Biophilia: Greening Your Home
I had no idea that biophilia was ruling my family room ---from the beautiful bird console table lamps, to my Lalanne-inspired sheep, views of the James river and brass oak-leafed wall sconces, biophilia rules!
Bio-What?!
While working on my last post about all things green, I noticed one design trend that wouldn’t stop popping up: biophilia. Even if you aren’t sure what biophilia is, we have all experienced it at one point in our lives.
Biophilia is defined as
the innate human tendency to want to commune with nature and seek connections with the natural world.
Designers have taken this and run with it, bringing nature indoors through plants, living walls, creative outdoor spaces ... I could go on and on! In the last few years, the love for plants has gone viral on Instagram and Pinterest, with many influencers showing off their “plant babies” through regular updates on stories and posts.
Lots of beautiful pops of color in this room and I love how the plants add that extra touch of vibrancy. Source here.
This popular influencer has transformed their whole apartment into a “plant parent” oasis and regularly shares tips and tricks for keeping your “green gurls” happy and healthy. Source here.
In this blog post, I’m detailing all that the boom in biophilia means for interior design and how you can begin bringing it into your own home.
What Biophilia Adds to Design
If you’re reading this blog, then you know that my design taste leans to classically chic with timeless and functional pieces. While loads of green walls and overflowing bookshelves full of potted plants aren’t the first things to come to mind when thinking “classic,” plants have been timeless, classic, chic, and functional for as long as we’ve been caring for them!
This classic and ornate room wouldn’t be complete without those large potted palms. Source here.
Not only are plants beautiful and add a burst of life to any room, they also act as natural air purifiers and can keep your home from becoming stale or stagnant. I’d venture to guess that a large reason the surge in biophilic design has happened over the last year is because we were spending so much time in our homes and not venturing out into the world as often as usual! Bringing nature to us and watching its transformation, while also keeping the air in our homes clean and healthy, was (and is) a great coping strategy to get through the pandemic.
A lovely bathroom made even more serene with all of the plant life! Source here.
Biophilic design isn’t new, necessarily; people have been bringing nature into their homes for centuries. A few years ago, Terrapin Bright Green -- an engineering and green design consultant -- published a report detailing the 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design.
These 14 patterns break cleanly into 3 main categories that all architects, designers, contractors who work with the built environment can keep in mind throughout the whole process. Terrapin nicely explains this in the report’s abstract:
““14 Patterns of Biophilic Design” articulates the relationships between nature, human biology and the design of the built environment so that we may experience the human benefits of biophilia in our design applications.”
This excellent graphic from D For Design does a great job showing how the 14 design aspects fit snugly into three categories! Source here.
The 14 patterns provide a general guide for interior designers to follow when bringing plant life indoors. This article from Interior Architects does a great job breaking down these 14 patterns if you want to know more!
Essentially, anytime biophilia is introduced to a design, all five of our senses need to be considered for placement, size, and durability. For example, while it’s important to have plants/nature in our sightlights, that doesn’t always mean blooming flowers that might aggravate someone’s seasonal allergies and require a rigorous watering schedule. House plants should bring joy and not stress!
The presence of water is one of the important 14 patterns and it engages several of our five senses -- sight, hearing, and sometimes touch. Moving water is also a great idea because it produces negative ions which in turn put us in better moods! Who doesn’t want that in their office space or homes?
This amazing commercial installation creates the illusion of rainfall indoors-the goldfish add an extra layer of movement and biophilia! Photo by Hans Schlupp. Source here.
Greening Design
As always seems to be the case when I’m working on blog posts, I have been noticing biophilia everywhere recently! It doesn’t hurt that it’s springtime and all the greenery is springing forth in abundance (pun intended!). What I love about this new green wave is how it is pushing companies to “think green” not only in design, but also in materials.
One example is the sustainable tile series from Livden. These collections use no less than 65% post-consumer recyclable materials.
