IN OUR NATURE
Biophilia, translating to a love of nature, describes human beings’ instinctual desire to be surrounded by and connected to the natural world. Instilled over hundreds of thousands of years, during which time we evolved, learned to survive, reside and flourish in nature, the connection has been alluded to throughout human history since the ancient Greek philosophers, though it only received its name much more recently. Today, it is explored and applied in the sciences, design, architecture and urban planning – and it has many implications for facility managers.
How can a window overlooking trees increase employee productivity? How can pot plants in a hospital expedite patient recovery times? How can water features minimise absenteeism among staff? More importantly, what can be learned by this human urge and how can we apply it practically?
The hypothesis was introduced by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, who described “the passionate love of life and all that is alive” in (1973). The term was later used by biologist Edward O Wilson in (1984), which proposed that the tendency of humans
