What is biophilic design and why do you need it?
Veronika Surá, 16. 8. 2025
The motive for the emergence of biophilic design was an effort to streamline modern architecture and urbanism of the 20th century, as cities and buildings became purely technical and disconnected from nature (glass, concrete, air conditioning, enclosed spaces). It was shown that such an environment has a negative impact on the psyche and physical health of people, who experience higher levels of stress, lower productivity, fatigue, and impaired immunity. At the same time, there was an interest in sustainability and ecology - people were looking for ways to build buildings that were not only energy-efficient, but also healthy and pleasant for humans.
Biophilic design is a movement in architecture and interior design that draws on biophilia, the natural human need for connection with nature, and aims to incorporate natural elements into buildings and interiors so that the environment supports human health, well-being, and productivity.
Edward O. Wilson came up with biophilia (1984) as an explanation for why we are attracted to nature and why we suffer without it. In his book Biophilia, Wilson described that humans have an innate need to connect with nature. This is something that cannot be disputed. Spending time in nature is one of the elementary forms of mental hygiene - spending time and walking, sports activities in nature, gardening or “forest bathing” (the so-called shinrin-yoku, about which Dr. Qing Li wrote a book). Following Wilson, architects and psychologists (especially Stephen Kellert and Judith Heerwagen) began to address how to reflect this natural need in environmental design, and this is where the term biophilic design came from. The elements of biophilic design are actually quite simple and can perhaps be expected:
- daylight in the interior
- fresh air and the possibility of opening windows
- greenery in the interior or a view of greenery
- application of natural materials, colors and textures in the interior
- use of organic shapes and patterns
- presence of the water element
- and other mechanisms that we find in nature - or that we originally created in nature - and that can be applied in the design of interiors or buildings, e.g. mutual organic interconnection of structures, blending of interior and exterior, prospects from urban space into greenery (so-called prospect and refuge), etc., which can be further elaborated
I noticed one thing - most of the mentioned attributes of biophilic design can be found at home. The vast majority of us live in apartments that are sufficiently lit, are not dependent on air conditioning, we often already have greenery at home or we can see it from the window. That is why in this connection I often remember what I hear during initial consultations: "We want to equip the offices with plants to make it cozier". And I think there is a much more important message hidden behind this phrase - I recognize the need to imitate home, i.e. a safe space.
Applied biophilic space leads to a number of beneficial and desirable benefits - increased concentration, improved health (great emphasis is placed on the so-called humanization of hospitals, see here for a resource collecting benefits in the medical environment), reduced stress, improved mood, and proven experience that being surrounded by nature leads to important life values such as a sustainable lifestyle or nature conservation. [source]
These are quite fundamental phenomena that happen to us in a biophilic environment, aren't they? As Timothy Beatley writes in his book Biophilic Cities: nature is not a choice, it is a necessity. And especially at a time when contact with nature is becoming all the more difficult in a global world and in an urban environment.
