Sparkles! The Long Read
Humans relish sparkly things, ones that shine. Whether as little bits of glitter or wall sized mirrors, things that reflect light are things humans like. (Although I do have to complain about glitter in...
How to Refresh
At this time of year, when it is becoming harder and harder to find a nicely warm, sunny day to go outside for a walk, it’s important to keep in mind all of our...
When to make a change…
Change can be difficult, particularly during months when we’re more confined to our homes and offices without convenient escapes when we can’t stand the dust and chaos of changing our worlds any longer. Don’t...
Don’t forget Sensory Richness!
Way, way too often when we’re pulling a space together we think only about what it will look like when we’re done—as if we don’t have ears, nose, and skin that will be in...
Go Green and Leafy
As the days get cooler you probably survey your garden with a heavy heart. You know, like Solomon, you will have to make some difficult decisions soon. Which plants should you save from becoming...
Using Natural Light with care…
We’re used to thinking that natural light is magical, something we can’t get too much of—it elevates our mood (for more on reasons to design to encourage good moods, read this article) and makes...
Older People and Biophilic Design
Biophilic design is a positive, no matter how old we are. Pandita and Choudhary reviewed previously published articles related to biophilic design in assisted living facilities. They found that “The research advocates the benefits...
Can we “Hear” Hot Water?
Humans are even more interesting creatures than you might have thought. Wenger and teammates report that “People can use their sense of hearing for discerning thermal properties, though they are for the most part...
Biophilic Design and Creativity
Suresh and colleagues confirm that people are more creative in biophilically designed offices: “Biophilia Index has shown a significant positive correlation and a strong predictive value for creativity of employees. . . . [data...
Designing for “Personalities”
A recent article in The New York Times (Juan Ramirez, 2024, “The Broadway Actor Who Designs Dressing Rooms Inspired by Her Characters,” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/t-magazine/krysta-rodriguez-dressing-room-design.html ) focuses on dressing rooms created by an actress to reflect...
Colours of Energy Levels
People are people and brains are brains wherever they are, so it’s no surprise that colours influence us in predictable ways no matter where we find ourselves. Colour has 3 dimensions, hue, saturation, and...
Colours for mingling!
Making mingling with others a positive experience requires a lot more than just throwing people into a room together, as anyone who’s ever done just that and watched their party fizzle can confirm. When...
Additional colour effects…
Neuroscientists have also learned that: • Lighter colours on walls make a room seem slightly larger than it actually is and darker ones slightly smaller. The same goes for light colours on ceilings and...
Using Colours Together
In life, we’re almost never in a place with only one surface colour (and if we are, particularly if that colour is white, we’re apt to be so stressed that we’re having a very,...
Designing for Family Harmony!
As Winter sets in North of the Equator (and Winter will inevitably take place south of the Equator ultimately, again, for a few more years at least, even with global warming), we spend more...
Setting the Thermometer
With Winter and Summer comes more time indoors in much of the developed world—and depending on whether you’re in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, Winter/Summer is almost upon us. Spring and Autumn are regularly...
Dealing With the Stress of “Regular Life”
Whoever we are, sometimes our lives become more stressful. Whether it’s because we’re returning to our usual lives after a relaxed summer away from our usual challenges or because the weather is getting better...
Soundtracking your life!
Most of us have ears that work OK most of the time—there’s the occasional ear infection or very bad cold, but that is a passing thing, at least generally. So what’s best to hear...
Choosing the Right Plant
Plants inside can be great—when they’re around our minds and our bodies work well—our cognitive performance and creativity go up, we get along better with other people, our stress levels fall—the list goes on...
Sounds and Stress
Liu and associates studied how various sounds influence mental recovery from stress. They “compar[ed] a silent environment (control group) with three experimental groups exposed to flowing water sound, birdsong, and wind sounds. The investigation...
Unseen Forces – Part 1 – Sound
‘Tis the season for invisible forces. With Midsummer’s eve and good weather sitings of all sorts of gnomes and fairies, the unseen can be top of mind. In this issue we won’t talk about...
Unseen Forces – Part 2 – Scents
Sure, we can often see the source of a scent a flower, a piece of fruit, etc., but smells themselves don’t have any forms we can see with the naked eye. We are particularly...
Unseen Forces – Part 3 – Tastes
Tastes are much more physically present than sounds or smells, something does indeed rest on your tongue and produce a particular sensation, but tasting is what is known as a “chemical” sense, like smelling....
Work in Water
It’s wild swimming season, so lots of us are spending tons of time in water about now—but working water into our lives year-round is a very, very good idea. • Humans have a special...
Singing in the Rain…. Negative ions are good for us!
There’s more and more research indicating that negative ions in the air influence what happens inside our heads. Derek Brockway (2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51157ep524o) in “How Rain Can Make You Happier and Healthier,” reports, for example,...
Why Garden when you’re older?
A research team lead by Corley share that “Gardening in later life was associated with greater gain in cognitive change from age 11 to 79. . . . Higher gardening frequency was associated with...
The Bigger the Window…
Gomez-Sirvent and teammates’ conducted an intriguing study: “a virtual replica of a real conservatoire classroom was used to investigate the effect of window size and views through windows on the perception of the built...
A shout out for Nature!
Amy Thomas, in “Why ‘Biophilia’ Needs to be Part of Your Next Holiday” (2024, BBC Online,https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240502-why-biophilia-needs-to-be-part-of-your-next-holiday) encourages people to improve their mental health by spending time outside—something that we talk about a lot here...
Bringing Plants inside – the benefits to help us live well.
Plants indoors and views of nature scenes outdoors are important tenets of biophilic design, as discussed in this article. A recent article on the BBC Online highlights recent design work that maximizes indoor and...
We eat healthier when we see nature… another “Biophilic” effect!
Via 5 experiments Langlois and Chandon learned that “individuals exposed to the natural environment choose healthier foods when compared to those exposed to urban environments or a control condition. Nature’s effects are observed for...
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