- Webinar 3
- Architecture
Factories have always been designed for profitability. However, as the Covid pandemic highlighted, a focus on worker well-being is equally important. Can industrial building typologies rise to the challenge?
As a species, we seek closeness to nature. Designing for well-being, therefore, aims to bring nature to the heart of the built environment. But what do these ‘biophilic’ spaces feel like? And how do we set the stage to reap their benefits?
This episode’s guest is uniquely qualified to answer these questions. Bill Browning is the Managing Partner in Terrapin Bright Green, an environmental strategies research and consulting firm, based in the US. He is an internationally renowned expert in Green design and sustainable solutions, who is also a researcher and practitioner in the science and craft of human well-being.
Bill’s work is a blend of scientific and design-based thinking. He translates cutting-edge research from the domains of environmental psychology and neuroscience into guidelines for better buildings.
00:06:58 | Biophilic design |
00:12:35 | “We realised that these experiences of nature fell into three general categories. The first, we called [it] ‘Nature in the space’ — which were direct experiences of nature in the built environment. The second were representations of nature or indirect; so what we called ‘Natural analogues’. And the third category had to do with spatial conditions themselves — which we called the ‘Nature of space’.” |
00:13:17 | Portland International Airport |
00:27:33 | “There are always the conversations about, ‘What’s the intervention? What happens if it fails? […] How do you maintain it?’ Those are always real concerns that need to be addressed when you’re thinking about design.” |
00:29:40 | Applying biophilic principles |
00:32:09 | “The first thing we’d ask is, ‘Who’s going to be using the building? And what experiences do you want them to have in the building? And what outcomes do I need to support for those users?’ […] Different patterns support different outcomes. Some support stress reduction, others cognitive performance. Some enhance mood, some encourage more prosocial behaviour.” |
00:39:57 | “[…] Quite frankly, if I’m using carpet, the cost between a biophilic pattern and a non-biophilic pattern, there’s not [much of] a difference […] So why not make biophilic choices?” |
00:42:27 | Beyond biophilic |
00:44:20 | “[…] We’re also interested in biomimicry: not just at the individual object scale, but at a larger scale. Literally, asking, ‘What is this ecosystem doing and how is it doing it?’ […] We want to move beyond sustainability. We can’t just stabilise what we have now. We need to do restoration. We need to regenerate. We need to do better. We need to restore ecosystem services that have been lost or degraded in our building(s), in our urban habitats. And so, how do we do that?” |
00:53:33 | Becoming Bill |
00:56:37 | “Find things you’re passionate about and be persistent in pursuing them — and sometimes it just takes patience […] It’s been frustrating and scary at times. But being patient… trusting the universe sometimes…” |
Bill opens the episode by tackling the ‘why’ of biophilic design. The case he makes – that we all feel better when we are in close proximity to natural elements and processes – is one that has been backed by research and intuition extensively.
The question of how to operationalise this approach starts with the simplest of measures: the placement of natural elements such as water and plants within a built environment. Bill refers to these components as ‘Nature in space’.
Abstractions of Nature – ‘nature analogues’ as Bill calls them – are the second category of biophilic interventions. Analogues include statistical fractals and biomorphic forms, already found in nature, which can likewise trigger positive human responses.
A third category of biophilic measures is ‘Nature of space’ wherein spatial arrangements convey experiences such as prospect and refuge.
Bill uses the upcoming Portland International Airport to illustrate the integration of these three categories. By tapping biophilic precepts early on, the designers were able to shape form – i.e., the articulation of space, materials, landscapes, daylight, views, and structures – towards desired outcomes.
Buildings the size of airport terminals call for rigorous preliminary assessments on where biophilic design features will beget optimal impact against budget. Designers map out user journeys and expected responses by establishing where, along the pathway, one will likely feel stressed, and what can be accomplished at these intersections to mitigate the experience.
Bill’s publications, like the ‘14 Patterns of Biophilic Design’, help document the process of prioritising options: from articulating desired outcomes to shortlisting patterns known to trigger the intended responses.
Research into a nature-based design approach has widened in scope in recent years. Today, much effort is invested in finding how buildings can better emulate processes found in nature, how project teams might benchmark, say, a building to a forest standing in its place on the same site. Bill is one of the most prominent voices in this burgeoning and momentous discussion.
