Biophilic design helps people feel more connected to nature and to designs that look like nature, which can improve their health and wellbeing. By adding natural elements such as sunlight, biophilic design provides health, environmental, and economic benefits for people and cities. It has few disadvantages. The term "biophilic design" was first used in the 20th century, but similar design features can be found in older buildings, such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Even though these design elements were already included in earlier sustainable design guidelines, the new term helped increase interest in the idea and gave it more recognition in academic studies.

Biophilia hypothesis

The word "biophilia" was first introduced by a mental health expert named Erich Fromm. In his book The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (1973), Fromm described biophilia as "the passionate love of life and of all that is alive," whether it is a person, a plant, an idea, or a group of people. Fromm, as a psychoanalyst, viewed biophilia as a natural instinct for living things.

Since then, the term has been used by many scientists and philosophers in different areas of study. Edward O. Wilson, a biologist, wrote a book titled Biophilia (1984) and introduced the "biophilia hypothesis." Wilson explained biophilia as the natural tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes. He argued that humans have a genetic connection to nature, not just a physical one as Fromm suggested. The biophilia hypothesis suggests that humans are naturally drawn to connect with nature and living things because of our evolutionary history, which depends on nature for survival and happiness.

This idea is seen in everyday life. People travel to visit national parks, relax on beaches, hike mountains, and explore jungles. Many sports, like skiing, mountain biking, and surfing, take place in natural settings. At home, people often pay more for houses with views of nature. For example, buyers may spend 7% more on homes with good landscaping, 58% more on homes with views of water, and 127% more on homes near water. Humans also value spending time with animals.

Biophobia

Biophilia is the natural desire to connect with and enjoy nature. Biophobia is the inherited fear of nature and animals. In modern times, people often prefer to stay away from nature and focus more on technology. This cultural trend makes people more interested in human-made things and controlled activities. Some fears of the natural world come from past dangers faced by humans. These include fears of snakes, spiders, and blood. In buildings, certain features can cause discomfort. These include bright colors, high places, small enclosed areas, darkness, and very large open spaces.

Dimensions

Stephen Kellert is known as one of the first people to study how nature can be included in buildings to improve people's lives. His ideas help show respect for nature while creating spaces that are comfortable and interesting for people to live and work in. The following points explain the different ways nature can be used in buildings.

Direct Experience means touching or feeling parts of nature directly:

• Light: Helps people know the time of day and season. It can guide people through spaces and make them feel comfortable. Light can also create patterns and shadows. In buildings, this can be done with high windows, reflective surfaces, skylights, glass, and open areas. This improves how people feel and keeps them interested.
• Air: Air affects how warm or cool a space is, and how humid it feels. This can be managed with windows and other simple methods. Changes in air conditions help people feel more comfortable and work better.
• Water: Water can be seen, heard, and touched. It can be used in buildings through ponds, fountains, wetlands, or aquariums. People often feel calm and happy when they see or hear water, which can improve their health and happiness.
• Plants: Adding plants inside and outside buildings helps people feel connected to nature. Using many plants, like green walls or flower pots, can make people healthier, happier, and more productive.
• Animals: While hard to include, animals can be part of buildings through aquariums, gardens, or green roofs. Seeing or hearing animals can help people feel interested and happy.
• Weather: People can see weather through windows or transitional areas. Weather can also be copied inside through air changes. Observing weather reminds people of how they used to survive in the past and helps them feel more aware and interested.
• Natural Landscapes: Creating natural areas in buildings, like open spaces with trees and grass, helps people feel connected to nature. These spaces can make people happier and more satisfied.
• Fire: Fire is hard to use in buildings, but when done safely, it can add warmth, color, and movement, which people find pleasing.

Indirect Experience means seeing or feeling images or copies of nature:

• Images of Nature: Pictures, paintings, or videos of nature can make people feel happy and thoughtful. These can be placed in buildings to help people relax and focus.
• Natural Materials: People like materials found in nature, like wood or stone, because they change over time. These materials can be used in buildings, and fake or plant-based materials, like those made from mushrooms or cactus, are now used to avoid harming animals.
• Natural Colors: Colors like brown, green, and blue, which are found in nature, should be used in buildings. Bright colors, like red, should be used sparingly because they can tire people.
• Simulations of Natural Light and Air: When natural light or air is not possible, buildings can use lights and fans to copy these effects. This can be done with different light types, reflective surfaces, and natural shapes.
• Naturalistic Shapes: Using shapes found in nature, like columns or patterns on walls, can make spaces more interesting and appealing.
• Evoking Nature: Using natural shapes or features, like different plant heights or water patterns, can help buildings feel more like nature.
• Information Richness: Creating spaces with many details, like those found in nature, can help people think and explore.
• Change and the Patina of Time: People enjoy seeing how nature changes over time. Using materials that change color or texture, like wood, can help buildings feel more natural.
• Natural Geometries: Using patterns found in nature, like honeycombs or water ripples, can make buildings look more natural.
• Biomimicry: Copying how nature solves problems, like how plants grow, can help create better buildings.

