BIOPHILIA IN CONTEXT

REDISCOVERING THE INTUITIVELY OBVIOUS

Nature themes can be found in the earliest human structures: Stylized animals characteristic of the Neolithic Göbekli
Tepe ; the Egyptian sphinx, or the acanthus leaves adorning Greek temples and their Vitruvian origin story; from the
primitive hut to the delicate, leafy filigrees of Rococo design. Representations of animals and plants have long been
used for decorative and symbolic ornamentation. Beyond representation, cultures around the world have long
brought nature into homes and public spaces. Classic examples include the garden courtyards of the Alhambra in
Spain, porcelain fish bowls in ancient China, the aviary in Teotihuacan (ancient Mexico City), bonsai in Japanese
homes, papyrus ponds in the homes of Egyptian nobles, the cottage garden in medieval Germany, or the elusive
hanging gardens of Babylon.

The consistency of natural themes in historic structures and places suggests that biophilic design is not a new
phenomenon; rather, as a field of applied science, it is the codification of history, human intuition and neural
sciences showing that connections with nature are vital to maintaining a healthful and vibrant existence as an urban
species.

Prior to and even after the Industrial Revolution, the vast majority of humans lived an agrarian existence, living
much of their lives among nature. American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted argued in 1865, that “…the
enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it, tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it; and
thus, through the influence of the mind over the body, gives the effect of refreshing rest and reinvigoration to the
whole system” (Olmsted, 1865). As urban populations grew in the 19th Century, reformers became increasingly
concerned with health and sanitation issues such as fire hazards and dysentery. The creation of large public parks
became a campaign to improve the health and reduce the stress of urban living.

Artists and designers of the Victorian era, such as influential English painter and art critic, John Ruskin, pushed back
against what they saw as the dehumanizing experience of industrial cities. They argued for objects and buildings that
reflected the hand of the craftsman and drew from nature for inspiration. In the design of the Science Museum at
Oxford, Ruskin is said to have told the masons to use the surrounding countryside for inspiration, and the results can
be seen in the inclusion of hand-carved flowers and plants adorning the museum (Kellert & Finnegan, 2011).
Western attitudes toward nature were shifting in the mid-19th century; natural landscapes became valid art
subjects, as seen in the Hudson River School and the Barbizon School in France. Going to the mountains or
seashore for recreation was becoming a growing trend; Winter gardens and conservatories become requisites of
wealthy homes in Europe and the United States. Henry David Thoreau built a cabin by Walden Pond in Concord,
Massachusetts from which he wrote treatises on a simpler life, connected to nature, which still resonate in the
American consciousness. In hospital design, sunlight and a view to nature was believed to be important, as can be
seen in at St. Elizabeth’s in Washington, DC. Designed in the 1850s to the concepts of Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, who
“…believed that the beautiful setting…restored patients to a more natural balance of the senses” (Sternberg,
2009).