Recently, more homes and workspaces have adopted biophilic design principles to create inspiring environments that promote creativity and well-being.
Science has proven that nature is actually healing for our brains and bodies — which is why we often look to the great outdoors as therapy. But what about bringing the great outdoors into the city-spaces we inhabit?
Innovators
Community members reimaging how people interact with plants on a daily basis.
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Implications
- Being in nature, or even experiencing brief scenes of nature, reduces stress and anger, and contributes to overall wellbeing, leading to greater employee satisfaction and happiness.
- Designing biophilic interventions into urban environments gives people a sense of the outdoors, which has been proven to help improve moods and mental health.
- Providing individuals and teams with green space for micro-breaks can boost mental capacity,, leading to increased attention and creativity.
15% Workers in office environments with natural elements, such as greenery and sunlight, are this percent more creative.
Human Spaces, Global Report, 2016
70% of the world’s populations will live in cities in the coming decades.
14 Patterns of Biophilic Design, Browning, Ryan, & Clancy, 2014
A 40 second micro-break viewing a green, but not concrete roof city scene, sustains attention.
40-Second Green Roof Views, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2015
90minutes on a walk through a natural environment, as opposed to a high-traffic urban setting, has shown to reduce neural activity in the area of the brain associated with depression.
Nature Experience Reduces Rumination, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2015
50% people are this amount more creative and capable of problem-solving after spending four days of immersion in nature.
Creativity in the Wild: Improving Creative Reasoning through Immersion in Natural Settings, PLoS ONE, 2012
47% of workers say that they have no natural light within their work environment.
Human Spaces, Global Report, 2016
Examples
The Alchemist’s Kitchen
NYC-based shop and events space distributes products and knowledge of sacred plants
The Green School
Education center in Bali encourages students to build a symbiotic relationship with nature
Anthropologie
Fashion retailer’s European location features a 160m2 indoor living walls
Greenhouse by Joost
Eco-entrepreneur built his entire home using recyclable materials, including a living wall of strawberry plants
PopUp Forest
Designer transforms Times square into a pop-up large scale forest installation