Can biophilic design also be dopamine design? Whatever you want to call it, it makes me happy. Many of the fundamentals here come from William Morris. You don’t get any more nature inspired than the father of the arts and crafts movement. This is a different example than we’ve seen previously. For one thing we don’t see the plants everywhere commonly associated with biophilic design, but we do see the color saturation of dopamine design. Throw in a little Wes Anderson meets Grandma Jean and we are talkin.’
What if biophilic design is a mirror of our interior reality? What if all design, all art, all expression, is a mirror of our interior reality? Could it be anything else? I don’t think so.
I’ve said here that I do not know how to separate my inner life from the way I live. All interior design is an expression of as within, so without. All art is a natural process. It requires we live in a state of curiosity, of inner exploration. It’s a constant challenge; there are far more questions than answers. If you aren’t living with the questions, how do you know faith?
Faith is not an intellectual commodity. It’s an innate trust in the process of life. What if we give the heart a chance?
Little Inka is yet another wonderful example of the very approachable bioliphic design. Talk about blending the outdoors and indoors! This would be so easy to live in. And hhh-hhhhmmm…I told you black walls could be cozy.
This couple has found a creative way to live off the land, complete with alpacas. I’m in love with them all. Let’s go; I need 17 minutes to pack.
“Start with the art,” Sophie Ashby tells us. Here is yet another example of the biophilic design elements we saw in the last post, but arranged in a different way. You can almost imagine these two London townhouses next door to each other. Here we see the impact color can make. Notice how this makes you feel. Both homes are owned by artists and used as their personal laboratories. Your home is your creative laboratory.
Nothing is more personal than art. If you choose art that truly evokes emotion, that you are strangely and inexplicably drawn to, you have made a great start. Never mind whether or not it matches anything else. It doesn’t matter if you invested last months salary or spray painted cardboard in the garage. If it’s huge or small. What does matter is that you love it. Not anyone else – YOU.
This is quite a different take on the theme of biophilic design. It certainly exemplifies home as sanctuary for these creative individuals. I confess that when I first began to investigate this design approach, I feared being overtaken by philodendrons hanging in macrame – which made me itch. I did not expect thoughtful elegance on this scale. According to the dictionary, biophilic design is meant to “foster a deeper connection between humans and nature.”
Just last night I came across the study of BIPHASTIC sleep. Apparently until the industrial revolution and shift work in factories, humans slept more like the rest of the mammals on earth – in shorter segmented sleep patterns. It is being studied again with the aging of the population. Retirees are finding themselves reverting to a natural rhythm with sleep that means falling asleep early after dark, sleeping for a few hours and then being awake for hours before returning to bed for another short sleep early morning. I’ve got this! Again, validating to discover that something that has felt natural to me is being recognized as being healthy. Perhaps nature had it right all along.
And here’s the connection in my little mind between this interior cabinet of curiosities and biphastic sleep – healthy design decisions will always incorporate healthy living habits. I would probably like being up during the night here, but I don’t want to face the concrete kitchen before morning coffee. I love many of the natural elements here, and I watch imagining the walls glow a golden amber for me. I’d love to hear your take on this.
A Painterly Home 