This episode is brought to you by:
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction The Holcim Foundation helps drive systemic change towards a more sustainable built environment. It was founded in 2003 to define and promote the key principles of sustainability for the construction sector and is committed to accelerating the sector’s transformation so that people and the planet can thrive. The Foundation has investigated various aspects of sustainable construction via a series of roundtables and conferences with international experts. It has also recognised excellent contributions to this field with the Holcim Awards which are considered the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design. Committed to a holistic approach that recognises the equal importance and interdependence of four key goals, the Foundation combines the collective knowledge, ideas, and solutions of our global community of experts with our recognised platform of international competitions to democratise thought leadership for the entire sector. Today, the Holcim Foundation is proud to accompany Ecogradia’s new podcast and its host, Nirmal Kishnani, with whom we share a common goal: contribute to a just, equitable, and sustainable future via sustainable construction and design. |
This episode is brought to you by:
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
The Holcim Foundation helps drive systemic change towards a more sustainable built environment. It was founded in 2003 to define and promote the key principles of sustainability for the construction sector and is committed to accelerating the sector’s transformation so that people and the planet can thrive.
The Foundation has investigated various aspects of sustainable construction via a series of roundtables and conferences with international experts. It has also recognised excellent contributions to this field with the Holcim Awards which are considered the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design.
Committed to a holistic approach that recognises the equal importance and interdependence of four key goals, the Foundation combines the collective knowledge, ideas, and solutions of our global community of experts with our recognised platform of international competitions to democratise thought leadership for the entire sector.
Today, the Holcim Foundation is proud to accompany Ecogradia’s new podcast and its host, Nirmal Kishnani, with whom we share a common goal: contribute to a just, equitable, and sustainable future via sustainable construction and design.
Bill Browning
William D. Browning, BED Colorado University, MSRED MIT, Hon. AIA, LEED AP, is the Managing Partner in Terrapin Bright Green, an environmental strategies research and consulting firm. His clients include Disney, New Songdo City, Lucasfilm, Google, Marriott, Bank of America, Salesforce, the Inn of the Anasazi, the White House, and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Village. He was a founding member of the USGBC Board of Directors.
Bill Browning began research in human productivity/well-being and green buildings in the 1990s at Rocky Mountain Institute and is co-author of ‘Greening the Building and the Bottom Line’ (1994), ‘The Economics of Biophilia’ (2012), ’14 Patterns of Biophilic Design’ (2104), ‘Human Spaces 2.0: Biophilic Design in Hospitality’ (2017) and ‘Nature Inside: A Biophilic Design Guide’ (2020).
His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Elle Popular Science, and in segments by NPR, Reuters, CNN, and PBS.
14 Patterns of Biophilic Design
William Browning, Catherine Ryan and Joseph Clancy
’14 Patterns of Biophilic Design’ articulates the relationships between nature, human biology and the design of the built environment so that we may experience the human benefits of biophilia in our design applications.
‘Biophilia in Context’ looks at the evolution of biophilic design in architecture and planning and presents a framework for relating human biological science and nature. ‘Design Considerations’ explores a sampling of factors (e.g., scale, climate, user demographics) that may influence biophilic design decisions to bring greater clarity to why some interventions are replicable and why others may not be. ‘The Patterns’ lays out a series of tools for understanding design opportunities, including the roots of the science behind each pattern, then metrics, strategies and considerations for how to use each pattern.
This paper moves from research on biophilic responses to design applications as a way to effectively enhance health and well-being for individuals and society.
Terrapin Bright Green
250 West 57th Street
Floor 17
New York, NY 10107
USA
T | +1 646 460 8400
E | info@terrapinbg.com
W | terrapinbrightgreen.com
If you heard it in this episode, we likely have a link for it right here. Click on any topics, people, buildings, places, products and/or technologies listed below to learn more about each of them.
