BIOPHILIC DESIGN

 
BIOPHILIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
• Environmental features
• Natural shapes and forms
• Natural patterns and processes
• Light and space
• Place-based relationships
• Evolved human-nature relationships
ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES
University of Michigan law quadrangle: The ivy-covered walls provide a pleasing integration
of vegetation into the building façade. Its high ceilings, large “light wells” that bring in light
from several directions and direct it to even the lowest of the three levels, and on open
structure make it surprisingly bright and airy. To walk down the stairs connecting the Reading
Room to the underground addition is to experience the opposite of what one expects. Rather
than descending into a dark lower level, one emerges into underground space significantly
brighter than the above-ground space one left.
NATURAL SHAPES AND FORMS
The Sydney Opera House: The Opera House provides 45,000 square metres (11 acres) of
usable office space out of 18,000 square metres (4.5 acres) of land. It is 183 metres (600 feet)
tall and about 120 metres (388 feet) wide at its widest point. It is supported on 580 concrete
piers sunk up to 25 metres below sea level. Its power supply is equivalent for a town of 25,000
people. The power is distributed by 645 kilometres of electrical cable. It has about 1000
rooms. It has five theatres, five rehearsal studios, two main halls, four restaurants, six bars and
numerous souvenir shops.
NATURAL PATTERNS AND PROCESSES
Harkness Tower: The towers's decorative elements were sculpted by Lee Lawrie. The lowest
level of sculpture depicts Yale's Eight Worthies. The second level of sculpture depicts Phidias,
Homer, Aristotle, and Euclid. The next level of sculpture consists of allegorical figures
depicting Medicine, Business, Law, the Church, Courage and Effort, War and Peace,
Generosity and Order, Justice and Truth, Life and Progress, and Death and Freedom. The
gargoyles on the top level depict Yale's students at war and in study.
LIGHT AND SPACE
The Genzyme Center, in Cambridge, MA was the first LEED platinum office building of its size in
the United States. Designed by Behnisch Architekten
Its interior is flooded with daylight and all workstations take advantage of natural light.
Organised as 'a vertical city' with individual ‘dwellings‘, public areas and gardens extend up to
the full height of the central atrium. The open staircase forms part of a 'vertical boulevard',
starting at the ground floor lobby before proceeding upwards through various
neighbourhoods with open workstations and separate offices.
PLACE-BASED RELATIONSHIPS
Viaduc des Arts: The Viaduc des Arts - located in Avenue Daumesnil , Paris, France - is a
rehabilitation of the former “Viaduc de Bastille” carrying the railways of the Paris-Bastille -
Vincennes train line. This rehabilitation project was designed in 1988 by the architect
Patrick Berger under the direction of the SEMAEST .It is hosting a section of the Promenade
Plantée, and many art galleries and shops.
EVOLVED HUMAN-NATURE RELATIONSHIPS
Mont-Saint-Michel: The fine abbey church that towers over the island has an imposing 11th-
and 12th-century Romanesque nave and an elegant choir in Flamboyant Gothic style.The
tower and spire, crowned by a statue of St. Michael, were added in the 19th century. The
church is built over three crypts, the oldest dating probably from Carolingian times .The
exterior walls of the splendid Gothic monastery La Merveille combine the powerful
characteristics of a military fortress and the simplicity of a religious building. The most
striking sections are the refectory, with its high, narrow windows, and the magnificent
cloister, with its fine sculptures.