“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”—Albert Einstein
THE BULLET TRAIN
In 1989, Japan’s bullet trains reached speeds of 170 mph. Its speed was impressive, but it came at the expense of a few issues. It was so fast that it was causing noise pollution and structural damage. Japan tasked a team of engineers with making it quieter and more efficient.
Eiji Nakatsu, the development’s general manager, shared an idea with his team that left everyone scratching their heads. His engineering or design background didn’t inspire his vision for the future of the bullet train. Instead it came from his hobby of bird watching.
There’s a remarkable bird found in nature called the Kingfisher. They’re known for their large, sword-shaped beaks, which evolved to be perfect for hunting fish. They’d sit on a branch above water, waiting for the right moment to strike. When the opportunity presents itself, they dive at high-speeds, beak first, into the water, spearing their prey with their beak. They’re in and out of the water in the blink of an eye. Their speed and efficiency are all credited to nature’s design of its beak.
Eiji Nakatsu’s vision for the bullet train was inspired by different components of birds, including the shape of the owl’s wings and the sleek body of penguins. His most notable source of inspiration was the Kingfisher. He tasked the engineers to redesign the front of the bullet train to resemble the Kingfisher’s beak. This one design implementation increased the train’s speed and electricity efficiency and drastically decreased the noise and damage they caused.
BIOMIMICRY
Throughout history, creative geniuses believed in the power of connecting with nature to enhance their creativity. Why? It’s because nature is the most raw form of art. It’s the baseline of all inspiration. If you reverse engineer the ideas and inspiration leading up to our top innovations, you will typically land on something in nature. This phenomenon comes from biomimicry, a design philosophy that looks to nature to solve our challenges. Biomimicry is a blend of science and art. By observing and studying the universe’s natural problem-solving patterns, we take that inspiration and adapt our designs to create optimal solutions.
That’s the creative power of biomimicry. It’s not a new concept. For centuries, creators looked to nature for inspiration. Lu Ban invented the first Chinese umbrellas over 1700 years ago. His children inspired him when he saw them using lotus leaves to shield themselves from the rain. Ancient architects incorporated nature into structures for functionality and aesthetic. NASA studied gecko feet to develop more innovative adhesives. Scientists analyze bacteria chains interacting with magnetic fields to improve GPS navigation devices. Brands choose colors based on how they naturally make us feel. They use green, like the forest, to represent refreshment, peace, rest, and security. They use red, like fire, to represent excitement, passion, danger, energy, and action.
Nature’s influence is vast. It’s the most basic form of creativity. Lift the veil of everything we have created or everything we will create in the future, and you will find nature’s influence. Everything starts there. We build on top of its elements because nature’s most beautiful quality is its balance between being simple and elaborate. Everything in nature is highly complex but only as complex as it needs to be. Lao Tzu poetically described it, saying, “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”