RESEARCH FOCUS

“The more life concentrates in cities, the more humans become estranged from the woods and seas. Yet humans, too, are part of nature, of the animal kingdom: we ourselves do not remember but the genes know. A return to nature is as if a journey to one’s self. We invite you on this journey, telling stories of the wilderness of Estonia and helping you decode its secret talks.”

-Estonian Museum of Nature

INTRODUCTION

The general focus of my Master of Architecture thesis is exploring how we as humans relate to the world around us and the role that the design of our built environment plays in that relationship.  That breaks down to three elements: the world around us, the human, and the built environment.

 My research is exploring each of the elements individually and interactions between, making a case for why understanding these connections is important, while experiencing,  exploring and analyzing projects for demonstrations of these interactions with the goal of developing a refined design approach.

Our culture, including geographical location, world view and many other aspects, can have an impact on our relationship and understanding of nature.  Nordic and Baltic cultures have historically had a strong connection with nature, which I believe translates into their design approach. Infact, both nature and design are a prevalent part of their cultural and national identities. 

Biophlia addresses and gives a scientific explaination for the quote by the Estonian Museum of Nature and biophilic design applies the concept to the desing of our built environment.  These two topics offer important insight into understanding the relationships between us, the world around us and our built environment.

During my Valle studies I propose to experience, analyze and collect examples of how the built environment interacts with the natural environment. This will be both through larger case studies and various independent elements.

BACKGROUND

I have found myself facing a conflict of sorts, I love being in cities... they are filled with energy- the people, the culture and activities, things are accessible and you don’t need to depend on a car but I also love being in and around nature.  There are different degrees of nature—and there is a difference between an old growth forest and some trees planted along a street and a potted plant in a room, yet these are all important and play a role. 

Having always been interested in how buidlings interact with the a site and nature around it, it’s just recently that I have become more interested in the importance of this interaction from both a human and larger ecosystem perspective and potentially contributing to building performance.

We often instinctively know things without necessarily needing to fully understand or being able to define them.  Working on project going after the Living Building Challenge (http://living-future.org/lbc) I was first introduced to the concept of biophilia and its application to design through biophilic design.  Biophilia as a mainstream concept was first introduced by American biologist E.O. Wilson in 1984 in his book Biophilia: The human bond with other species. The concept of biophilia implies that “humans hold a biological need for connection with nature on physical, mental, and social levels, and that connection affects our personal well-being, productivity, and societal relationships.”[1] This connection is something we might all instinctively know and act upon, whether it’s choosing natural images for our computer desktop images or preferring to go on vacation to the beach or lake, but it is something that as we can also begin to forget and become more detached from. 

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[2].

Biophilic design is an approach to designing the emphasizes the necessity of “maintaining, enhancing, and restoring beneficial experience of nature” and “is the deliberate attempt to translate this understanding of the inherent human affinity to affiliate with natural systems and processes the built environment.”[3] It also “incorporates ideas of habitat selection, environmental preferences, and the psychological and emotional ties between people and places”.  These words of biophilia and biophilic design may just be putting titles on something we already know or that may just be part of „good“ design, but they also become a tool and language through which we can better have a dialogue on the the topic within and across professions and with our clients.

STATISTICS

There are a couple statistics that also reinforce the importance of discussing and understanding this topic:

natural vs built environment

Americans spend 90% of their day inside [4]

population growth and urbanization

There is a projected 72% increase in global population from 2011 to 2050.

 that’s 2.3 billion additional people, a total global population of 9.3 billion             

 of that

69% globally of that will be in urban areas,  90% in the U.S [5]

That means that most likely even the 10% of the time not indoors was spend in a “designed” “built environment”.  Depending on how these built environments are designed, the quality of these experiences can vary.

stress

70-80% of all doctor’s visits are for stress related and stress induced illness

stress contributes to 50% of all illness in the US. [5]

Increasing amount of studies show that contact nature with nature reduces stress, and a lack of

connection to nature is directly related to stress.[6]

GOALS

My goal with this project is to better understand this topic and its importance in application through the design of our built environment.  Through this website I hope to not only collect resources and precedents for myself, but also for others.  I hope you find the information interesting and relevant…. Enjoy!

Sources

[1] http://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/reports/the-economics-of-biophilia/

[2] Grinde, Bjorn and Grete Grindal Patil. Biophlia: Does Conatct with Nature Impact on Health and Well-Being. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Published online August 31, 2009. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2760412/

[3] Kellert, Stephen R, Judith Heerwagen and Martin Mador. Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2008.

[4] EPA Agency, "Buildings and their Impact on the Environment: A Statistical Summary," 2009.

[5] United Nations: Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. "World Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision." 2011. <http://esa.un.org/unup/pdf/FINALFINAL_REPORT%20WUP2011_Annextables_01Aug2012_Final.pdf>.

[6] Statistics, National Center for Health. Healthy People 2000 Final Review. Hyattsville, Maryland:: Public Health, 2001.