Building The Bionic City

Albert Einstein once said, “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” Leonardo da Vinci exemplifies the pertinence of Einstein’s comment, for as an illegitimate child da Vinci was exempt from receiving a formal education and thus self-taught; learning much of what he knew from his personal observations of the natural world. The archetypal Renaissance man, while primarily renown as a painter, da Vinci was the forerunner of modern of science and the most prolific inventor the world has ever seen.

We will never know how much more advanced our society would be today had the greater majority of da Vinci’s prolific body of scientific observations and inventions been preserved and distributed for the benefit of humankind. However, four hundred and ninety years after his passing, some of da Vinci’s most ambitious ideas are having a new lease of life.

Documented in the Codex Atlanticus, which atlas-like in breadth collates da Vinci’s inventions from the period 1478 to 1519, one such idea is that of a city that embeds the principles of a natural ecosystem. While several pioneering architects of the 20th century conceived similar such ideas, including amongst others the relatively little known American architect Glenn Small, it is only in the past decade that the concept of creating a city that mimics nature has started to take hold. Perceptions of the living city paradigm vary greatly, but common principles expressed across the various schools of thought include adaptability, interconnectivity and resilience, each of which are key factors within any natural ecosystem.

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