Source 2A : http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=Stilt&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,
cf.osb&biw=1331&bih=573&um=1&ie=UTF8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=w
i&ei=Iqb_T-b6JcrIrQfChqybBg ; July 13, 2012                                      
Source 2B&C : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stilts ; July 13, 2012
Source 2D : http://www.stiltman.com/html/anthropological_reports.html ; July 13, 2012

Emulating the mechanism of other living beings to walk or run faster man designed ‘stilt’ as one of the solutions that could give advantage of traveling faster. In nature we find large number of creatures (plate 2A) that have proportionally longer legs from the knee to the heel compare to the upper part of the leg- hip to knee. The length of the leg is increased from the knee joints to the ground so that one could increase the length of each step. Postman (plate 2B) has to cover large area for delivering mails. Naturally the mechanism of stilt for faster movement in shorter time became quite handy. It required physical energy with a simple mechanical design. It is a very old technique that man invented indigenously from ancient time (plate 2C). Similar practices are found in Egypt (plate 2C) and in India (plate 2D) where man could cover longer distance. Nature’s ability to develop different mechanism (complex paradigm- joints and hinges) is part of their evolutionary process. The evolutionary process that took centuries in nature (plate 2A), man could observe and develop in a much shorter time. Thus, the close observation of nature’s paradigms man has generated numerous design solution based on the nature of problem.

Design Paradigm distinguishes various categories based on their characteristics and the nature of functioning. With in each category there are a collection of distinct useful forms, mechanism, techniques, and relationships. Each of these embodies fundamental design strategies. These are known as Design Paradigm- such as, nesting, smaller and larger, bigger and smaller, taller and shorter, etc. are some of the design paradigm. In the following chapters the above topics would be discussed in detail.