Who would want to live in a world that is not quite fatal?
So said ecologist Paul Shepherd in 1958[1], and quoted by Rachel Carson in “Silent Spring”.
The Biophilic Design Conference this year has a theme of Policy, Place, Planet – Biophilic Design for a regenerative future. It has this theme for a reason.
We are living in a ticking time bomb. Our planet is heating up, our climates are changing all over the world, our food security is at risk, our physical health is challenged not just by lifestyle and town planning but also by air and sound pollution inside and outside of the home and workplace, our crops are sprayed, our bees are dying, we are losing our pollinators, our skies are quieter, our living world is struggling to breathe and we are the culprits.
When I first learnt about Biophilic Design, it seemed to me a concept which if applied globally and on all facets of society we could go some way to reverse the ills we have inflicted onto ourselves and our planet.
I read, and I annually re-read the biologist E.O.Wilson’s book “Biophilia”. For me the essence of his early expounding of the principle of Biophilia is the baseline on which all biophilic design specification should fall.
If every time we specify, we ask the simple question, does it support life and living systems i.e. does it align with the biophilia hypothesis? If we can honestly say, that by building this building, developing this housing estate, designing the interior of this hospital, installing this flooring in the school, producing this table, will support life and living systems, help all life who use, engage and encounter this space, community or product will flourish, and I mean truly flourish, not just limp along and be “ok, we hope”, but really helps life and living systems thrive or even regenerate, then yes do it.
But if our answer or our client or manufacturer’s answer is “well no, there is a spray we apply which kills and potentially pollutes”, “well the VOCs from this paint could cause asthma”, “well the glue we use is actually carcinogenous”, “well the factory actually pours all its waste into the river upstream”, “the walls are hard, cold, white and reflective with no natural light and a noisy environment so cortisol levels will rise and normal life functions will be a challenge (let alone if you are trying to heal or learn)”… then, please, I beg you, do not take that action.
Biophilic Design is a principle we can use to help restore living systems in every sense of the word. The Biophilic Design Conference this year, aims to do that. To bring voices, research, practice, governance, finance, expertise, inspiration, products, collaboration, cooperation ecology, architecture, planning, interior design, landscape architecture to show what is already being done, how things are changing, but the overarching thread is we can ALL. do something
Please join us, and let’s make our world a better, healthier place.
www.biophilicdesignconference.com
Dr Vanessa Champion, Founder and Editor of The Journal of Biophilic Design
[1] “The place of nature in man’s world”, Atlantic Naturalist, Vol.13, 1958, pp 85-9
