When we think about design as a journey that leads to new possibilities for how we live in a built environment, biophilic design opens-up new horizons for interior designers and architects to connect people to nature.
As individuals become more isolated, it is important that design professionals intensify their efforts to re-connect buildings and interiors to our natural environment. Extensive studies have established the relationship between nature and human health.
The fireplace at The Signature in Reston, Virginia, brings the outdoors inside, with its glass enclosure as the centerpiece of the lobby.
Lifeforce elements such as light, sky, fire, and water draw upon on our survival instincts. Fire is perhaps the most dramatic way to infuse nature directly into the built environment. We are drawn to the color, warmth, movement and social engagement that fire elements compel.
“One of humanity’s greatest achievements has been the control of fire that allowed the harnessing of energy beyond animal life, and facilitated the transformation of objects from one state to another,” Stephen R. Kellert and Elizabeth F. Calabrese wrote inThe Practice of Biophilic Design .
A warm fire enlivens the club room at The Remy in New Carrollton, Maryland.
The dual-sided fireplace anchors the outdoor living space and allows for a lively connection between the indoor and outdoor spaces at The Haven in National Harbour, Maryland.
That flickering of the flame, Rebecca Lindenmeyr writes inSustainability , is a “complex, dynamic natural scene” (like waves on the water or leaves rippling in the breeze) that can “capture and hold our attention better than artificial environments or stimuli.”
Header Image by Dominic Sansotta from Unsplash.com