Atacama Desert: Genius of place

This chapter describes a Genius-of-Place study of the Atacama Desert. A Genius-of-Place is a process developed by Biomimicry 3.8 that results in a summary of research on the organisms from a specific place to inform design work that is highly adapted to, either the same place, or a place with similar meteorological, geophysical, and biological characteristics. The Biomimicry Thinking methodology with a Biology to Design path was used. The objective in using this approach is to find nature-inspired solutions (locally attuned) for materials, strategies, and structures for extreme environments that may be helpful in designing for aerospace applications. Development of a Genius-of-Place study allows us to look into nature in specific places or areas so that we are able to obtain information on locally attuned organisms. These organisms are expected to have developed unique strategies. By conducting studies of this type, we are posing three questions: (1) How are organisms thriving in this environment? (2) What strategies have they developed to leverage the material and energy flows? and (3) How do these strategies work and can they be mimicked in the human design world? The Atacama Desert was chosen as the studied biome due to its unique conditions on the planet. Atacama, the driest nonpolar desert on Earth, is situated between the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range and is composed of sand, salt lakes, and stony terrain. Species that live in this environment have adapted to thrive under extreme conditions. The Genius-of-Place approach allowed us to learn about and draw inspiration from several species that have an extraordinary ability to adapt to an extreme environment: llareta (Azorella compacta), desert holly (Atriplex atacamensis), tamarugo (Prosopis tamarugo), desert saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), vicuña (Vicugna vicugna), and guanaco (Lama guanicoe). From the studied species, the design principles of their strategies were conceptualized, and design concepts were developed with the final objective to propose locally attuned sustainable designs based on well-established strategies that are well adapted to the place. A number of insights developed during the course of this study have some relevance to supporting human exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.