Gabriele Pontillo

Bio-inspired design, in its intentional meaning (Pasca, 2010), therefore methodologically, represents an innovation that offers a new perspective for addressing current challenges through the emulation of strategies found in nature.

Los equinoides, conocidos como erizos de mar, son invertebrados que pueblan los mares desde finales del Ordovícico. Durante su evolución, se sometieron a una radiación adaptativa relevante que condujo a una variedad de formas y estilos de vida especializados. La mayor parte del éxito evolutivo de los equinoides se debe sin duda al empleo estratégico de su endoesqueleto, con especial referencia a la estructura coherente de la capa de la prueba adaptada para resistir las tensiones bióticas y abióticas relacionadas con los entornos marinos. Esta estructura optimizada, que minimiza tanto la energía como los materiales empleados, también podría representar un modelo ideal para transferir soluciones funcionales bioinspiradas a construcciones de edificios y diferentes sectores industriales. La presente contribución pretende proporcionar una breve descripción de la adaptación morfofuncional estratégica equinoide de la prueba y su potencial en el campo biomimético.

The Pandemic has forced change, raising questions about design models, business models, incentives and community education. The urgency of containment measures has redefined the role of health and highlighted the role of Design, which is involved in emergency situations, in designing the universe of protective devices, intervening with Human Centered Design approaches, proposing shared strategies that translate the knowledge and experience of the most advanced research into products. The case study collects the results obtained from the elaboration of the research project financed by the Campania Region, “Smart&Safe. Design for new personal protective equipment” submitted to the call for the acquisition of research and development services for the fight against Covid-19. The research constitutes a substantial study of the problems related to health emergencies and proposes an update in the redesign of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), now in a plural Intelligent Individual Protection System (IIPS), which determine a relational system of integrated protection.