What Is Biophilic Design? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

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What Is Biophilic Design? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

When it comes to our health and well-being, there’s no disputing the power of a morning spent strolling through the woods or an hour playing in a park. Nature is our first home; studies show that embracing time outside helps us relax, concentrate, and focus. As we breathe in the fresh air, our cortisol levels, heart rate, and blood pressure all decrease, giving us a feeling of peace. Biophilic design, a term that combines the Greek words bio, or “life,” and philia, or “love,” incorporates natural elements into buildings and interiors to improve people’s connection to nature and health.

Bill Browning is co-founder of the green research and consulting firm Terrapin Bright Green and the co-author of Nature Inside, A Biophilic Design Guide. After years spent delving into the ways our bodies respond to our environments, he knows that we intuitively recognize and respond to biophilic design elements—things like natural materials, shapes, and patterns. When we intentionally use them in our interior spaces, we also experience a positive impact on our health and wellness.

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Eric Piasecki

Create a Sense of Safety and Wonder

The key to harnessing the emotional benefits of biophilic design is using informed intention to create spaces. “There was an English landscape geographer in the ’70s who wondered why, when he stood on a hillside, he liked what he was seeing in one direction, but if he turned his head 90 degrees, he felt indifferent,” Browning says. “It has to do with the content and the structure of the views.”

When people have an unimpeded view through space, like gazing at the sunrise over the ocean, they feel a sense of prospect, or opportunity. In certain closed, more comfortable spaces, on the other hand, “like, if my back is protected and I have some sort of canopy overhead,” Browning explains, “we feel a sense of refuge.”

Overhanging porches on craftsman bungalows, for example, provide that sense of refuge and prospect that helps us to feel both hopeful and safe. “I’m up 18 inches and I can see down the street. But I still have a sense of mystery: Where is that music coming from? What is around that corner? From a place of safety, I feel inspired to go explore.”

Ashley Cardiel, a Fayetteville, Arkansas-based designer whose firm is known for wellness-focused design, frequently incorporates the prospect and refuge concept. “When we work with high-end clients whose homes are on a grand scale, we strive to create spaces that give people cozier, enveloping nests,” she says.

In a recent river retreat project, Cardiel worked with the architect to ensure windows were strategically placed to maximize river views. “The great room, where the homeowner spends most of her time, overlooks the river. We positioned a writing desk in front of those windows to design a creatively inspiring nook.”

While they removed trees between the home and the river to maximize the view, Cardiel asked the landscaper to preserve the mature trees close to the homeowner’s bedroom. “When you enter that space, you feel like you’re in a forest canopy, sleeping in a treehouse,” she says. “Even the cloud-inspired artwork plays a supporting role in guiding you to look out and appreciate and engage with nature.”

Browning adds that creating a sense of prospect and refuge can be as easy as adding a big wingback chair or window seat. “The goal is to create a space you can curl up and observe what’s going on without you, but withdraw a little so that you can sink into that refuge experience.”

Monti Armchair in Green Forest by Laura Gonzalez

Monti Armchair in Green Forest by Laura Gonzalez
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Thomas Loof

Learn to Speak Nature’s Pattern Language

Imagine strolling down a sun-dappled forest path. Embraced by the warm sun, you’re surrounded by soft dance of shadows and light. This dappled light is an example of what biophilic designers call fractal fluencies. “They’re self-repeating mathematical patterns—which are another biophilic design element—but they occur so frequently, when we see them in human-designed objects, we respond quickly and positively,” Browning says, pointing to patterns like snowflakes, fern leaves, waves on a beach, and flames in a fireplace.

“In terms of ease of introduction, fractals are the easiest to incorporate through textiles,” Cardiel says. She suggests choosing fabric that highlights natural patterns for window treatments, throw pillows, or wallpaper.

When Cardiel worked with a couple to remodel their bathroom, she found inspiration in an odd collection. “He had a group of antler sheds down in his man cave, and I asked if we could use some of them to make a chandelier to go over the tub,” she says. “We enlisted an artist to create a really contemporary antler display, which creates this moment of beautiful shadow play—like when the sun shines through a canopy of trees. Even in a space without windows, you can use chandeliers and other light fixtures to achieve a lot of visual texture.”

Block Print Throw Pillow Cover

Block Print Throw Pillow Cover
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Annie Schlechter

Let in the Sunshine

Natural light regulates our circadian rhythms, which aids quality sleep and improves our energy levels. That’s why it’s important to keep windows and views unobstructed in our designs. Still, even when rooms don’t have windows or sufficient natural light, designers can employ biophilic design tricks.

For one client, Cardiel installed circadian rhythm canned lights throughout the home. “They have little mini computers in them that you can set to the atomic clock. Throughout the day, they change colors to replicate what the sun is doing outside,” she explains. “In the morning, they’re warmer. By mid-day, a cooler blue, and by the evening they start to warm back up to reflect the red tones from the sunset.”

This can especially help clients who travel internationally, Cardiel adds. “Getting back on your time zone schedule can be tricky. This is a biohack that helps you readjust more quickly.”

On a smaller scale, Cardiel likes vanity mirrors that, when you tap, expose you to a cool, white, energizing light. “It is said to have the same impact on people as one or two cups of coffee.”

4 in. Circadian Canless LED Recessed Light Kit

4 in. Circadian Canless LED Recessed Light Kit
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Roger Davies

Make Room for Nature

Some of the most impactful biophilic design elements are the simplest, says Browning, “like having plants, animals, and natural breezes around you. Nature that is actually in your home.”

If a single house plant has a positive impact, grouping a few is even more beneficial (plus, certain plants can even help boost your mood!). “One of the biologists we work with proposed that the brain sees a grouping of plants and goes, ‘oh look, there’s a habitat. If this plant is surviving, it must be a good place for me to be, too,’” says Browning. “So instead of one plant, if I can do a little assemblage like a terrarium or a dish garden where all of a sudden I’ve created a miniature landscape, it elicits a stronger response in our brains.”

Costa Farms Live Plants (6 Pack)

Costa Farms Live Plants (6 Pack)

Another go-to biophilia hack: bringing stained wood into your home, whether it’s in the form of hardwood floors, paneling on a ceiling, or a built-in bookshelf. “Burl wood is an incredible expression of nature, and you can also do a lot with stone, in your countertops, backsplash, fireplace surround, or shower walls,” she says.

The key: “Start with what you like.” Then use it on a scale as large as your space allows. “If you’re going to have wood planks, can you use a wider plank so you see more of the individual wood pattern? In one of our bathrooms, we used an entire slab of stone so you can see more of its natural form.”

When Cardiel introduces biophilic design elements to her clients, she finds that they feel inspired to take control over their own spaces and enhance them in a way that improves their physical health. “Over the course of a month or two, people feel calmer and less stressed. Sometimes they say they feel like they have better cognition and a sense of contentment,” she says. “These fundamental values have long been the inspiration for our projects. To connect the dots on a scientific level is so meaningful.”


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