TED2015
Neri Oxman: Design at the intersection of technology and biology
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Designer and architect Neri Oxman is leading the search for ways in which digital fabrication technologies can interact with the biological world. Working at the intersection of computational design, additive manufacturing, materials engineering and synthetic biology, her lab is pioneering a new age of symbiosis between microorganisms, our bodies, our products and even our buildings.
Neri Oxman - Architect, designer
From the micro scale to the building scale, Neri Oxman imagines and creates structures and objects that are inspired, informed and engineered by, for and with nature. Full bio
From the micro scale to the building scale, Neri Oxman imagines and creates structures and objects that are inspired, informed and engineered by, for and with nature. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
Two twin domes,
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two radically opposed design cultures.
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One is made of thousands of steel parts,
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the other of a single silk thread.
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One is synthetic, the other organic.
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One is imposed on the environment,
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the other creates it.
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One is designed for nature,
the other is designed by her.
the other is designed by her.
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Michelangelo said that
when he looked at raw marble,
when he looked at raw marble,
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he saw a figure struggling to be free.
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The chisel was Michelangelo's only tool.
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But living things are not chiseled.
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They grow.
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And in our smallest units of life,
our cells, we carry all the information
our cells, we carry all the information
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that's required for every other cell
to function and to replicate.
to function and to replicate.
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Tools also have consequences.
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At least since the Industrial Revolution,
the world of design has been dominated
the world of design has been dominated
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by the rigors of manufacturing
and mass production.
and mass production.
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Assembly lines have dictated
a world made of parts,
a world made of parts,
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framing the imagination
of designers and architects
of designers and architects
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who have been trained to think
about their objects as assemblies
about their objects as assemblies
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of discrete parts with distinct functions.
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But you don't find homogenous
material assemblies in nature.
material assemblies in nature.
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Take human skin, for example.
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Our facial skins are thin
with large pores.
with large pores.
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Our back skins are thicker,
with small pores.
with small pores.
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One acts mainly as filter,
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the other mainly as barrier,
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and yet it's the same skin:
no parts, no assemblies.
no parts, no assemblies.
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It's a system that gradually
varies its functionality
varies its functionality
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by varying elasticity.
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So here this is a split screen
to represent my split world view,
to represent my split world view,
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the split personality of every designer
and architect operating today
and architect operating today
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between the chisel and the gene,
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between machine and organism,
between assembly and growth,
between assembly and growth,
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between Henry Ford and Charles Darwin.
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These two worldviews,
my left brain and right brain,
my left brain and right brain,
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analysis and synthesis, will play out
on the two screens behind me.
on the two screens behind me.
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My work, at its simplest level,
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is about uniting these two worldviews,
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moving away from assembly
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and closer into growth.
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You're probably asking yourselves:
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Why now?
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Why was this not possible 10
or even five years ago?
or even five years ago?
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We live in a very special time in history,
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a rare time,
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a time when the confluence of four fields
is giving designers access to tools
is giving designers access to tools
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we've never had access to before.
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These fields are computational design,
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allowing us to design
complex forms with simple code;
complex forms with simple code;
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additive manufacturing,
letting us produce parts
letting us produce parts
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by adding material
rather than carving it out;
rather than carving it out;
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materials engineering, which lets us
design the behavior of materials
design the behavior of materials
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in high resolution;
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and synthetic biology,
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enabling us to design new biological
functionality by editing DNA.
functionality by editing DNA.
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And at the intersection
of these four fields,
of these four fields,
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my team and I create.
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Please meet the minds and hands
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of my students.
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We design objects and products
and structures and tools across scales,
and structures and tools across scales,
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from the large-scale,
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like this robotic arm
with an 80-foot diameter reach
with an 80-foot diameter reach
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with a vehicular base that will
one day soon print entire buildings,
one day soon print entire buildings,
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to nanoscale graphics made entirely
of genetically engineered microorganisms
of genetically engineered microorganisms
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that glow in the dark.
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Here we've reimagined the mashrabiya,
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an archetype of ancient
Arabic architecture,
Arabic architecture,
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and created a screen where
every aperture is uniquely sized
every aperture is uniquely sized
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to shape the form of light and heat
moving through it.
moving through it.
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In our next project,
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we explore the possibility
of creating a cape and skirt --
of creating a cape and skirt --
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this was for a Paris fashion show
with Iris van Herpen --
with Iris van Herpen --
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like a second skin
that are made of a single part,
that are made of a single part,
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stiff at the contours,
flexible around the waist.
flexible around the waist.
