Biophilic design
is a concept used within the building industry to increase occupant connectivity
to the natural environment through the use of direct nature, indirect nature, and space and
place conditions.
BIOPHILIC DESIGN will play an increasingly important role in commercial buildings.
Enriching The Workplace With Biophilic Design by Kenneth Freeman
[Link]
Human beings have an inherent need to connect with nature and green spaces.
In response, biophilic design has emerged to lessen the impact of this separation by
bringing natural elements indoors in a way that mimics outdoor environments.
Various studies have concluded that we spend about 90 percent of our time indoors, and a
recent survey of 1,000 office workers commissioned by Ambius found that 35 percent don’t get
more than 15 minutes of outdoor time during the typical workday. An additional 13 percent are
able to stretch their daily time in outdoor environments to 30 minutes while only 26 percent
manage to spend a full hour outside each day. This is a pretty low bar to clear when compared
to the average prison inmate, who typically gets an hour of outdoor exposure each day.
Studies have revealed that adding biophilic elements to offices can increase productivity
and reduce absenteeism, two factors that impact the bottom line due to the large
portion of a company’s operating costs represented by human resources.
plants can improve air quality and help with noise reduction — a big help in the busy
and collaborative modern office.
As living green wall technology progresses, systems that actively filter indoor air – some
connecting directly into a building’s HVAC setup – can act as a biofilter, optimizing their
impact on air quality.
For companies that are unable to incorporate traditional living green walls due to budgetary
concerns, inadequate lighting conditions or lack of suitable irrigation, moss walls are growing in
popularity because they have a similar visual appeal, hold up well in spaces with little-to-no
natural light and are straightforward to maintain, saving on costs.
The benefits of biophilic design from both a psychological and a practical, cost saving
perspective are robust and will gain even more traction within the business community
as our understanding of its principles continues to grow.
Biophilic design: What is it? Why it matters? And how do we use it? By KAITLYN GILLIS
[Link]
use-it
Nature used to be all around us.
WHAT IS BIOPHILIC DESIGN?
The biophilia hypothesis proposes that most humans have an innate love of nature—we long
for it and without connecting with it, our health could suffer. So, biophilic design is an applied
solution to appease this desire for nature by integrating natural elements and processes into
the built environment.
Biophilic design can be implemented at the community, building, or small-project level. And if
done right, the design should trigger a strong positive impact on our health and well-being.
Two thought leaders (Stephen Kellert and Elizabeth Calabrese) recently categorized strategies
into three major experiences: direct experience of nature, indirect experience of nature, and
experience of space and place.
What is biophilia and biophilic design? "Biophilia is defined as the inherent human inclination to
affiliate with nature. Biophilic design, an extension of biophilia, incorporates natural materials,
natural light, vegetation, nature views and other experiences of the natural world into the
modern built environment."
Biophilic design is meant to satisfy human's innate desire to be connected to nature. Since we
spend roughly 90% of our time in built environments, the ideal solution is to bring those natural
elements indoors.
It goes beyond just adding a few plants in a corner. It is the intentional inclusion of natural
elements that contribute to the health and wellbeing of the people occupying the space.
This means that biophilic design should be consistent instead of isolated, adding elements of
nature in every space of a design. This is the best way to improve the overall quality of life.
WHY IS IT BENEFICIAL?
We firmly believe that biophilic design is not just a trend, it is being recognized as a lifestyle by
people all over the world. Millennials are creating full-on urban jungles and managers are
acknowledging that plants can improve the well being of workers.
Once you’ve experienced the benefits of incorporating biophilia into your life and environment,
you won’t have any reason to step away from it.
Studies have shown that plants in a space have benefits such as:
Improving your wellbeing
Purifying the air in your space
Enhancing your overall design aesthetic
Keeping you in touch with nature
Increasing your creativity
There are also many ways that plants help in the work environment. With beneficial outcomes
like increased productivity and decreased employee absence, it is becoming more common for
managers to find ways to add biophilia in the workplace.