Experience of Space and Place uses how spaces are arranged to improve well-being:

• Prospect and Refuge: Safe, cozy areas (like corners or dimly lit rooms) help people feel secure, while open areas with views help them feel connected to the outside.
• Organized Complexity: Using repeating patterns, changes, and details in buildings helps people feel comfortable with variety.
• Integration of Parts: Combining different parts of a building into a whole can make spaces feel more complete and satisfying.
• Transitional Spaces: Areas like porches, decks, or atriums help people move between inside and outside spaces smoothly.
• Mobility: Making sure people can move easily between spaces, even when it's complex, helps them feel safe and comfortable.
• Cultural: (Note: The original text cuts off here, so this section is incomplete.)

City-scale

Timothy Beatley believes the main goal of biophilic cities is to create a place where people want to take part in, protect, and connect with the natural environment around them. He suggests ways to reach this goal through a system that includes infrastructure, rules and leadership, learning, and actions. These areas can also show how much biophilic qualities already exist in cities today.

• Biophilic Conditions and Infrastructure: This means making sure that people can easily reach green spaces or parks. This can be done by creating connected natural areas and walking paths, setting aside land for plants and forests, designing buildings with natural features like plants and animals, and using plants and animals throughout the city.
• Biophilic Activities: This refers to people spending more time outdoors, visiting parks, having longer outdoor times at schools, walking more around the city, joining community gardens, and helping with local environmental projects.
• Biophilic Attitudes and Knowledge: In areas with natural designs, more people care about nature and can recognize local plants and animals. People also show greater interest in learning about their local environment.
• Biophilic Institutions and Governance: Local governments spend part of their budget on nature and biophilic activities. Signs of this include rules that require more green spaces in buildings, grants to support projects that use nature, schools teaching about natural history, and more groups working to protect the environment.

Based on Kellert's ideas, other aspects of biophilic design in products have also been discussed.

Benefits

Biophilic design is believed to offer many benefits for people who live or work in buildings and for cities. It helps connect people to nature, which can make cities better at handling environmental challenges.

A study by Alvarsson and others found that natural sounds, like birdsong or rustling leaves, helped people recover from stress faster than sounds from busy cities. A 2023 review of research on biophilic design in healthcare settings showed that most studies focus on how natural elements, like indoor plants, affect the body’s physical responses. However, more research is needed to understand how these elements directly influence people’s emotions and feelings.

Research suggests that indoor plants can reduce stress and increase pain tolerance. In one experiment, people who saw natural environments recovered more quickly than those who saw urban settings. Their heart rates and blood pressure returned to normal faster, which the researchers linked to the body’s rest-and-relax response. Another study found that seeing nature through a window helped people feel more mentally refreshed than seeing nature on a screen or a blank wall. Even when light levels were controlled, the benefits of nature views remained, suggesting that something about nature itself, not just light, helps people recover.

Studies on hospital patients showed that improving views from hospital rooms, such as adding more natural scenery, reduced depression and pain. This led to shorter hospital stays, from an average of 3.67 days to 2.6 days.

In office settings, a study by Aristizabal and others found that biophilic design, such as adding plants, natural sounds, or fractal patterns, improved workers’ ability to focus and control impulses. However, switching between tasks or maintaining attention was more complicated in some cases. For example, auditory and multisensory designs helped with memory and focus, but multisensory designs sometimes caused more distractions. People also reported feeling more comfortable with air movement in visual and multisensory designs, even though air quality didn’t change. Another study by Sanchez and others found that biophilic design in offices can improve work performance and creativity.

In cities with biophilic features, research by Andrew Dannenberg and others found that people had stronger social connections and better ability to handle life challenges, which led to fewer crimes and violence. Outdoor spaces, like the "Green Gym" in the UK, where people help maintain nature, increased physical activity, mental health, and quality of life. Children growing up in greener areas had lower rates of asthma and better health outcomes, even between different income levels.