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Together with my long-term
3D printing collaborator Stratasys,
3D printing collaborator Stratasys,
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we 3D-printed this cape and skirt
with no seams between the cells,
with no seams between the cells,
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and I'll show more objects like it.
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This helmet combines
stiff and soft materials
stiff and soft materials
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in 20-micron resolution.
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This is the resolution of a human hair.
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It's also the resolution of a CT scanner.
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That designers have access
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to such high-resolution
analytic and synthetic tools,
analytic and synthetic tools,
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enables to design products that fit
not only the shape of our bodies,
not only the shape of our bodies,
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but also the physiological
makeup of our tissues.
makeup of our tissues.
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Next, we designed an acoustic chair,
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a chair that would be at once
structural, comfortable
structural, comfortable
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and would also absorb sound.
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Professor Carter, my collaborator, and I
turned to nature for inspiration,
turned to nature for inspiration,
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and by designing this irregular
surface pattern,
surface pattern,
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it becomes sound-absorbent.
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We printed its surface
out of 44 different properties,
out of 44 different properties,
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varying in rigidity, opacity and color,
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corresponding to pressure points
on the human body.
on the human body.
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Its surface, as in nature,
varies its functionality
varies its functionality
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not by adding another material
or another assembly,
or another assembly,
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but by continuously and delicately
varying material property.
varying material property.
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But is nature ideal?
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Are there no parts in nature?
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I wasn't raised
in a religious Jewish home,
in a religious Jewish home,
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but when I was young,
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my grandmother used to tell me
stories from the Hebrew Bible,
stories from the Hebrew Bible,
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and one of them stuck with me and came
to define much of what I care about.
to define much of what I care about.
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As she recounts:
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"On the third day of Creation,
God commands the Earth
God commands the Earth
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to grow a fruit-bearing fruit tree."
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For this first fruit tree,
there was to be no differentiation
there was to be no differentiation
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between trunk, branches,
leaves and fruit.
leaves and fruit.
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The whole tree was a fruit.
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Instead, the land grew trees
that have bark and stems and flowers.
that have bark and stems and flowers.
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The land created a world made of parts.
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I often ask myself,
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"What would design be like
if objects were made of a single part?
if objects were made of a single part?
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Would we return to a better
state of creation?"
state of creation?"
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So we looked for that biblical material,
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that fruit-bearing fruit tree
kind of material, and we found it.
kind of material, and we found it.
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The second-most abundant biopolymer
on the planet is called chitin,
on the planet is called chitin,
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and some 100 million tons of it
are produced every year
are produced every year
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by organisms such as shrimps,
crabs, scorpions and butterflies.
crabs, scorpions and butterflies.
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We thought if we could tune
its properties,
its properties,
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we could generate structures
that are multifunctional
that are multifunctional
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out of a single part.
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So that's what we did.
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We called Legal Seafood --
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(Laughter)
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we ordered a bunch of shrimp shells,
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we grinded them
and we produced chitosan paste.
and we produced chitosan paste.
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By varying chemical concentrations,
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we were able to achieve
a wide array of properties --
a wide array of properties --
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from dark, stiff and opaque,
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to light, soft and transparent.
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In order to print the structures
in large scale,
in large scale,
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we built a robotically controlled
extrusion system with multiple nozzles.
extrusion system with multiple nozzles.
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The robot would vary
material properties on the fly
material properties on the fly
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and create these 12-foot-long structures
made of a single material,
made of a single material,
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100 percent recyclable.
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When the parts are ready,
they're left to dry
they're left to dry
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and find a form naturally
upon contact with air.
upon contact with air.
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So why are we still
designing with plastics?
designing with plastics?
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The air bubbles that were a byproduct
of the printing process
of the printing process
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were used to contain
photosynthetic microorganisms
photosynthetic microorganisms
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that first appeared on our planet
3.5 billion year ago,
3.5 billion year ago,
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as we learned yesterday.
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Together with our collaborators
at Harvard and MIT,
at Harvard and MIT,
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we embedded bacteria
that were genetically engineered
that were genetically engineered
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to rapidly capture carbon
from the atmosphere
from the atmosphere
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and convert it into sugar.
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For the first time,
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we were able to generate structures
that would seamlessly transition
that would seamlessly transition
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from beam to mesh,
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and if scaled even larger, to windows.
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A fruit-bearing fruit tree.