00:07:20 | “…Enter biophilia…” “Biomimicry versus Biophilia: What’s the Difference?” | Terrapin Bright Green |
00:08:29 | “…we published that in [the] beginning of January of 1995, a publication called ‘Greening the Building and the Bottom Line‘…” “GREENING THE BUILDING AND THE BOTTOM LINE” | Terrapin Bright Green |
00:12:29 | “…and the book, ‘Biophilic Design‘, was published in 2008…” “Biophilic Design” | Terrapin Bright Green |
00:17:47 | “…that biomorphic form, those lines moving in the same direction…” “BIOMORPHIC FORMS & PATTERNS” | Terrapin Bright Green |
00:18:19 | “…that give you this really beautiful undulating co-linear pattern overhead…” “THE NATURE OF WOOD: AN EXPLORATION OF THE SCIENCE ON BIOPHILIC RESPONSES TO WOOD” | Terrapin Bright Green |
00:18:42 | “…And so now, you’re getting a statistical fractal…” “WORKING WITH FRACTALS: A RESOURCE FOR PRACTITIONERS OF BIOPHILIC DESIGN” | Terrapin Bright Green |
00:25:47 | “…It’s a kind of a backcasting from the human experience…” “INTEGRATED DESIGN IS NOT ENOUGH: THE BACKCASTING METHODOLOGY DRIVES CONSISTENT EXCEPTIONAL OUTCOMES THAT EXCEED THE RESULTS OF CONVENTIONAL STRATEGIES” | ScienceOpen |
00:25:50 | “…Is that what’s meant by stress mapping?…” “Stress Mapping In The Workplace” | E3 Consulting Corporation |
00:31:02 | “…in the whole concept of green area ratio…” “Green Area Ratio Overview” | Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) |
00:36:35 | “…We also did biometric testing…” “What is Biometrics?” | Biometrics Institute |
00:42:35 | “…in many ways, biophilic design is at heart anthropocentric…” “Anthropocentrism” | ScienceDirect |
00:42:55 | “…So one of the terms that I see a lot in your writing is bioinspired solutions…” “WHY BIOINSPIRED INNOVATION?” | Terrapin Bright Green |
00:43:11 | “…the term Janine Benyus really popularised, biomimicry…” “Biomimicry versus Biophilia: What’s the Difference?” | Terrapin Bright Green |
00:46:08 | “…and the biggest carbon footprint in New York…” “carbon footprint” | Britannica |
00:47:29 | “…What we realised going back into the Mannahatta project…” “THE MANNAHATTA PROJECT” | The New Yorker |
00:52:53 | “…Almost 80% of the water in that ecosystem is evapotranspirated…” “Evapotranspiration is the sum of plant transpiration and evaporation” | USGS (United States Geological Survey) |
00:02:52 | “…I went to the University of Colorado in Boulder…” University of Colorado Boulder |
00:03:41 | “…and did a master’s degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology…” MIT’s Center for Real Estate (CRE) |
00:03:38 | “…But you started work with the legendary Buckminster Fuller, am I right?…” “R. Buckminster Fuller” | Britannica |
00:04:01 | “…One was that I had a chance to study with Amory and Hunter Lovins…” “For pioneering soft energy paths for global security.” | Right Livelihood |
00:04:35 | “…when I was up swinging a hammer on the construction of what became the Rocky Mountain Institute building…” RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute) |
00:04:42 | “…I wandered over to Windstar, John Denver’s Foundation…” Windstar Foundation |
00:04:42 | “…I wandered over to Windstar, John Denver‘s Foundation…” “John Denver” | Britannica |
00:05:50 | “…which was your involvement with the Green Building Council?…” U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) |
00:06:17 | “…asking me to join the group that was trying to do a green building rating through the American Society for Testing Materials…” ASTM International |
00:06:31 | “…And David Gottfried, the leader of that committee…” “David Gottfried” | U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) |
00:07:57 | “…increased sales in the Walmart…” Walmart |
00:08:40 | “…My co-author, Joe Romm, left the institute…” “Joe Romm, Influential Liberal Climate Change Expert and Blogger” | U.S. News |
00:08:44 | “…and took a job working for the Clinton administration…” “Presidency of Bill Clinton” | Britannica |
00:08:48 | “…at the Department of Energy with the finance group there…” Energy.gov |
00:08:54 | “…Herman Miller, [the] furniture manufacturer…” Herman Miller |
00:08:58 | “…was working with [the] Green architect Bill McDonough…” “William McDonough” | William McDonough + Partners (WM+P) |
00:09:51 | “…was an environmental psychologist named Judith Heerwagen…” “Judith Heerwagen” | (College of Built Environments) CBE Research Portal |
00:11:35 | “…We also got to know Steven Kellert at Yale…” “Remembering Stephen Kellert, Who Explored Links Between People and Nature” | YSE (Yale School of the Environment) |
00:11:35 | “…We also got to know Steven Kellert at Yale…” Yale |
00:13:28 | “…It’s for the Port of Portland…” Port of Portland |
00:13:30 | “…with ZGF as the lead architect…” ZGF |
