1. The Botanist: Dr. Thomas Speck

In this episode, I am talking to Dr. Prof. Thomas Speck about the meaning of lightness in the field of biology, exploring topics like the material efficiency of nature, biomimicry, half-timbered houses, Frei Otto, and the many projects Dr. Speck did in collaboration with Jan Knippers and Achim Menges from the IntCDC Cluster at the University of Stuttgart.

The following article is meant as an informational extension of the podcast episode:

Where it all started: An interest in the Bioacoustics of frogs

Glass Frog, CC-BY-2.0, Photographs by Geoff Gallice

The Limited Materials of Plants: Cellulose, Lignin, Hemi-Cellulose and Pektins

Transverse section of a young stem of Ranunculus sp. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, Image by John Adds

The referred ingenious “Fachwerkhaus” or in english: Half-timbered House

An abandoned half-timbered house in Göhren, Niteshift, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Frei Otto was a Skeptic of biomimicry, although his structure's form-finding was often inspired by natural principles.

Aviary, Jörg Gribl and Frei Otto, Munich, Germany, 1980

mentioned livMatS Pavilion, 2021, a collaboration between Clusters of Excellence: IntCDC and livMatS as well as Fibr GmbH

Photographs by ICD/ITKE/IntCDC University of Stuttgart

And the light pattern it creates.

Photographs by ICD/ITKE/IntCDC University of Stuttgart

The mentioned reactive shading system inspired by pine cones: Solar Gate, 2023, Stuttgart. A collaboration of ICD, intCDC, livMatS, IKT.

Section through pine cone scale, M. Horstmann, T. Speck & S. Poppinga (2024): Orchestrated movement sequences and shape memory-like effects in pine cones Plants, 13: 2078

Solar Gate 2023, Photograph by ICD/IntCDC University of Stuttgart

The mentioned Project: FlectoLine Facade, 2024, Stuttgart, a collaboration of Clusters of Excellence: IntCDC and livMatS as well as ASCA GmbH. Inspired by the trap mechanism of the waterwheel plants (Aldrovanda vesiculosa)

Photograph of the Aldrovanda vesiculosa by Thomas Speck

Photographs by ITKE/ ITFT, University of Stuttgart

In the end let's get an idea of the places, that evoked an existential feeling of lightness for Dr. Speck: The first fieldwork in an undisturbed tropical rainforest.

Photograph by Luke Price, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr

and standing in the nothingness of snowy Spitzbergen

Whiteout, Ilinskaya Alisa, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons