Hydro-Symbiotic Morphologies: Generative Design Processes for Hyper Arid Ecosystems

The Hydro-Symbiotic Morphologies project, presented as part of the Master of Science in Emergent Technologies and Design of the Architectural Association School of London by the architects Yasmine Rougab, Carlos Zulueta, and Michela Musto in 2013, explores the possibility of establishing a residential settlement in the hyper-arid area of the Atacama Desert, the driest one on Earth. The research revolves around the design of fog-catcher systems capable of providing subsistence tools in a future that sees the phenomenon of desertification dramatically advancing. The fog collection method has been proven to be a sustainable technology to provide fresh water for drinking and plant watering. To manage efficiently this precious resource, the project employs food towers, and a belt of fog catchers, those are the spaces where aquaculture, fish farming, and purification of water happen and become part of a highly efficient ecosystem. All the stages of the design had been approached with a biomimetic overture, detecting the fundamental survival strategies of the rare life forms living in hyper-arid ecosystems and translating their relevant geometries and behaviors in complex sets of data ready to be manipulated through algorithms and generate optimized forms enabling the creation and management of a complex system designed to accommodate life in the desert. The research highlights along the design process the existence of a capillary symbiosis between nature and digital matter, in this system the understanding of one allows the simulation and the iteration of the features and performance of the other. The design is driven by a bottom-up process and makes extensive use of generative data-driven design strategies led by a bio-inspired approach. The biomimetic inspiration is supported by the use of digital simulation tools marking the step for a new trans natural symbiosis, even in places not considered, until now, to be colonized by humans.