Week 8 Discussion, Karen Kym

Systems View
The systems view looks at the big picture of bioinspiration to build and to design. Weve all done the
opposite before, built the shelves for the garage in the basement that now wont fit back up the stairs or
bought the perfect couch for the new finished basement family rec room that wont go down the stairs.
Bioinspiration also needs to look at the big picture. This big picture involves patterns and systems. All
things are part of a system, whether it is an aspect of Biology or a design, and systems have interactions
that need to be considered. A technique has been developed called the system explorer to help identify
the interactions of a system both within itself and outside of itself. Knowledge and awareness of these
system interactions is meant to increase effectiveness of bioinspired solutions. All systems are a part of
smaller subsystems and larger super-systems. At the boundaries and edges of each of these systems are
where the interactions take place. These are important because a system is not just all the parts that
make the system, but include interactions between all the subsystems and super-systems. For example,
if a door or a cell membrane is a system, it is greatly affected by what is on both sides of it (being the
system) and by what may move through it. This system view allows the designer to see other systems
that are interacting on the same size scale, on larger scales, and on smaller scales.
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These systems can be represented in a diagram, called Systems Explore
1
, to show boundaries between
systems and inter-related systems that are larger, smaller, or the same size. These diagrams are to
identify interactions between these different systems. The goal of these diagrams is to improve overall
understanding of the system during the design process. It can be used to
1. Look at the location of the design and identify the surrounding systems.
2. Look at overall design, what gets better or worse, are there constraints in and around the
system?
3. Look at resources, energy available
The boundaries of these diagrams have proven to be very useful. In fact, when looking at bioinspiration
it can sometimes be hard to know where to stop the interactions of the system.
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In a systems view
diagram, the system of design is in the center. Larger systems that surround the design system are the
super-systems and are drawn larger and above, while subsystems are drawn smaller and placed below.
Parallel systems are placed beside the design system.

This system is meant for the designers of the solution and is meant to identify design challenges and
interactions. It has been used at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design Master in Sustainable Design
with positive results from students.

Steps for using this tool
This process requires that knowledge about both the interworkings of the design is understood and alos
the surroundings. For example, if a building is being designed, the designer needs to understand the
many different parts of the building so the design fits together. They also need to understand the
climate, the environment, and the natural resources of the area. It would not make any sense to put
solar panels where there is a low percentage of days with sunshine. The boundaries, or interactions, of
the building and the environment need to be understood to work with nature and to work towards a
sustainable building. An industrial park in Leeds, UK., was planned using the bioinspired systems
approach. http://www.logicleeds.co.uk/



My try at a systems view diagram:
I used my bioinspired renovation from week 7 of Libertyville High School to try and design a basic
system diagram to show the inter-relations and boundaries that could be present for help with
bioinspired renovations of my high school.



Village of Libertyville People and taxes


L Wetlands Area








Subsystems of high school:
People Land Building



References:
1. McNamara, C. The systems view and your biotoolbox Zygote Quarterly, Spring 2014, 9 (90-
118). http://zqjournal.org/?page_id=90
2. Farnsworth, M., MacCowan, R.J. Biomimicry Beyond Organisms: Acting and Informing at a
Systems-Level
http://www.screendoorconsulting.com/resources/Biomimicry+Beyond+Organisms+for+2013+Bi
omimicry+Proceedings.pdf

Extra:
Arizona State University Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability
https://sustainability.asu.edu/about/
A very interesting site that describes ASUs goals for long term sustainability and even zero waste
forecast. There are also education materials appropriate for earth science classes. Very interesting!
Libertyville High School
Butler Lake