Fractal patterns, which are found in nature, repeat in similar shapes at different sizes. These patterns can be added to human-made spaces to improve people’s psychological well-being. Studies show that people prefer fractal designs with more complexity, which increases their engagement, but may reduce feelings of relaxation. Balancing complexity and simplicity in fractal designs can help create spaces that are both visually appealing and calming.

Adding natural elements like plants, trees, rain gardens, and green roofs to buildings and cities can help manage stormwater by reducing hard, impermeable surfaces. Reusing greywater to water plants and using green walls and roofs can filter polluted water. Greenery also lowers carbon emissions, reduces the heat island effect, and increases biodiversity. Plants absorb carbon during photosynthesis, and green roofs and facades can lower building temperatures by up to 25% and reduce temperature changes by 50%. Adding native plants to green facades can support wildlife, as seen in Singapore’s Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, where 103 butterfly species returned due to the use of vegetation.

Use in building standards

Organizations are starting to include biophilic design in their standards and rating systems because more evidence shows its benefits. The most well-known supporters of biophilic design are the WELL Building Standard and the Living Building Challenge.

The International WELL Building Institute uses biophilic design as both a descriptive and measurable requirement in their WELL Standard. For the descriptive requirement, projects must include nature (like natural light, environmental elements, and space design), natural patterns, and opportunities for people to interact with nature both inside and outside buildings. These efforts must be explained in writing to qualify for certification. For the measurable requirements, projects must meet specific criteria: 25% of the building must have accessible outdoor areas with plants, and 70% of that 25% must include actual plants. Inside the building, 1% of the floor area must have plant beds or pots, and 2% must have plant walls. Buildings larger than 100,000 square feet must also include a water feature that is either 1.8 meters tall or covers 4 meters of floor space. Verification is done through written reports from architects and building owners, as well as on-site inspections. These requirements apply to most building types covered by the WELL Standard, except for core and shell construction, which does not need measurable indoor biophilic elements, and existing interiors, which do not need to include descriptive nature interactions.

The International Living Future Institute created the Living Building Challenge, a strict building standard that aims to improve building performance. This standard considers biophilic environments an important part of its health and happiness section. Projects must show how they will include nature through features like natural light, space design, natural shapes, patterns, and connections to the local area. They must also allow occupants to interact with nature directly inside and outside the building. These requirements are checked through an initial review process.

Criticisms

Biophilic design, also known as sustainable design, is becoming more popular among large developers and companies that certify green buildings. Many studies show that being around nature helps people's health and happiness. Some research suggests that spending about 120 minutes in nature each week can provide the best health benefits. These benefits remain steady between 200 and 300 minutes, but they do not increase much beyond that range. These effects happen regardless of how much physical activity a person does and apply to everyone, no matter how often or how long they visit nature. This shows that biophilic design should focus on meaningful exposure to nature, not just making spaces look nice.

Some people argue that biophilic design often focuses on helping people, like reducing stress, but does not always support biodiversity. For example, many projects add plants for people's enjoyment but do not create homes for animals or help local ecosystems. Using native plants could help both people and nature. However, sometimes projects add natural elements in a way that only looks environmentally friendly without making real improvements to the environment or society.

While using multisensory methods in biophilic design, such as combining sight, sound, and touch, can help reduce stress and improve work satisfaction, these methods may not always help people feel connected to nature. Some sound-based methods are not as effective in achieving these results.

Other challenges include the high costs and difficulty of using biophilic design. Features like green walls or water features can be expensive to build and maintain, which makes them hard to use in projects with limited budgets. Biophilic design also often requires teamwork between different experts, such as ecologists and environmental designers, which can increase costs, take more time, and cause coordination problems during construction.

Biophilic design helps some goals in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as improving health and well-being, but has less impact on goals related to reducing poverty or improving social fairness. This means its benefits are not the same across all SDGs.

Building-scale examples of application

The Church of Mary Magdalene is located in Jerusalem and was officially opened in 1888. The church's design includes natural shapes, patterns, and materials such as onion-shaped domes. On the outside, the building uses repeating domes in different sizes and positions to show order and complexity. Inside, the space is balanced and has a natural feel, with vaulted ceilings and domes that create a sense of openness. Columns inside have leaf-like designs, showing images of nature. Higher areas have raised ceilings, balconies, and more light to create a sense of openness, while lower areas have less light, alcoves, and small windows surrounded by thick walls to create a feeling of safety.