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Working with an ancient material,
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one of the first lifeforms on the planet,
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plenty of water and a little bit
of synthetic biology,
of synthetic biology,
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we were able to transform a structure
made of shrimp shells
made of shrimp shells
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into an architecture
that behaves like a tree.
that behaves like a tree.
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And here's the best part:
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for objects designed to biodegrade,
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put them in the sea,
and they will nourish marine life;
and they will nourish marine life;
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place them in soil,
and they will help grow a tree.
and they will help grow a tree.
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The setting for our next exploration
using the same design principles
using the same design principles
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was the solar system.
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We looked for the possibility
of creating life-sustaining clothing
of creating life-sustaining clothing
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for interplanetary voyages.
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To do that, we needed to contain bacteria
and be able to control their flow.
and be able to control their flow.
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So like the periodic table, we came up
with our own table of the elements:
with our own table of the elements:
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new lifeforms that
were computationally grown,
were computationally grown,
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additively manufactured
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and biologically augmented.
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I like to think of synthetic biology
as liquid alchemy,
as liquid alchemy,
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only instead of transmuting
precious metals,
precious metals,
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you're synthesizing new biological
functionality inside very small channels.
functionality inside very small channels.
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It's called microfluidics.
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We 3D-printed our own channels
in order to control the flow
in order to control the flow
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of these liquid bacterial cultures.
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In our first piece of clothing,
we combined two microorganisms.
we combined two microorganisms.
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The first is cyanobacteria.
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It lives in our oceans
and in freshwater ponds.
and in freshwater ponds.
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And the second, E. coli, the bacterium
that inhabits the human gut.
that inhabits the human gut.
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One converts light into sugar,
the other consumes that sugar
the other consumes that sugar
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and produces biofuels
useful for the built environment.
useful for the built environment.
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Now, these two microorganisms
never interact in nature.
never interact in nature.
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In fact, they never met each other.
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They've been here,
engineered for the first time,
engineered for the first time,
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to have a relationship
inside a piece of clothing.
inside a piece of clothing.
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Think of it as evolution
not by natural selection,
not by natural selection,
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but evolution by design.
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In order to contain these relationships,
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we've created a single channel
that resembles the digestive tract,
that resembles the digestive tract,
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that will help flow these bacteria
and alter their function along the way.
and alter their function along the way.
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We then started growing
these channels on the human body,
these channels on the human body,
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varying material properties
according to the desired functionality.
according to the desired functionality.
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Where we wanted more photosynthesis,
we would design more transparent channels.
we would design more transparent channels.
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This wearable digestive system,
when it's stretched end to end,
when it's stretched end to end,
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spans 60 meters.
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This is half the length
of a football field,
of a football field,
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and 10 times as long
as our small intestines.
as our small intestines.
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And here it is for the first time
unveiled at TED --
unveiled at TED --
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our first photosynthetic wearable,
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liquid channels glowing with life
inside a wearable clothing.
inside a wearable clothing.
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(Applause)
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Thank you.
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Mary Shelley said, "We are unfashioned
creatures, but only half made up."
creatures, but only half made up."
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What if design could provide
that other half?
that other half?
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What if we could create structures
that would augment living matter?
that would augment living matter?
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What if we could create
personal microbiomes
personal microbiomes
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that would scan our skins,
repair damaged tissue
repair damaged tissue
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and sustain our bodies?
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Think of this as a form of edited biology.
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This entire collection, Wanderers,
that was named after planets,
that was named after planets,
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was not to me really about fashion per se,
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but it provided an opportunity
to speculate about the future
to speculate about the future
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of our race on our planet and beyond,
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to combine scientific insight
with lots of mystery
with lots of mystery
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and to move away
from the age of the machine
from the age of the machine
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to a new age of symbiosis
between our bodies,
between our bodies,
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the microorganisms that we inhabit,
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our products and even our buildings.
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I call this material ecology.
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To do this, we always need
to return back to nature.
to return back to nature.
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By now, you know that a 3D printer
prints material in layers.
prints material in layers.
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You also know that nature doesn't.
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It grows. It adds with sophistication.
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This silkworm cocoon, for example,
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creates a highly
sophisticated architecture,
sophisticated architecture,
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a home inside which to metamorphisize.
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No additive manufacturing today gets even
close to this level of sophistication.
close to this level of sophistication.
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It does so by combining not two materials,
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but two proteins
in different concentrations.
in different concentrations.
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One acts as the structure,
the other is the glue, or the matrix,
the other is the glue, or the matrix,
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holding those fibers together.
