Melissa Sterry gave a speech at the Oslo Architecture Triennale about innovating comfort. She discussed how one of the earliest human innovations, controlling fire, was driven by the desire for comfort. It provided heat, light, protection, and enabled cooking. Similarly, earth-sheltered buildings from ancient times still provide comfort today. However, perceptions of comfort are subjective, and modern conveniences could be threatened. New approaches like 3D printing, DIY technology, and maker culture are enabling more inclusive and tailored design processes to create comfort solutions for uncertain future conditions. Biomimetics looks to nature for ideas on adapting to changes in sustainable and novel ways.

1. Oslo Architecture Triennale, September 20th 2013
The Future of Comfort
Melissa Sterry, Design Scientist & Futurist
© Melissa Sterry 2013 All Rights Reserved
@melissasterry

2. (Speech note)
“Innovating Comfort
Whether designing, creating or responding to needs, comfort is essential.
How can comfort be a driver for innovation? What are good design
strategies for the future?”
© Melissa Sterry 2013 All Rights Reserved
@melissasterry

3. control of fire

4. (Speech note)
“Comfort as an innovation driver is nothing new.
One of the earliest and most significant human innovations was driven
by the desire for comfort: the control of fire.
The ability to make fire endowed our ancient ancestors with heat, light,
protection from some predators and cooking, enabling our ancestors to
digest food faster - and perhaps to greater enjoy its consumption!
Despite the fact that humans have invented many alternatives to fire the electric light, central heating, cookers and such like, the control of
fire for warmth, for light, for cooking - and if in the wilds, for protection
from predators - remains constant.”
© Melissa Sterry 2013 All Rights Reserved
@melissasterry

5. earth-sheltered

6. (Speech note)
“The control of fire isn’t the only ancient - comfort driven innovation - that
we, modern man, still uses. Earth sheltered buildings helped our forebears
survive the ilk of ice ages. And yet, earth-sheltered buildings don’t look out
of place in the towns and cities of today.”
© Melissa Sterry 2013 All Rights Reserved
@melissasterry

7. comfort?

8. (Speech note)
“However, perceptions of comfort are subjective. For all the comfort that
control of fire bestowed upon ancient humans, were many present-day
humans to spend a few days living as did our ancestors, they would likely
find the experience pretty uncomfortable.
Those of us fortunate enough to live above the poverty-line, generally have
a fairly narrow perception of what’s ‘comfortable’. We don’t want our
building interiors to be too hot, or too cold, too humid, too dark and so on.
To that end, we employ myriad innovations to help us remain within our
‘comfort zone’, both within the design and fabric of our buildings - and the
items we integrated into those buildings.
We’re so accustomed to these things - to these one time innovations - that
most of the time, we barely pay attention to them. We assume that we can
have heating, air conditioning, lighting, hot and cold running water - and so
on, on demand.”
© Melissa Sterry 2013 All Rights Reserved
@melissasterry

9. parameters?

10. (Speech note)
“But at least a few of these creature comforts could be under threat.
And for all the calculations - for all the speculations - we can’t be too sure of the
scale of that threat.
On the surface of it, that’s a pretty tough design brief - innovating for the
unknown;
●
designing for undefined environmental parameters
- just how extreme will our weather systems become?
●
just how how large will our population be?
- and what percentage will end up living in cities in the future?
●
how much - or indeed how little - will we have to share?
- by what division will we need to divide whatever resources we have?”
© Melissa Sterry 2013 All Rights Reserved
@melissasterry

11. brief unknown

12. prototypes
Archigram
Cedric Price
Glenn Small

13. instant comfort
Enrico Dini
Softkill Design
Bryan Allen & Stephanie Smith
Mataerial's gravity independent 3D printing system.

14. (Speech note)
“3D Printing, DIY technology, Maker-culture and Open Networks are
enabling an inclusive design process - a process that embeds citizens
at its heart.
Part of a much bigger paradigm shift that takes technologies evolved
during the Industrial Revolution to enable hi-tech Cottage Industry
- the design and manufacturing model is going full circle.
The boundaries of possibility are rapidly expanding, as both hi-tech and
low-tech ideas and innovations meet in the middle - their interplay
evolving yet more possibilities, each tailored to the needs of people and
of planet.”
© Melissa Sterry 2013 All Rights Reserved
@melissasterry

15. Panarchy applied to 3D Printing and maker-culture, presented in Biomimetics: Learning from Life by
Melissa Sterry, a chapter in the forthcoming title the Global Science Innovation Handbook.

16. (Speech note)
“Flora and Fauna species are adept at adapting to changing environmental conditions - from
the incremental to the extreme. Evolved over millennia, many such solutions are
comparatively novel, complex and efficient when compared to ours.
Bionic City® seeks to answer the question “how would nature design a city?” and examines
the potential of biomimetics, biotechnology and bio-Inspiration in the built environment in the
now, near and far future.
Creating its own original research, concepts and creative works, it also serving as a platform
for collaborating and co-creating with pioneering bio-inspired designers, architects, engineers,
builders, technologists, scientists and artists worldwide.
Bionic City® not only investigates the application of its own research and development, and
that of its collaborators and co-creators, but also looks to wider developments in the field of
biomimetics and biotechnology to explore how these may converge to create a new built
environment paradigm.”
© Melissa Sterry 2013 All Rights Reserved
@bioniccity

17. more stuff
Free to view via Flipboard app for mobile and web.
@bioniccity

18. carry on the conversation...
find info at melissasterry.com
© Melissa Sterry 2013 All Rights Reserved