Biophilic Design: A Novel Approach to Understanding Architecture’s Core

The term “Biophilia” was created and adopted in the architectural field at the start of the twenty-first century to highlight the emotional component of people’s desires for connections with the natural world inside of buildings. To fulfill this desire for “nature” in building, the biophilic design was put forth as some design direction. 

Why certain structures function better than others in terms of their connection to nature is explained by the biophilic design. This connection to nature offers a variety of advantages in dwelling, working, learning, entertaining, and healthcare situations.

Designing with a Biophilic Approach: From Theory to Practice

Erich Fromm, a social psychologist, developed the expression “Biophilia” to denote the “love of life,” which, he believed, to explain essential characteristics of living things: the ability to survive in the face of inevitable death and a desire to integrate well with others. Twenty years after it was initially put forth, the hypothesis of biophilia only lately earned great acceptance. 

Edward Wilson, a biologist, and naturalist, stressed that biophilia is “the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms,” in which the “innate tendency” represents the characteristics of “hereditary,” while acting as a “learning rule,” it offers an illuminating perspective from which to understand nature. Throughout the 1990s, the concerns of the biophilia theory have changed from its initial focus on life or living organisms to investigating the interaction between people and their environment. 

In conclusion, there are two fundamental justifications for researching biophilic design. First, it’s commonly acknowledged that the modern constructed environment has a longing for “nature”. Hence, it’s crucial to offer frameworks for understanding “nature” in architecture. Second, many “nature-inspired” design ideas are criticised as “green-washing” or “placebo” tactics. So, additional research should be done to determine how they affect sustainable architecture.

Sustainable Architecture through Biophilic Design

The idea of sustainability has received a great deal of attention in the world of architecture since the 1990s. Diverse sustainable approaches–such as the use of energy-efficient, high or low-tech, and vernacular strategies, the analogization of nature and natural systems for design inspiration, or the adoption …