Biophilic Design is an innovative way of designing the places where we live, work, and learn. We
need nature in a deep and fundamental fashion, but we have often designed our cities and
suburbs in ways that both degrade the environment and alienate us from nature. The recent
trend in green architecture has decreased the environmental impact of the built environment,
but it has accomplished little in the way of reconnecting us to the natural world, the missing
piece in the puzzle of sustainable development. Come on a journey from our evolutionary past
and the origins of architecture to the world’s most celebrated buildings in a search for the
architecture of life. Together, we will encounter buildings that connect people and nature -
hospitals where patients heal faster, schools where children’s test scores are higher, offices
where workers are more productive, and communities where people know more of their
neighbors and families thrive. Biophilic Design points the way toward creating healthy and
productive habitats for modern humans.
"Biophilic Design extends the theory and practice of green building into a new dimension--the
realm of human connection with nature and sense of place. If designers and planners want to
create truly sustainable places that people will love and care for now and many generations to
come, they need to give this film their close attention. We are using it as an important resource
for teaching in our college."
Louise Chawla, Professor, College of Architecture and Planning, University of Colorado, Editor
and co-Author, Growing Up in an Urbanizing World
"At a time when our society faces such extraordinary environmental and social challenges
because of our separation from nature, this film is a breath of fresh air and takes us on journey
of possibility and hope. This inspiring film features some of the leading visionaries in
architecture and design, people who understand the real world need to design residential and
commercial buildings and cities that are not only functional but feed our souls by reconnecting
us to [Link] Design is essential viewing for policy makers, planners, designers and
anyone engaged in re-designing the future."
Bryony Schwan, Executive Director, The Biomimicry 3.8 Institute
"Natural environments are not amenities, and they are not mere 'resources' or quaint luxuries.
They are essential to human mental, physical and social well-being, most urgently for our
children. Stephen Kellert has yoked health and environment in a new and powerful way for all
who view Biophilic Design."
Dr. Richard Jackson, Pediatrician, Professor and Chair, Environmental Health Sciences,
University of California-Los Angeles
"I was truly impressed with, as well as inspired by Biophilic Design.... [It] should be a required
part of any design curriculum, not just for architects but also for engineers, interior designers,
and even landscape architects. I can also see practicing designers using the film as an effective
tool in talking with clients about the value of using 'the poetry we find in nature' for many
different kinds of projects. I can see Biophilic Design extending beyond the design community.
It will resonate with and inspired anyone remotely interested in the intersection of nature and
design."
Naomi Sachs, ASLA, EDAC, Founder and Director, Therapeutic Landscapes Network
"This film goes well beyond the current concern with `green' building design...Provides
convincing evidence from a wide range of types of settings that the reintroduction of nature
into our everyday living environment profoundly impacts our individual health and well-
being...Biophilic design could be a critical step in fostering a necessary societal level change of
consciousness: through the broad reintroduction of nature into human habitats citizens will be
more likely to become aware of their love of, and mutual connectedness with, nature and
become passionate advocates for global change in how we work to sustain life on earth."
Roger Hart, Director, The Children's Environments Research Group, Professor, Environmental
and Developmental Psychology and Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New
York
"Progress has certainly been made with the more measurable and verifiable aspects of
environmental design, such as minimizing the use of energy, water and materials. In the end,
however, it is perhaps the depth of our emotional connection to the natural world that is most
important to our environmental future. Deep affinity and resonance with nature give the
environment its compelling value that ultimately leads to its measurable conservation. Biophilic
Design, The Architecture of Life fills a huge void in our understanding the role of the natural
world in modern life. It brings home why nature's presence in our daily lives is central to our
existence and what we can do to reverse a centuries old decline."
Stephen Kieran, FAIA, Founding Partner, KieranTimberlake
Post Covid 19 World and the Importance of Biophilic Design
Biophilic Design is more important now than ever, especially now living in a post Covid World
where our health and wellbeing are more important than it has been before?
Nature has always been an influential tool in both architecture, interior and urban design. The
positive impact nature has on humans is undeinable, with over 80% of people crediting the
improvement to their mental health being down to nature.
A crucial turn to green architecture and design within living spaces that promote wellness
through a connection with the natural world is more important than ever and is the key driving
force to creating sustainable environments that improve the quality of life for everyone.
Especially as more and more people are going to be spending a lot more time at home whether
that will be working from home or social distancing from home.
Nature has always been a powerful tool in urban planning, architecture and design. Its positive
impact on the human condition is undeniable, with 80% of people attributing the improvement
to their mental health to being in nature.