Fallingwater, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous buildings, includes many nature-friendly features. The house connects people with nature by using a waterfall and stream as part of its design. The sound of the water can be heard inside the home, making visitors feel like they are part of nature instead of just watching it. The structure is built around existing plants and includes a large rock in the center of the living room to match the local landscape. Glass walls let people see the surrounding forest, and transitional spaces like porches and decks help move through the home smoothly. Fireplaces, natural shapes, colors, and materials are used to enhance the connection to nature. These design choices follow principles of nature-friendly design, even though they were created before these ideas were formally developed.

Known as a "garden hospital," Khoo Teck Puat Hospital has many native plants and water features around its outside. These plants have increased the number of different animals and plants in the area, including butterflies and birds. The hospital's rooftop is used by local people to grow food. Unlike most hospitals, 15% of visitors come to Khoo Teck Puat for activities like gardening or relaxing. The hospital's design aims to help doctors work better, improve the health of visitors, and help patients heal faster and feel less pain. Greenery is brought inside from the courtyard to upper floors, where patients have balconies covered in scented plants. The hospital is built around a pond, and water flows through its courtyard, making it look like the water comes from the pond. Natural wind patterns are used in common areas to save energy and improve airflow. These changes have reduced energy use by 60% and increased airflow by 20-30%, creating comfortable spaces for patients and staff. The hospital uses many direct nature experiences, like gardens and water features, and includes transitional spaces to connect people with the outdoors. Its design creates a sense of belonging for people who work there and live nearby.

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, a new school was built to help the community heal and provide a safer environment. The design includes nature-friendly features such as animal feeders, wetlands, courtyards, natural shapes, materials, and spaces that connect the inside and outside. A victory garden is included to help children heal after the tragedy. The school is placed at the edge of a forest, with large windows to let in natural light and make students feel like they are learning in the trees. Metal trees in the lobby have reflective leaves that bounce light onto colored glass. Natural materials like wood and stone on the outside help people feel connected to nature indirectly. Inside, the use of light and color adds richness to the environment. Metal trees and leaves bring natural shapes into the classroom. Windows act as transitional spaces to connect students with the outdoors. The school has breezeways, bridges, and paths to help students move between areas. Water features, rain gardens, and courtyards provide direct experiences with nature. Animal feeders also help bring wildlife into the area.

Jewel Changi Airport is a ten-story building connected to Changi Airport in Singapore. It includes many indoor gardens and nature-themed features, such as the Rain Vortex, which is the world's tallest indoor waterfall.

City-scale examples of application

Singapore is known as a "city in a garden." The city has used a lot of resources to create nature preserves, parks, tree-lined streets, and areas like Southern Ridges that help wildlife return and reduce the heat in city centers. Local governments agree with Kellert and Beatley that spending time in nature improves the health and happiness of people. To manage stormwater, the government rebuilt the Kallang River by removing old concrete drains. This project created a green space with water that benefits people’s health and increased the number of animals, such as dragonflies, butterflies, hornbills, and otters, in the area. The river also helps control stormwater by allowing more water to soak into the ground.

To bring more nature into the city, Singapore offers financial help to cover up to half the cost of adding green features like vegetative walls, green roofs, and sky parks to buildings. The city has many biophilic buildings, such as the Gardens by the Bay Project, which includes the "Supertree Grove." This area has 16 towers with over 160,000 plants from 200 species. These towers include walkways, observatories, and solar panels. Singapore also created over 1,000 community gardens for people to use.

Oslo is located between the Oslo Fjord and forests, which are important for the city. More than two-thirds of Oslo is protected forest, and most residents visit these forests at least once a year. The city follows ISO14001 standards for managing its forests, which allow limited tree cutting while protecting the environment. Oslo also has 20% of its urban land as green spaces. The government is building paths to connect these areas so people can walk or bike easily. The city restored the Akerselva River, which runs through the center, by adding waterfalls and nature trails. Oslo has 365 km of nature trails.

To connect the city with the fjord, Oslo is building tunnels for roadways. This, along with creative architecture like the Barcode Project and foot trails near the waterfront, helps people enjoy unobstructed views of the fjord. The city also has a Noise Action Plan to reduce noise in areas like parks, where noise levels can be as low as 50 dB.