In the dark days of winter it is not uncommon for people residing in regions such as Scandinavia to find that they suffer from Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD), a type of depression associated with the winter months. The UK’s National Health Service recognises the debilitating nature of SAD and identifies a range of symptoms that include:
· a peristent low mood
· a loss of pleasure or interest in normal everyday activities
· irritability
· feelings of despair, guilt and worthlessness
· feeling lethargic (lacking in energy) and sleepy during the day
· sleeping for longer than normal and finding it had to get up in the morning
· craving carbohydrates and weight gain
Whilst there remains some debate over the precise causes of SAD there is a consensus that it is associated with reduced exposure to sunlight and the deprivation that results. Light therapy and certain lifestyle measures can play their part in helping address the condition and are a potent reminder of a human’s need for certain stimuli and an equilibrium that puts us both at ease and in a better frame of mind.
In Japan Shinrin -Yoku (Forest bathing) has yielded positive results amongst urban dwellers who find short leisurely immersion through woodland and forests walks reduces stress levels and lifts the mood. Many a person’s fondest memories from childhood are associated with jaunts to the sea, camping trips and exploring and delighting in the natural world. Such is the pull of the natural world that down the ages civilizations have revered deities that embody or are associated with elements of nature and the cosmos. Reverence and inspiration have taken many forms, with each generation finding new ways to connect and celebrate nature and enjoy its hedonic qualities both in the wild and in the home.
To some of us a woodland walk and being able to savour the petrichor that results from recent rains proves a welcome tonic. For others filling our homes with plants and flowers does the trick, tapping into that deep bond with the natural world that continues to inspire artists, poets and other sentient beings. Where once great houses might seek to bring nature within by hanging paintings by Claude Lorrain or John Constable now homes and public and private institutions can help simulate nature through Biophilic Design.
Mental wellbeing is being improved via the use of canvasses, plants and art installations that enhance transport hubs, hospitals, universities and the workplace.
By seeking to capture and replicate the essence of the natural world seemingly characterless interiors can be lifted along with the spirits of those that inhabit or work within them.
Just as a love of nature helped the likes of John Ruskin to appreciate art, so biophilic creations can take us on a journey to that place which is replete with memory, dreams and sensory balm.
We all can benefit from visual and aural stimulation, the sight of stupendous vistas, of woodland glades or the sound of the sea or the dawn chorus. There is also scope to stimulate olfactory receptors with natural aromas thus ensuring an inner and outer calm that ensures a more balanced equilibrium.
Biophilic Design is a positive and purposeful way to transform that which might otherwise dispirit or depress.
Mark T. Jones LL.M, Consultant Futurist
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-t-jones-b3601326/
We also interview Mark T Jones for our Journal of Biophilic Design podcast.
Click on the podcast above. A fascinating conversation with consultant futurist Mark T Jones on what he hopes the future might hold for biophilic design, and what we, as individuals on this planet, could do ourselves to make our environments a whole lot better. He talks about symbolism in Africa and the connection to nature he’s witnessed on that continent. We also touch on vernacular imagery, the Knepp Wildland project, the rural paintings of Constable, prisons and how we might interpret ‘Mother Earth’.