How biophilic design can transform your home and life

NEWTOWN artist and scientist Dr Mary-Jane Walker is on a mission to help the broader community rebuild its connection to nature by helping them bring the natural world into their homes.

For the past 15 years, Dr Walker has worked within the environmental arts space, bringing together her understanding of nature with the powerful outlet of the creative arts.

As communities around the country become increasingly disconnected from nature, biophilic design – a design philosophy that incorporates elements of the natural world into built infrastructure – has become a key focus of her work.

“We know that now, on the planet, 50 per cent of the world’s population live in cities. By 2050, 70 per cent of people will live in urban environments,” she said.

And with an increasing body of academic research crunching the numbers, the understanding that people are healthier, both mentally and physically, when they are in the natural world has also grown.

“We have to get people understanding and caring about the natural world…but also caring for themselves, about how nature can help them,” Dr Walker said.

“If you’re feeling stressed and you go for a walk in a park, you will feel better. People know that, and yet their houses are often very, very disconnected, from a design perspective, from the elements which would help them feel better in their home.”

In nature, she said, we’re surrounded by “complexity”, but too often we return home to “a white, sterile box”.

This is despite natural elements being easy to replicate within the home, for both homeowners and renters, whether it be through the use of natural materials, incorporating indoor plants or just adding pattern, colour and texture to the space.

“All these different elements are the principles by which our body connects, and our mind connects, to the natural world and we need to replicate those in our homes so that we are happier and healthier,” Dr Walker said.

“Even in an apartment, a balcony, you can put colour on your textiles, in your furnishings. Move away from whites and move to the colours of nature in your home.

“Put up [nature-inspired] posters, use green-coloured throws over your furniture – you will notice the benefit.”

For the style-forward, she said, this did not mean you have to “live like a hippie”.

“You can have a modern house and very modern design, but you could choose colour and texture and pattern in a way which will bring in those elements in.”

Similarly, good design need not be expensive.

Outside the home, Dr Walker said there was much to learn from about 30 biophilic cities, including Singapore, that now exist around the world.

“Things are happening overseas that we can do here too,” she said.

“There’s not only environmental benefits, there’s health benefits, there’s environmental benefits for other species, but there’s also economic benefits because we know that it’s not by accident that suburbs which are leafy have a higher real estate value than places that are not leafy.

“It’s all quite logical when you think about it, but somehow we need to get there.”

For more information, head to theschooloflostarts.com.au