Architecture in Nature

A single termite mound in Africa can rise 8 feet tall and stay a cool, steady temperature inside all day, even when the desert outside bakes at over 100 degrees. Termites never went to architecture school, but their mounds work like natural air conditioners. People who design buildings study creatures like these to build smarter, using an idea called biomimicry.

- What biomimicry means and why architects use it - How honeycomb shapes make beehives strong and efficient - How termite mounds cool themselves without electricity - One real building inspired by nature

Bees build their hives out of hexagons — six-sided shapes — packed perfectly together with no gaps. This shape uses the least amount of wax possible while holding the most honey and staying very strong. Engineers use this same hexagon pattern in airplane wings and cardboard packaging, because hexagon-shaped structures resist crushing from every direction using very little material.

Termite mounds have a network of tunnels and chimneys that constantly move air. Warm air rises and escapes through the top openings, while it pulls cooler air in through openings near the ground. This constant airflow keeps the temperature inside the mound steady for the termites and the fungus they grow for food, without needing any machines or electricity.

In 1996, architect Mick Pearce designed the Eastgate Centre, an office building in Harare, Zimbabwe, directly inspired by termite mounds. The building uses a similar system of vents and open shafts to pull in cool night air and push out warm daytime air. Because of this design, Eastgate Centre uses about 90% less energy for cooling than a similar-sized building with standard air conditioning.