Biophilic design is an innovative way of engaging with space by creating, designing, and decorating where we live, work, learn, play, heal, and rejuvenate. To understand Biophilia the simplest definition derives from its etymology, ‘bio-’ life, organic life, and ‘-philia’ affinity towards something. The concept of Biophilia highlights the innate relationship mankind has had with nature, and when this former is deprived of this relationship stress and anxiety-related illness, slow cognitive function and creativity, and slow healing become a common experience. As the world population continues to urbanize, biophilia needs to be consciously considered as a part of the building block of urban landscapes. Thereby, making the design that helps us reconnect with nature – biophilic design – is essential for creating healthy environments for having better overall health and well-being.
Biophilia helps us understand how a natural fire can be so captivating, how wooden interiors and furniture make us feel more welcomed, how visually looking at nature or representations of nature becomes a very enticing experience. As humans, because this is a very innate experience, subconsciously we experience it but very often don’t understand why and how these are healing effects.
Nature has always been a part of the human environment, It still is but the manner in which it surrounds us has changed in quantity and quality. This contemporary lifestyle that we as a species have started by Jean-Philippe Delberghe existing in, it has made it hard for us to approach nature. Suggesting that bringing nature into the house using, furnishings, sculptures, and furniture can be equally awarding. A study recently done by the Planet Ark Environmental foundation suggested that wooden products and furniture bring significant benefits to the user’s health and wellbeing.
The world populace. today spends more time indoors than outdoors. If you take Delhi as an example, the toxic air quality, noise pollution levels, and safety concerns, force people to stay indoors, be it the workspace, schools, or living spaces. At an average we spend somewhere around 60% of our time indoors and the outdoor environment conditions that we experience today brings it to somewhere around 70-80%. Bringing elements of nature inside the house offers a biophilic experience to the indoors which has the capabilities of making the 70 80% time spend inside comforting and destressing.
At Green Décor, we try to bring out similar biophilic experiences to our customers, through our handcrafted products where tradition crosses roads with the modern styles to offer a wide range of Home Decor Products. These products are made with seasoned wood and carving that represent nature inspired patterns and forms along with simple variations in colors. These elements together bring a biophilic experience to living spaces, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, offices, dining and drawing rooms, etc.
There are 14 patterns to Biophilic Design defined by Terrapin Bright Green an environmental consulting and planning firm. As this article
focuses on the experience of wood through different elements of design, the focus moves to the following patterns: Non-Visual Connection with Nature; Biomorphic Forms and Patterns and Material Connection with Nature. These three patterns highlight the importance of wooden elements in real time measurable health and wellbeing benefits.
Non-Visual Connection with Nature.
The designs that incorporate natural elements offer a Non-Visual connection to nature which comes from the textures, that carving offers on wood, while the wood itself as well. This principle is known to reduce stress hormones and systolic blood pressure, positively impact cognitive performance, and sometimes even help with mental health issues. The textures of wood products have a natural tendency to offer warmth when touched. Even the natural color palette used in these products and furniture designs has an impact on our cognitive performance. They also offer a resemblance to the living in spaces of concrete.
While the texture of wood offers a non-visual experience, the patterns that represent natural elements, like flowers, animals, flow of water, stars offer a Visual connection to the replication of nature.
For eg, a plant in a wooden pot will be more accepting of the innate biophilic human than a plant growing in a plastic container or a wooden container. Or even a plastic frame vs a wooden frame with patterns inspired from jasmine carved on them. These comparisons will always support the Later as the product would represent an unspoken yet innate relationship. At Green Décor we harness this relationship with the patterns of products and furniture made out of wood and sometimes incorporation of metal, marble, glass, and stones. Offering an opportunity to add biophilic values to space.
Biomorphic Forms and Patterns.
Space that have biomorphic forms and patterns are comforting and exciting at the same time, while simultaneously be captivating, and absorptive. This principle is known to reduce stress by inducing shifts in focus and enhanced concentration. There is a direct impact on the preference of choice for products and furniture made with natural elements and their organic nature supporting biomorphic forms (at Green Décor). Thereby, making them a symbolic representation of the living things.
The Fibonacci Series, The Golden Section, and similar mathematical proportions and arrangements that occur in nature have been used by cultures across the world in the construction of buildings and sacred spaces. to name few the Notre Dame in Paris, The Egyptian Pyramids, The Taj Mahal, the temples of Khajuraho in India, all these monuments a representation of this principle. Bringing these representations of nature into our spaces using furniture and products offers an indirect connection to nature to the users.
Material Connection with Nature.
The experience that wooden products and furniture designs have fells warm, authentic and rich, making it a stimulating touch. There was a study carried out regarding the impact of different ratios of wooden walls, products and designs in space, and it led to different psychological responses. It was observed that with a 45% coverage there was a more subjective ‘comfortable’ feeling. A result of the significant increase in pulse rate, and a significant decrease in diastolic blood pressors. 25% had similar implications but in lower numbers, while 90% further became counterproductive and reduced cognitive functionality. Home décor products from Green Décor offer an opportunity to get closer to the 45% mark in today’s concrete based environments.
A distant sense of place can be created by offering a material connection with nature that reflects on the local ecology through delicately designed products and furniture. There is a lot of information hidden in them that is there for the user to learn, which he/she may or may not realize about. Information like familiar textures and visual patterns, nested fractals from the grain pattern of wood, stone and metal, previous memories attached to them, etc. There are scientific researches that support the fact that human receptors have the capability of telling the difference between what is synthetic and what is real.
The Science that supports biophilic design is still emerging but at the same point of time its experiential understanding cannot be ignored. It is a rediscovery of the intuitively obvious. At Green Décor the core foundation aims at rediscovery the intuitively obvious through their series of products and furniture designs. The manner in which the world populace is moving to the cities – globalizing and urbanizing, the need for designs that help the users reconnect with nature will become ever more important. Products and furniture designs that are built on the lines of biophilic principles are today becoming a necessity and hence a design choice for the spaces we live in.
“…the enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it, tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it; and thus, through the influence of the mind over the body, gives the effect of refreshing rest and reinvigoration to the whole system.” - Frederick Law Olmsted, 1865 Introduction to Yosemite and the Mariposa Grove: A Preliminary Report
“We bring such experiences through our products across the world.”
- Green Décor Team.
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