Pattern diversity: forest floor

1 of 1 Fall leaves / Brett Harkey / License

Leaves on a forest floor create aesthetically seamless surfaces by exhibiting organized chaos.

Biomimicry Taxonomy

	Maintain community >
	Provide ecosystem services >
	Maintain biodiversity

Biomimetic Application Ideas

Biophilic patterns for interior designs. Patterns for use in carpets, flooring, walls, textiles to allow for replacement upon damage or staining without having to replace or repaint the entire surface.

[Collapse all sections] Summary

The way a forest floor functions in terms of aesthetic design has changed the way carpet tiles are designed and manufactured, greatly reducing carpet waste and labor. While standardization has been the operating principle of interchangeability of parts in human-made manufacturing since the Industrial Revolution, the interchangeability of aesthetic elements in the natural world operates by an alternative method, “ordered chaos.” Standardization in carpet tile design and color made matching of replacement tiles with pre-existing carpet extremely difficult, resulting in greater waste as even tiles in good condition had to be replaced for aesthetic reasons. On the other hand, no matter how you rearrange the elements of a forest floor – the leaves, twigs, etc. – the forest floor still looks seamless and natural. A line of carpet tiles from Interface Inc. are now manufactured so that no two are identical, and can be retrofitted with much greater success and ease than tiles that are aesthetically standardized.

Excerpt

Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Biophilic patterns for interior designs. Patterns for use in carpets, flooring, walls, textiles to allow for replacement upon damage or staining without having to replace or repaint the entire surface.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Architecture, manufacturing, construction.

i2 carpet and flooring - Carpet tiles

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