Nature Designs

Ingenious Construction Techniques

It is not only the human species that is capable of constructing complex and elaborate structures. Other animals have also developed ingenious techniques to shape their environment according to their needs.

This becomes particularly clear when other animals use human structures for their own constructions – like the wasps here. Their impressive nest has taken over this chair.

Photo: Karina Hagemann

Natural History Meets Design

“Nature Designs” dares you to look beyond the horizon and invites you to change your perspective. Natural history objects and research meet works of art and design in the exhibition – for example, the beautiful and stable structures of Lureen Mahler’s “Cellugami”.

Inspired by shapes and construction that occur in nature – for instance in the hornet’s nest – the design researcher transforms paper into sustainable packaging through the technique of origami folding.

Photos: Laureen Mahler and Felix Remter

Long Gone – but Still Here

How have reefs evolved over geological ages? Researchers find answers in fossilized corals and sponges – such as this glass sponge fossil.

For a long time, it was assumed that glass sponge reefs had gone extinct millions of year ago. But surprisingly in 1987, a Canadian research group discovered a living glass sponge reef off the west coast of Canada.

Photos: M. Schellenberger und Perpetuum Films LTD. & The Glass Sponge Research Initiative

Shaping Landscapes

Buildings and the activities associated with them can sometimes change entire landscapes. For example, in an attempt to cultivate silk in Bavaria, King Ludwig I tried to grow white mulberry trees in the region – their leaves are the preferred food of the silkworms. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful.

The picture “Magnaneria and Plantation of the Society for the Promotion of Silk Cultivation in Bavaria” shows King Ludwig I visiting the silk plantation in Regensburg.

Photo: Karina Hagemann

Ancient

The Ebersberg monk and naturalist Candid Huber documented trees, such as the white mulberry tree, in his wood library. For this purpose, he made boxes from the wood of the respective tree, in which he placed its leaves, twigs, seeds and fruits. The wooden book of the White Mulberry Tree – the oldest object in “Nature Designs” – also contains a cocoon and the raw silk of the silkworm.

Photo: D. Wille

Sources of Inspiration

Buildings and growth processes of other living beings have always inspired humans and served as a template for new discoveries. This is the case with the highly elastic and, at the same time, extremely strong spider silk – Spider-Woman sends her regards.

Photo: Fabian Frinzel

Closely Intertwined

How interdependent are the buildings and strategies of different creatures? This becomes clear when animals incorporate human-made materials in their constructions, such as those used by zebra finches in the building of these nests.

The artist Björn Braun chose the small birds for his recurring theme “Cooperation with Animals” and provided them with natural fibers, twigs, artificial flowers and plastic for their nest building. Even in the wild, birds are increasingly resorting to using garbage as a building material.

Photo: Galerie Meyer-Riegger

Lederhosen of the Future?

What can humans learn from the growth processes of other living beings? In the future, mushrooms could be an important material for textile production and more.

Developed through a cooperation between Phil Ross and BIOTOPIA, this is the first pair of “leder”hosen made from mushrooms. Bavarian leathersmiths tested Fine Mycelium™,

Photo: Karina Hagemann