Chapter One Biophilic approaches and their psychological impact on patients Introduction The first chapter of this dissertation covers the direct, indirect and spatial links patients’ in hospitals have to the natural environment, and how these natural elements may facilitate a positive effect on patient mental wellbeing (Willson, 1993; Kellert, 1993; Ulrich, 1993; Evans, 2003; Joye, 2007; Kellert et al., 2011; Ryan et al., 2014; Salingaros, 2015; Gillis and Gatersleben, 2015; DuBose et al., 2018). According to Salingaros (2015, p. 6), ‘the best biophilic design, [is] design that effectively eliminates stress and anxiety from the built environment [and] is achieved by maintaining thoughtful connections with nature’. Through this review, this chapter explores the many ways biophilia can be introduced into built structures by architects and what must be considered in order to foster healing spaces. While a significant body of research exists concerning the resultant effects of implementing biophilia in architectural space, further research concerning implementation methodologies for architects is needed to foster these environments. Case studies of contemporary implementations will be examined in chapter three.
1.1
History
Biophilia is the human need to be connected to nature for psychological and physiological purposes (Willson, 1993; Evans, 2003; Joye, 2007; Ryan et al., 2014; Gillis and Gatersleben, 2015; Salingaros, 2015; DuBose et al., 2018). The term ‘biophilia’ was first used by Edward O. Wilson (1993, p. 40) in his 1984 book Biophilia. As Biophilia is a reasonably new term, its potential has not yet been fully discovered, however, it is evident that humans have been using biophilic elements for many years. According to Catherine O. Ryan et al. (2014, p. 63), biophilia ‘is the codification of human intuition for what makes a space a good place for humans’. According to Salingaros (2015, p.9), there are two ways human beings are subconsciously connected to nature. The first comes from our memory ‘from our evolution and development in the environment of the savannah long ago … The sophistication of our physical and mental development progressed over millennia without losing traces of the savannah in our inherited memory and instincts’ (Salingaros, 2015, p. 9). The second is our relationship to nature and how the geometries used within built environments cause us to relate to the visual elements as we share the same biological template (Salingaros, 2015, p. 9). In other words, we recognise artificial elements that have the same geometries to nature, this subconscious understanding of nature causes us to gravitate to these spaces. There are many theorists, such as Salingaros, who believe architects rejected biophilia or used it sparing at the beginning of the 20th Century and it is only now that architects are starting to understand its 9
