hi Carlos,
you might be interested in a project called Material Beliefs that has
set up collaborations between designers and engineers. The aim is to
take emerging biomedical and cybernetic technology out of labs and
into public spaces.
Lots of this work deals with silicon and biological hybrids, which
seems to fit with your interests?
Some specific links:
Here's a design project that responds to robotic systems with
biological features:
http://www.materialbeliefs.com/prototypes/cder.php
Pete Walters works at Bristol Robotics Laboratory and his research
links to biomimicry:
http://www.brl.ac.uk/people/template.jsp?username=Peter.J.Walters
Here's an interview with Adrian Bowyer of University of Bath's
Biomimetics Research Group, the interview takes in some contexts that
link to you interests:
http://www.materialbeliefs.com/collaboration/adrian-b.php
For a project which dealt with some interesting ethical issues have a
look at Biojewellery. Couples donated cells for tissues culture, bone
rings were grown, and used to make jewellery for the couples:
www.biojewellery.com
Biojewellery was subject to an ethics application to COREC (now NRES)
for the safety of the donors.
These projects are funded by EPSRC as a part of public engagement
programme, and design is treated as a set of tools and methods to
frame a discussion of emerging biotechnology through social questions.
Material Beliefs is currently being evaluated for an EPSRC report, and
also documented as a (hopefully!) interesting book. I'm happy to add
names to the mailing list for this publication if anyone is interested.
bests,
Tobie
On 10 Feb 2009, at 00:31, Carlos Peralta wrote:
> Hi to all,
>
> I am trying to understand how designers, using biological knowledge,
> could
> break down traditional boundaries that limits their creative output
> to the
> sphere of the not living structures, objects, etc. and expand their
> creative
> production to the realm of organic living structures.
> With this in mind, I am looking for existing (or possible) models of
> collaboration and interaction between Designers and Biologists, that
> permit
> designers to access knowledge on natural/biological processes and
> systems
> that underpin their design outputs in one hand, and that allow the
> integration of biology scientific research and design creative
> thinking in
> the other.
> I also want to explore some of the ethical, cultural, philosophical
> and
> ideological issues that may arise from designers creating/
> manipulating/transforming living structures with a functional purpose.
>
> I have found an extensive bibliography that talks about Art and
> Biology
> interaction and about a number of research projects that team up
> Artists and
> scientists, but little about product design and Biology.
>
> Does anyone out there have any good reading recommendation, or
> reliable
> source on this subject?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Carlos Peralta
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