Biophilia in Practice:
Buildings that Connect People with Nature

Research suggests that access to nature can enhance productivity, health, learning, and overall ecological awareness. Integrating biophilia—literally “love of nature”—into buildings can measurably benefit individuals and businesses. This article examines the principles of biophilia and how to integrate biophilic design strategies into buildings. Visual access to nature can benefit health. Studies in hospitals found that patients with windows looking out on natural scenes or with photographs of natural landscapes in their rooms recovered from surgery more quickly and with less severe...