All About Biophilic Design, The Trend That's Sweeping Architecture (2024)

FAQs

All About Biophilic Design, The Trend That's Sweeping Architecture? ›

Biophilic designs incorporate natural elements and processes into the built environment, including buildings, interiors, and landscapes. This can include features such as plants, water features, natural light, and natural materials. Raimondi stresses that it's not just about placing a potted plant in an office.

Biophilic design is more than just an architectural trend; it's a philosophy that seeks to reunite us with nature, echoing our intrinsic need for the natural world.

Biophilic design is an approach to architecture that seeks to connect building occupants more closely to nature. Biophilic designed buildings incorporate things like natural lighting and ventilation, natural landscape features and other elements for creating a more productive and healthy built environment for people.

In 2024, we can expect to see more spaces that incorporate elements that look natural, feel, smell, and even sound like nature. These multi-sensory spaces can include elements like water features, natural materials like wood and stone, and plants that provide sensory experiences like texture and fragrance.

Biophilic design is structured around three interconnected pillars: nature in the space, natural analogs, and nature of the space. Let's take a closer look at each pillar: Nature in the Space: The first pillar of biophilic design is nature in the space.

Consistent exposure to natural elements through biophilic design supports longevity and ensures that future generations maintain an affinity with nature, so that they will grow up to be stewards of the wild places and animals that make our planet magnificent.

The term biophilia was later popularised more dryly in a 1984 book by the biologist Edward O. Wilson who argued that we yearn for a connection with nature. It is this idea, of our hardwired desire for the natural world, that continues to drive the discussion.

BIOPHILIC DESIGN IS THE PRACTICE OF CONNECTING PEOPLE AND NATURE WITHIN OUR BUILT ENVIRONMENTS AND COMMUNITIES. The International Living Future Institute has seen a demonstrated need among the Living Building Challenge community for Biophilic Design resources that can take the practice from theory to reality.

Improved sustainability

The benefits of biophilic design, such as greater air quality, optimised thermal comfort, improved water management, and increased building lifespans, to name a few, align with the SDGs set by the UN in 2015.

This revolutionary approach can be applied by incorporating nature, being inspired by it, and interacting actively and passively with it. Biophilic design and nature-inspired elements improve physical, psychological, and social well-being.

What are the 5 senses of biophilic design? ›

Biophilic design comprises the 5 senses; sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing.

bio·​phil·​ic ˌbī-ō-ˈfi-lik. : of, relating to, or characterized by biophilia : relating to, showing, or being the human tendency to interact or be closely associated with other forms of life in nature.

Some notable mentions of biophilia include Edward O. Wilson's book Biophilia (1984) where he took a biologist's approach and first coined the “Biophilia hypothesis” and popularized the notion.

Use natural materials

A more subtle technique in biophilic design is the use of natural materials in construction and decoration, such as wood, bamboo, rattan or cork. 1 Hotels suites such as their Hanalei Bay location are constructed with salvaged materials, as well as reclaimed components like marble and stone.

Biophilia focuses on human's attraction to nature and natural processes. It suggests that we all have a genetic connection to the natural world built up through hundreds of thousands of years of living in natural environments, and that it can help improve our mental and physical states.