Biophilic Design enhancing performance, and more.

From the previous post, another study by essentially the same group:  Aristizabal and colleagues also report that they collected data in spaces “allowed individuals to perform their typical workday task for 10 weeks. . . . After a 2-week acclimation period, participants were exposed to three biophilic conditions (visual, auditory and multisensory) as well as the baseline setting.”

• In the visual condition, participants viewed “Indoor plants, projections of greenery, and artwork displaying nature scenes.”
• In the auditory one they heard “Sounds of gentle streams, crickets, and birds native to the Midwest region of the United States” where data were collected.
• In the multisensory project phase, study participants experienced the biophilic sights and sounds described.

In conclusion: “Participants felt more satisfied with their workplace conditions during the biophilic interventions compared to baseline conditions.  Participants reported feeling more satisfied with the aesthetic appearance and visual privacy in the visual and multisensory conditions.  Similarly, participants reported improvements in perceived productivity in the visual and multisensory conditions. . . .

Results suggest that immersive biophilic environments can improve aspects of cognitive performance, environmental satisfaction and reduces stress in an office environment.”

Sara Aristizabal, Bing Guo, Regina Vaicekonyte, and Carolina Campanella.  2021.  “Nature and Stress Don’t Mix:  Results form a Biophilic Office Design Study.”  Association for Neuroscience for Architecture Conference, Poster presentation, September 17.