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And this happens across scales.
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The silkworm first attaches itself
to the environment --
to the environment --
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it creates a tensile structure --
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and it then starts spinning
a compressive cocoon.
a compressive cocoon.
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Tension and compression,
the two forces of life,
the two forces of life,
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manifested in a single material.
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In order to better understand
how this complex process works,
how this complex process works,
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we glued a tiny earth magnet
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to the head of a silkworm,
to the spinneret.
to the spinneret.
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We placed it inside a box
with magnetic sensors,
with magnetic sensors,
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and that allowed us to create
this 3-dimensional point cloud
this 3-dimensional point cloud
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and visualize the complex architecture
of the silkworm cocoon.
of the silkworm cocoon.
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However, when we placed
the silkworm on a flat patch,
the silkworm on a flat patch,
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not inside a box,
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we realized it would spin a flat cocoon
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and it would still
healthily metamorphisize.
healthily metamorphisize.
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So we started designing different
environments, different scaffolds,
environments, different scaffolds,
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and we discovered that
the shape, the composition,
the shape, the composition,
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the structure of the cocoon, was directly
informed by the environment.
informed by the environment.
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Silkworms are often boiled to death
inside their cocoons,
inside their cocoons,
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their silk unraveled and used
in the textile industry.
in the textile industry.
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We realized that designing these templates
allowed us to give shape to raw silk
allowed us to give shape to raw silk
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without boiling a single cocoon.
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(Applause)
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They would healthily metamorphisize,
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and we would be able
to create these things.
to create these things.
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So we scaled this process up
to architectural scale.
to architectural scale.
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We had a robot spin
the template out of silk,
the template out of silk,
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and we placed it on our site.
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We knew silkworms migrated
toward darker and colder areas,
toward darker and colder areas,
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so we used a sun path diagram
to reveal the distribution
to reveal the distribution
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of light and heat on our structure.
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We then created holes, or apertures,
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that would lock in the rays
of light and heat,
of light and heat,
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distributing those silkworms
on the structure.
on the structure.
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We were ready to receive the caterpillars.
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We ordered 6,500 silkworms
from an online silk farm.
from an online silk farm.
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And after four weeks of feeding,
they were ready to spin with us.
they were ready to spin with us.
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We placed them carefully
at the bottom rim of the scaffold,
at the bottom rim of the scaffold,
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and as they spin they pupate,
they mate, they lay eggs,
they mate, they lay eggs,
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and life begins all over again --
just like us but much, much shorter.
just like us but much, much shorter.
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Bucky Fuller said that tension
is the great integrity,
is the great integrity,
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and he was right.
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As they spin biological silk
over robotically spun silk,
over robotically spun silk,
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they give this entire
pavilion its integrity.
pavilion its integrity.
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And over two to three weeks,
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6,500 silkworms spin 6,500 kilometers.
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In a curious symmetry, this is also
the length of the Silk Road.
the length of the Silk Road.
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The moths, after they hatch,
produce 1.5 million eggs.
produce 1.5 million eggs.
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This could be used for 250
additional pavilions for the future.
additional pavilions for the future.
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So here they are, the two worldviews.
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One spins silk out of a robotic arm,
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the other fills in the gaps.
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If the final frontier of design
is to breathe life into the products
is to breathe life into the products
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and the buildings around us,
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to form a two-material ecology,
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then designers must unite
these two worldviews.
these two worldviews.
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Which brings us back, of course,
to the beginning.
to the beginning.
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Here's to a new age of design,
a new age of creation,
a new age of creation,
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that takes us from
a nature-inspired design
a nature-inspired design
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to a design-inspired nature,
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and that demands of us for the first time
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that we mother nature.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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Thank you very much. Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Neri Oxman - Architect, designerFrom the micro scale to the building scale, Neri Oxman imagines and creates structures and objects that are inspired, informed and engineered by, for and with nature.
Why you should listen
Neri Oxman creates designs that usher the next building revolution by constructing products that transcend parts and assemblies. Head of the Mediated Matter research group at the MIT Media Lab, an architect and designer, she leads the search for ways in which digital fabrication technologies interact with natural environments and the biological world. Oxman’s approach, termed "Material Ecology," spans biology, computation, materials and digital fabrication. Her works are included in permanent collections in museums worldwide including the MoMA, Centre Pompidou, the Boston MFA and the Smithsonian Institution.
Neri Oxman | Speaker | TED.com