Bio Design: Nature + Science + Creativity

First published in 2012 to wide acclaim for its timely focus on the nascent movement of designing with living organisms, Bio Design is now available in paperback as an inspiring resource for designers, architects, engineers and students. Featuring 73 projects at the intersection of biology and design, it surveys artworks, prototypes and architectural concepts that harness living materials and processes, presenting bio-integrated approaches to achieving sustainability, new innovations enabled by biotechnology, and provocative experiments that deliberately illustrate the dangers and opportunities of manipulating life for human ends. Ranging from fabrics and “concrete” made from bacteria to arbor-architecture, these projects are now more pertinent than ever. By examining how this new phenomenon fits into the history of architecture, art, and industrial design, William Myers contextualizes the shift toward bio design through comparisons to previous historic transitions in art and design practices, clarifying its implications for the future.