BIOPHILIA
Biophilia as a concept has been present and understood in many cultures for centuries, but the term rooted from Ancient Greek meaning “ love of life” was first used by German social psychologist Erich Fromm in the 70s to describe a psychological orientation and attraction towards that which is living (Fromm). The following decade contained two seminal works on the project, one popularizing the term (Wilson) and the other a study examining its benefits related to surgery recovery time (Ulrich). The basic concept of biophilia is that we as a species evolved and developed in nature and as a result we have an innate emotional affiliation with other living organisms and natural processes. Evolutionary Psychologists use the term Environment of Evolutionary Adaption (EEA) to describe the environment that a species has evolved in and is therefore adapted to live in (Grinde and Patil). Since for the majority of human evolution up to the Industrial Revolution and urbanization, we as a species lived and were directly connected with natural environments as opposed to the built environments in which the average person now lives and spends the 90% of their day (E. P. Agency). An example is that we have a positive reaction to water and plants because we depend on them for survival.
The importance and relevance of understanding this evolutionary adaption is that there can be negative effects as a result of changing something that the species has evolved to. When species evolve and deviate from an aspect or way of life that we have been genetically designed for, it is referred to as creating mismatches. These could have positive impacts like being able to heat your home during the winter as opposed to increased chance of death from freezing in a cave, but they could also have negative effects referred to as discords that cause some form of “stress” to the system (Grinde and Patil). Implications of these discords on the human species and benefits for restoring them will be discussed later in the research done on biophilia, but knowing that the effects of stress have been identified as having a direct impact on our physical, mental and emotional state, one can imagine the relevancy in understanding this evolutionary adaption.
Our relationship with and response to nature and the natural world could take many forms and be defined in several ways. Stephen Kellert has defined the way that people attach meaning and derive benefit from nature as a series of nine values with associated adaptive benefits, outlined in Table 1 (S. Kellert, Kinship to Mastery: Biophilia in Human Nature and Development; S. Kellert, Building For Life). By defining these constructs, the symbiotic relationship that we have with nature is broken down in a way that allows us to not only better understand the manner of and benefits to our relationship to nature as a whole, but creates a framework to analyze the specific elements and principles of biophilic design outlined in the following section.
Biophilia can often be confused with Biomimicry, the distinction between the two highlights a challenge to research on biophilia. Biophilia is a physiological theory that states we have a biological need for a connection with nature on multiple levels and that this connection can have impacts on personal wellbeing, productivity and societal relationships (The Economics of Biophilia: Why Designing with Nature in Mind Makes Financial Sense) . Although the long term effects of biophilia may be quantifiable, the immediate reaction is more qualitative. Biomimicry, in terms of design, deals with evaluating efficient solutions to design problems by learning from natural systems and processes and mimicking them, assuming the same result. Since the goal is efficiency, that efficiency must be applied to some metric and easily quantified. The way in which metal artistic representations of fish were integrated into the floor at the Berteschi School next to a channel of water passing through the space to remind the children of the cycle of where our water comes from and where it goes, compared to the replicating dermal denticles of sharks in the design of swim suites to maximize the performance of the athlete demonstrates the different applications of the concepts. Sustainable design is most frequently associated with and qualified through efficiency and performance, and identifying and assessing “ancillary benefits” of green buildings are often over looked (Heerwagen). The results of the impact of biophilia in our built environment would be included in these subsidiary or hidden benefits, the success of which would not be as easily identified and proven as with biomimicry.
“An object seen in isolation from the whole is not the real thing”
-Masanobu Fukuoka (Reed and Group)
Understanding all the underpinnings and benefits of biophilia, to fully appreciate and be able to utilize its value is difficult because of the complexity of the topic. A full understanding of biophilia and its benefits would require specific knowledge in the areas of evolutionary biology and psychology, biology, psychology, physiology, neuroscience, cognitive archeology and the general field of medicine to name a few. This complexity of the topic makes it extremely valuable and relevant because you have many disciplines who could find a benefit in researching and understanding biophilia. However, this also creates hurdles for developing a holistic understanding of the topic which is needed for successful implementation of a topic in any field. This would require interdisciplinary dialogue that can be difficult to foster and achieve. The complexity in understanding the concept of biophilia is a barrier to successful widespread understanding of the topic. This can also lead to misunderstandings of the topic, which also creates a barrier.