82
It is interesting to note that Browning et al. (2014) propose the use of the term patterns rather than
principles, values, or attributes. According to the authors, inspired by Alexander’s A Pattern Language
(Alexander et al., 1977), this term is used because:
… to propose a clear and standardized terminology for biophilic design; to avoid confusion with multiple terms
(metric, attribute, condition, characteristic, typology, etc.) that have been used to explain biophilia; and to maximize accessibility for designers and planners by upholding familiar terminology (Browning et al., 2014, p. 21)
The use of these 15 biophilic design patterns can potentially support and enhance the design of
buildings in our cities, as noted by Tim Beatley:
… Nature in cities, we increasingly recognize, is not something optional, but absolutely essential to leading a
happy, healthy and meaningful life. And this extends to the design of every element in the city, including transit
stations. (Beatley, in Downton et al., 2017a, p. 9).
However, when we consider the context of biophilia in the design of our built environments, the danger
is that biophilic design becomes a buzz word, a superficial trend similar to the misused ‘sustainability’. In
2017, as part of an online round table discussion of the Nature of Cities, I argued that “biophilic” and
“biophilia” can become a trend where there is no substance under the surface. To avoid a greenwash
approach, we need to embrace the concept of the whole. To be part of the whole is not simply to reflect on
the need to link aesthetic preferences and attributes alone, but rather a deep connection to the geometric
structures and patterns that occur in the form-making processes of the living systems of nature (Roös and
Jones, 2017; Salingaros, 2015). The biophilic effect is more than what we can see on the surface, which
is only a reflection of the complexity of living structures underneath (Roös, 2017). Because the effect of
biophilia is more than what we can see, we need to grasp the occurrences of a deeper nature language.
6.4 A Nature Language
Nature talks to us, not in words but through a nature language that connects with our senses. This is
evident when we engage with Nature, and distinct natural attraction senses and sensitivities are triggered. Nature is multi-sensory, informed by our conscious and unconscious innate connection to it.
One thing we often overlook is that the natural world is a non-verbal community. In nature, the desire
to breathe has no name. However, we have the sense that air exists and we feel our desire to breathe.
This is what keeps us alive, and our ‘inner child’ or ‘inner nature’ knows it too (Cohen, 2013; Roös,
Jones, & Wilson, 2018).
The phenomena of our experience of the natural senses has been researched intensively since the
mid 1900s. During the years 1961–1978, researcher Guy Murchie made an exhaustive inquiry into the
multi-sensory experiences that connect us to nature, which we can observe as humans (Murchie,
1978). He condensed together over 80 different biological sensitivities that pervade the natural world,
into a group of 31 senses. From these, Cohen identified, documented and included 54 natural senses
that connect us to nature in the practice of ecopsychology (Cohen, 2013, p. 169). This effect of biophilia patterns as a result of many multi-sensory phenomena, when experienced first-hand, is difficult
to describe in words. A good example of this phenomenon is the attraction to natural light (Fig. 6.2).
As human beings, subconsciously we know that light from the sun is the source of all life on earth.
Without this light, the earth will be enclosed in darkness and our existence will be absolute (Roös,
Jones, & Wilson, 2018). The ‘sense of light’ is listed as number 1 of the 54 Natural Senses (Cohen,
2013). The ‘Sense of light and sight, including polarised light’ is core to the inherent natural attraction
to the webstring of life, a genetically rooted web-of-life strand that helps to hold the human-nature
existence together in this universe (Cohen, 2013, p. 170).
When we consider a nature language, it is important to acknowledge that we are going beyond the
physical patterns in nature, such as geometric forms and systems. In a nature language the patterns are
the phenomena of the interaction with nature. The interaction patterns that contain a nature language
6 Interconnections Between People and Their Natural Environments
It is interesting to note that Browning et al. (2014) propose the use of the term patterns rather than
principles, values, or attributes. According to the authors, inspired by Alexander’s A Pattern Language
(Alexander et al., 1977), this term is used because:
… to propose a clear and standardized terminology for biophilic design; to avoid confusion with multiple terms
(metric, attribute, condition, characteristic, typology, etc.) that have been used to explain biophilia; and to maximize accessibility for designers and planners by upholding familiar terminology (Browning et al., 2014, p. 21)
The use of these 15 biophilic design patterns can potentially support and enhance the design of
buildings in our cities, as noted by Tim Beatley:
… Nature in cities, we increasingly recognize, is not something optional, but absolutely essential to leading a
happy, healthy and meaningful life. And this extends to the design of every element in the city, including transit
stations. (Beatley, in Downton et al., 2017a, p. 9).
However, when we consider the context of biophilia in the design of our built environments, the danger
is that biophilic design becomes a buzz word, a superficial trend similar to the misused ‘sustainability’. In
2017, as part of an online round table discussion of the Nature of Cities, I argued that “biophilic” and
“biophilia” can become a trend where there is no substance under the surface. To avoid a greenwash
approach, we need to embrace the concept of the whole. To be part of the whole is not simply to reflect on
the need to link aesthetic preferences and attributes alone, but rather a deep connection to the geometric
structures and patterns that occur in the form-making processes of the living systems of nature (Roös and
Jones, 2017; Salingaros, 2015). The biophilic effect is more than what we can see on the surface, which
is only a reflection of the complexity of living structures underneath (Roös, 2017). Because the effect of
biophilia is more than what we can see, we need to grasp the occurrences of a deeper nature language.
6.4 A Nature Language
Nature talks to us, not in words but through a nature language that connects with our senses. This is
evident when we engage with Nature, and distinct natural attraction senses and sensitivities are triggered. Nature is multi-sensory, informed by our conscious and unconscious innate connection to it.
One thing we often overlook is that the natural world is a non-verbal community. In nature, the desire
to breathe has no name. However, we have the sense that air exists and we feel our desire to breathe.
This is what keeps us alive, and our ‘inner child’ or ‘inner nature’ knows it too (Cohen, 2013; Roös,
Jones, & Wilson, 2018).
The phenomena of our experience of the natural senses has been researched intensively since the
mid 1900s. During the years 1961–1978, researcher Guy Murchie made an exhaustive inquiry into the
multi-sensory experiences that connect us to nature, which we can observe as humans (Murchie,
1978). He condensed together over 80 different biological sensitivities that pervade the natural world,
into a group of 31 senses. From these, Cohen identified, documented and included 54 natural senses
that connect us to nature in the practice of ecopsychology (Cohen, 2013, p. 169). This effect of biophilia patterns as a result of many multi-sensory phenomena, when experienced first-hand, is difficult
to describe in words. A good example of this phenomenon is the attraction to natural light (Fig. 6.2).
As human beings, subconsciously we know that light from the sun is the source of all life on earth.
Without this light, the earth will be enclosed in darkness and our existence will be absolute (Roös,
Jones, & Wilson, 2018). The ‘sense of light’ is listed as number 1 of the 54 Natural Senses (Cohen,
2013). The ‘Sense of light and sight, including polarised light’ is core to the inherent natural attraction
to the webstring of life, a genetically rooted web-of-life strand that helps to hold the human-nature
existence together in this universe (Cohen, 2013, p. 170).
When we consider a nature language, it is important to acknowledge that we are going beyond the
physical patterns in nature, such as geometric forms and systems. In a nature language the patterns are
the phenomena of the interaction with nature. The interaction patterns that contain a nature language
6 Interconnections Between People and Their Natural Environments