Mimicking nature for our future?

The Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, is the country’s largest office and shopping complex, inspired by African termites!

The termites build mounts reaching several feet in order to farm a fungus that feeds them. The finicky fungus must live at exactly 30 degrees C. While temperatures outside the mound walls vary by about 21 degrees C, they had a problem to solve. The termites achieve this feat by constantly opening and closing a series of heating and cooling vents throughout the mound over the course of the day. Air is sucked in at the lower part of the mound, down into enclosures with muddy walls, and up through a channel to the peak of the termite mound. The termites constantly dig new vents and plug up old ones in order to regulate the temperature inside.

I think that the use of Biomimicry is what we need for the future. We are constantly evolving and wanting to make the future of design more sustainable. In order to achieve this it is sometimes better to look back in history or even into nature to find the most efficient way of dealing with current problems.
Mick Pierce and Arup Engineers designed a system in the building that draws outdoor air in and heats or cools it against the building mass depending on which is warmer, the building or the air. The air is then vented into the building through the floors and exits through chimneys at the top.
The complex is made up of two buildings connected by a glass passageway that is open to the fresh air. As air is drawn from this space, fresh air is constantly replacing stale air. This is healthy for the people inside the space, as nature is doing most of the work.

As nature has evolved throughout the years can we depend on it for the future?