"Nature is Powerfully Relaxing"

So say biophilic designers like the ones who created this terraced garden and the Manhattan home that opens out onto it, with its stone walls and exposed beams inside.   I'd never heard the term biophilic but it's described in the NYTimes as the "quirky, lesser known cousin of green design."  (It could hardly be quirkier than feng shui and that's been all over the media lately, though how popular it is with actual people is another question.)  The article tells us that we can now get a masters in biophilic design at Yale, so there you go.

According to biophilism (is that a word, too?), there's an innate human attraction to nature.  Ya think?  And I sure as hell agree with this statement by a proponent:  "Part of our emotional, intellectual and physical well-being depends on having access to nature." I know that's true because I get awfully edgy when I haven't been in nature for a while - like more than 12 hours.  Seriously.  It's an addiction and there's no 12 Step program for it, so I've taken up gardening.

As an introduction to biophilic design, I have to say the article made it look pretty silly at first, what with $20,000 "living walls" in homes stuffed with ficus, hibiscus and orchids, which are claimed to remove "up to" 90 percent of the formaldyhide and other toxic substances from indoor air in lab tests.  First you have to kill all the insects.  Then after destroying the life in this bizarre indoor garden you could, I suppose, admire the fresh crop of mold growing in your home.  Not my idea of connecting with nature. And all this because “Typically speaking, the air quality in homes is much worse than in commercial buildings."  Is that true and if so, why?  Then comes a scientist to say that “plants are just not effective at getting rid of stuff in the air," and "it's best to keep plants outdoors." Fine by me - my houseplant choices are so uninspired, they can aptly be called plant material.

And we're told that people benefit not just from contact with nature itself but also with simulated nature, like lighting that mimics outdoor lighting.  So if I lived in a highrise somewhere where I couldn't be IN nature, I guess I'd settle for pretending.  But until I'm hauled away in a straitjacket or a body bag, you'll find me in the garden. 

Comments

[Carol]

"Biophilia" sounds like horticultural therapy on steroids for people with a whole lot of money to spend or for people who are figuring out how to have rich people spend a whole lot of money on what they have to offer.

Horticultural therapy (www.ahta.org) by the way, has been around for quite some time because it is well-documented that access to nature and natural light is good for you.

I guess people forgot that and they have to use new words like "biophilic" to make it sound trendy to bring some of the outdoors in, or pretend to, and otherwise reconnect with nature.

I know it isn't possible for everyone to live where they can step outside into a garden, and so I guess pretend nature is the next best thing.

[Jane]

In the late C19th the Edinburgh based philosopher/town planner Patrick Geddes had an organisation which was basically in charge of a regeneration project in the slums of Edinburgh's Old Town (The very picturesque medieval bit between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace). I remember reading in one of their annual reports that they were planning to distribute window boxes, soil and seeds to the children at the local schools to give them a connnection to growing things. I don't remember seeing a follow up report about how successful it was - so it probably wasn't - I had visions of all the window boxes falling off the very rickety sills. There was also no mention of what seeds were distributed.

[M Sinclair Stevens (Texas)]

Another blog, Humble Labor, linked to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle that says just the opposite of "the scientist"--ferns and palms are excellent means of reducing toxins in the home.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/07/05/HOG8FJN0AO1.DTL

[Kathy Jentz]

And don't forget the much-maligned ivy! It is a super air-scrubber. A well-written article that breaks this issue down is at: http://www.dentalplans.com/Dental-Health-Articles/Do-Houseplants-Really-Help-to-Clean-Indoor-Air.asp