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20/08/2011 GMT

Design in nature, art and fashion. What can we learn from lizards and leaves and should design strive to imitate or innovate?

Design is all around us – not only in artificially created realm of art, architecture and fashion, but also in the world of nature. What lessons can we learn from leaves, lizards and penguins and is it possible to build a city on the principles of sustainability? In fashion, why is it that we cannot help ourselves from following the herd and how do you go about creating a design classic?

This week’s Forum guests are celebrated designer and architect Ron Arad; historian of modern fashion and culture, Pamela Church Gibson and biologist and consultant in the new field of biomimicry, Janine Benyus.

Illustration by Charlotte Kingston: the Galapagos shark counts his royalties (sitting on his Ron Arad chair).

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41 minutes

Last on

Sun 21 Aug 201114:05GMT
BBC World Service Online

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13/08/2011 GMT

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27/08/2011 GMT

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Chapters

  • Part 1

    Ron Arad: Using industrial materials for art supplies

    Duration: 14:34

  • Pamela Church Gibson

    Pamela Church Gibson: what drives people to follow fashion?

    Duration: 08:26

  • Part 2: 60 second idea

    60 second idea: Janine Benyus

    Duration: 04:34

  • Janine Benyus

    Janine Benyus: biomimicry - designers taking notes from nature

    Duration: 12:55

Broadcasts

  • Sat 20 Aug 201108:05GMT
    BBC World Service Online
  • Sat 20 Aug 201121:05GMT
    BBC World Service Online
  • Sun 21 Aug 201101:05GMT
    BBC World Service Online
  • Sun 21 Aug 201114:05GMT
    BBC World Service Online

Podcast

  • The Forum

    The programme that explains the present by exploring the past