Beyond the appearance of greenery
Architectural quality also concerns the capacity of a place to support everyday life. Biophilic architecture treats nature as design infrastructure rather than an added layer of plants.
It works with light, air, material, geometry, views, transitions and living systems. A place can look green and remain perceptually poor, or build a strong relationship with nature through shade, variation, tactility, orientation and rhythm.
What biophilic design includes
- Direct nature: planting, water, light, air and seasonal presence.
- Indirect nature: materials, colours, forms and processes that reveal living systems.
- Spatial experience: prospect and refuge, orientation, mystery, ordered complexity and transitions.
Quality that can be observed
Daylight, glare protection, views, air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics and tactile material can all be observed. Indicators need to be combined with people’s perception and actual patterns of use.
Not only for large projects
Biophilic principles can guide a home, workplace, hotel, garden, shop or public space. Limited interventions can still be effective when they begin with real priorities rather than a catalogue of decorative solutions.
“For BIOMA, it means addressing beauty, wellbeing and environmental impact within the same process, without reducing any of them to a slogan.”
BIOMA
