As said in our previous posts, we will be sharing each of the ’14 patterns of biophilic design’ to help you acknowledge how to strategically apply biophilic design to all of your projects.
Today we continue with two other biophilic patterns part of the first category ‘Nature in the Space’: Non-Rhythmic Sensory Stimuli and Thermal & Airflow Variability.
Non-Rhythmic Sensory Stimuli refers to stochastic and ephemeral connections with nature that may be analysed statistically but may not be predicted precisely. To better understand this, nature is full of sounds, movements and smells and the majority of these are not predictable, they just happen. In biophilic design, unexpected elements like sounds or movements should be included. For example, the sound of birds chirping or branches swinging. Or our long time favourite, the roaring tigers in the Selfridges windows a few years back.
Thermal & Airflow Variability refers to subtle changes in air temperature, relative humidity, airflow across the skin, and surface temperatures that mimic natural environments. Think about using various natural materials in your design with varying natural temperatures, giving a person ‘warmer’ places to find comfort and intimacy and ‘colder’ surfaces to experience cooling sensations but also present a level of reliability. Ancient building techniques that take advantage of the structure design to move the air and naturally cool/warm the environment can also be of advantage here.
If appropriately applied, the first one can have a positive impact on attention while the second one, positively impacts comfort, well-being and productivity. It also improves concentration.
Author: Alice Micheletti