In this great ad for tiles made out of recyclable materials, Livden incorporated ferns and vines to really lean into the biophilia and “green” trend! Am I the only one who thinks all this bath needs is a macrame plant hanger?! Source here.
CaraGreen’s website says they’re a “one-stop shop for healthy and sustainable building materials.” You can even schedule a virtual “trunk show” to see their products!
One of the building products Caragreen supplies is Paperstone countertops. These recycled paper(!) countertops have a beautiful smooth, matte finish ---reminding me of the old biology lab tables we had in high school. I’ve had these countertops in my laundry room at the beach for over ten years and they still look brand new!
Living Walls
Another trend that I’ve been watching closely, related to biophilia, is green, “living” walls. These walls are very clever solutions for those who have small spaces but want to bring some of the natural world into their homes, whether it’s a wall in a small outdoor patio or actually indoors!
If you’re a DIYer, follow this link to make your own living wall! Please contact me with your results if you take this project on, I would love to hear about it!
Living walls are beginning to steal the show on a larger stage, too. “Vertical greenery” is taking a hold on some urban landscapes. Although it doesn’t appear to be a replacement for in-ground, horizontal landscaping in cities (think roof gardens and tree lined streets), it does create another opportunity to introduce the positive effects of plants in cities. Plus, it looks pretty cool!
I don’t have a green thumb so I am intrigued as to how all these plantings stay alive and grow within their allotted spaces--a blog post for a landscape designer! Photo.
An example of biophilia from my Dublin trip! The living wall, whether intentional or accidental, freshens up the stoic columns surrounding the entrance to the famous Merrion Hotel.
Biophilia is in the air
Now you can get your dose of green while traveling between cities -- Singapore’s Jewel Changi airport terminal has been created as a “city within a garden” creating nature trails, forested terraces, and a 130-foot rain vortex all within the airport’s structure (read all about it here).
Singapore is on my bucket list --but I didn’t realize the airport would be one of the sights to see!
A bamboo forest in the airport terminal. PWP Landscape Architecture, Safdie Architects
My take on Biophilia
Now, all of this is well and good if you have a green thumb and are keen on bringing some plants that need attention into your space. But, what if you’re an indoor plant killer like me?!
There are many ways to bring nature into your home without risking it being a sacrificial plant (or two, or three…). For decor, one great way to introduce some lively greens is through unique wallpaper and carefully selected artwork. One of my favorite wallpaper sources is Sanderson (it’s where I got my beautiful bird gallery wallpaper featured in this blog post!) and they have several options for introducing nature into your rooms with patterns featuring flowers or ferns. All offer a fresh take on your room and will transform your space. Bonus, these plants don’t need to be watered!
Look at this chic-yet-cozy pattern from Sanderson! This wallpaper is called “Woodland Ferns” and brings a calming, earthy feel to any room, maybe helped by all that Spring green?! Source here.
If you’re not looking to go as “big” as covering your entire room in plant patterns, choosing nature-themed artwork for your room can be an easy and impactful way to bring in this brand of “biophilia”.
My gallery wall of water birds always makes me think of the water!
Or if you’ve already got your art sorted, make one of your pieces of furniture a statement piece by reupholstering it in some earthy fabric!
How about this fun biophilia-inspired chair fabric? The designer loved it so much he used it on two different chairs! I also am in love with the acanthus leaf floor lamps. Designer: Jeffrey Bilhuber Photography by Douglas Friedman
One of the 14 patterns of biophilia is to create sightlines to nature. This was a huge factor in designing our home in Richmond on the James River. In designing our house, I wanted to have a view of the James from every room and worked to create these full sightlines all the way through the house.
My sunroom view--looking at the James River never gets old---even when it’s not sunny outside!
Walking through the front door you have a clear view of the back foyer and the lovely James River.
There are many solutions for bringing a taste of biophilia into your home design without having to worry about keeping the “plant babies” alive. All you need is an open mind!
Biophilia in Your Home
Ready to bring some green life inside your home? Get in touch with me today so we can start chatting!
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