The current pandemic and the climate crisis urge people to rethink their relationships to the natural and urban environments. In this research we turned to nature for inspiration to find new ways to keep human environments clean and healthy. This paper presents a computational and experimental methodology to design self-cleaning architectural surfaces from chitin biomaterial modeled after butterfly wings. We fabricate surface architectures using parametric modeling, 3d printing, and molding of chitin biomaterial, and assess their performance using mechanical testing, experimental and computational simulations. The goal is to provide an alternative to hydrophobic fossil fuel-based plastics using surface morphologies of biomaterials to achieve structural rigidity and selfcleaning properties in architectural surfaces.
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