form Follows Function: A design principle emphasizing that the shape of an object should be based upon its intended function or purpose.
• Pairwise Comparison: A research methodology used to assess preferences by presenting two options at a time.
• Biomimicry/Nature-Inspired Design: The practice of learning from and emulating nature’s designs and processes to solve human problems.
• Ornament and Crime: Adolf Loos’s influential critique of ornamentation in modern design.
• Deep Learning: A type of machine learning that uses artificial neural networks with multiple layers to analyze data.

The Interplay of Beauty and Function: Lessons from Nature

The presentation explores the historical and scientific relationship between beauty and function, drawing inspiration from marine organisms, particularly datoms, to propose new approaches to design and engineering. It argues that beauty isn’t a superficial addition to functionality, but rather an inherent expression of it, a principle consistently demonstrated in the natural world.

Historical Perspectives on Beauty and Form

Throughout history, the perception of beauty in design has fluctuated. Early eras like the Baroque and Anovo prioritized elaborate decoration as an expression of faith, culture, and power. The speaker cites the example of Prima, specifically the “kinatite” era (similar to Leel epoch or historicism), showcasing 560 houses adorned with classical ornaments and patterns. Houses in Rahafen and Nice, wealthy Mediterranean towns around 1900, exemplify this ornate style.

However, a counter-movement emerged with Adolf Loos’s 1910 pamphlet, Ornament and Crime, which posited that “the evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament from useful objects.” This sentiment coincided with the rise of Modernism, epitomized by the Bauhaus principle of “form follows function.” While seemingly stripping away ornamentation, even modernist designs, like those of Hans Shaun, retained structural details, colors, and materials, demonstrating a more nuanced approach. The contrast between ornamented historical buildings and raw functionalist structures in Bremen illustrates this ongoing tension.

Nature’s Elegant Solutions

The speaker asserts that nature avoids this dilemma, as “in nature, form is function.” Examples include the stable chamber system created by the spiral of a nautilus, the stress-distributing structure of a seashell, and the lightweight, permeable, and strong shell of a datom. These natural structures are not only functional but also “astonishingly beautiful,” suggesting that beauty is not a luxury but an inherent outcome of efficient design.

Research on Human Perception of Natural Patterns

To investigate human perception of these natural patterns, a study was conducted using pairwise comparison. Over 13,000 comparisons were gathered from 36 countries, evaluating 50 structures based on datom designs. The results revealed a preference for structures exhibiting high complexity, symmetry, gradients, and combined structures. Conversely, “ugly” structures were characterized by dullness, impaired symmetry, and angularity.

Interestingly, differences emerged based on profession. Art and media professionals favored object 33, while IT specialists disliked it, and vice versa for object 44. The speaker acknowledges the need for further investigation into these discrepancies, speculating a possible connection to video game aesthetics.

The Paradox of Beauty and Function in Human Design

The presentation highlights a paradox: while nature seamlessly integrates beauty and function, humans often perceive a trade-off. An “ugly” bridge can evoke feelings of unsafety, even if structurally sound, while an elegant ship inspires trust. Aesthetically pleasing designs are more likely to be chosen, even with identical technology. This suggests that beauty is not superficial but deeply connected to our understanding and evaluation of the world. As the speaker states, “Beauty we discover is not superficial. It’s deeply connected to how we understand the world around us.”

Translating Natural Principles into Design: Three Approaches

The speaker outlines three approaches to applying these insights to design and engineering:

1. Software Development: Creating AI-powered software for generating beautiful, lightweight solutions. This involves building a nature-inspired database of datoms, corals, and seashells, assessed for both beauty and performance, and then utilizing deep learning tools to generate designs. The goal is to integrate this software into a platform accessible to engineers worldwide.
2. Inspiration & Physical Prototyping: The speaker recounts leading the virtual Helmholtz Institute Plankton Tech, collaborating with architect Ula Ulip to create a lightweight (700kg for a 5x6m structure) pavilion inspired by datom structures. The pavilion’s attractiveness led to a significant exhibition space at a major industry fair.
3. Combined Approach: Utilizing advanced methods to analyze and modify datom structures, leading to designs resembling the work of architect Felix Candela, but with greater versatility in materials and applications. Examples include a dome-like structure and a shade structure planned for construction in Primaen as a learning space for bionic architecture.

Conclusion

The presentation concludes by emphasizing that datoms, despite lacking conscious awareness of beauty, embody it through their efficient survival mechanisms. The core message is that “Beauty is not the opposite of function. Beauty is function,” and that embracing this principle can lead to a future where cities and objects are simultaneously functional, sustainable, and elegant. The speaker expresses optimism about achieving this vision, urging architects, designers, and engineers to rediscover this fundamental connection.