00:13:33 | “…and a large team of consultants, Terrapin included…” Terrapin Bright Green |
00:20:37 | “…I’m probably arriving by Lyft or Uber or one of those services…” Lyft |
00:20:37 | “…I’m probably arriving by Lyft or Uber or one of those services…” “About us” | Uber |
00:20:54 | “…I probably have the TSA pre-screening…” Transportation Security Administration (TSA) |
00:29:51 | “…Favorites of ours are Foster and Associates — Lord Norman Foster…” Foster + Partners |
00:29:51 | “…Favorites of ours are Foster and Associates — Lord Norman Foster…” “Norman Foster” | Foster + Partners |
00:30:02 | “…Heatherwick‘s studio, also in the UK, has done some extraordinary buildings…” “Thomas Heatherwick” | Architectuul |
00:30:53 | “…one of our absolute favorites is WOHA in Singapore…” WOHA |
00:31:20 | “…Moshe Safdie — going all the way back to Habitat in Canada in the 1960s…” “Moshe Safdie, CC, FAIA, FRAIC, OAA, SIA” | Safdie Architects |
00:31:33 | “…Kengo Kuma in Japan does extraordinary buildings that connect people…” “Kengo Kuma” | KKAA (Kengo Kuma & Associates) |
00:35:42 | “…with the neuroscience team at Salk Institute…” Salk Institute for Biological Studies |
00:35:47 | “…and for design tech Steelcase…” Steelcase |
00:43:11 | “…The term Janine Benyus really popularised, biomimicry …” “Janine Benyus” | The Biomimicry Institute |
00:48:02 | “…While we were doing this work, Google bought the building…” “About” | Google |
00:50:30 | “…in partnership with the biomimicry folks, B-3.8…” Biomimicry 3.8 |
00:51:20 | “…the term came from a conversation that Ray Anderson had with Janine Benyus years ago…” “Biography” | Ray C. Anderson Foundation |
00:55:34 | “…I had a chance to study with Ansel Adams, the photographer…” “Ansel Adams, Photographer – Bio” | The Ansel Adams Gallery |
00:55:51 | “…I had a chance to go spend a week with the Cousteaus on a great barrier reef…” “Jacques Cousteau” | Britannica |
00:58:16 | “…The economist Kenneth Boulding used to say…” “Kenneth Boulding” | The Montgomery Fellows Program |
00:02:52 | “…I went to the University of Colorado in Boulder…” “Boulder” (Colorado, United States) | Britannica |
00:04:12 | “…I was working on a huge solar project proposal to make a large-scale addition to the University’s Memorial Center…” “University Memorial Center” | University of Colorado Boulder |
00:13:20 | “…one that illustrates biophilic design in a very complex setting: the Portland International Airport…” “ZGF Gives a New Look at Portland International Airport’s New Main Terminal” | ArchDaily |
00:13:46 | “…This is a place that people in Portland really love…” “Portland” (Oregon, United States) | Britannica |
00:15:19 | “…the culture and history of Portland and Oregon…” “Oregon” (United States) | Britannica |
00:30:14 | “…for people with cancer diagnosis, the Maggie Center, which [is] in Leeds in the UK…” “Maggie’s Leeds Centre / Heatherwick Studio” | ArchDaily |
00:30:53 | “…one of our absolute favorites is WOHA in Singapore…” “Singapore” | Britannica |
00:31:22 | “…going all the way back to Habitat in Canada in the 1960s…” “Architecture Classics: Habitat 67 / Safdie Architects” | ArchDaily |
00:31:22 | “…going all the way back to Habitat in Canada in the 1960s…” “Canada” | Britannica |
00:31:50 | “…I’m an architect working in a densely populated city — let’s say Mumbai…” “Mumbai” (India) | Britannica |
00:33:45 | “…in a sixth-grade classroom in [the] inner city of Baltimore…” “Baltimore” (Maryland, United States) | Britannica |
00:35:04 | “…We see carpet companies like Interface and Mohawk…” Interface |
00:35:04 | “…We see carpet companies like Interface and Mohawk…” Mohawk |
00:43:49 | “…a five-year-long project for the state of New York…” “New York” (United States) | Britannica |
00:46:14 | “…What’s the name of the project? 111 Eight…” “Google 111 Eight Ave Commons” | HLW (Haines, Lundberg and Waehler) |
00:47:16 | “…That water, we thought might be — because it’s right near the Hudson — might be Hudson River water…” “Hudson River” (New York, United States) | Britannica |
00:50:17 | “…You were working on a project with Interface: Factory as a Forest…” “Factory as a Forest” | Terrapin Bright Green |
00:51:42 | “…and we also used it on their new headquarters building in downtown Atlanta…” “Atlanta” (Georgia, United States) | Britannica |
00:52:31 | “…So, in the outer southern Piedmont mixed forest…” “Piedmont” (United States) | Britannica |
There are no design features mentioned in this episode.
00:15:36 | “…So, it is huge glulam beams that are 4-5 meters deep each…” “INGENIOUS SOLUTION: PREFABRICATING PDX AIRPORT TIMBER ROOF” | Timberlab |
00:40:23 | “…It’s all pothos or something like that…” “pothos” | Britannica |
00:43:41 | “and winds up creating Velcro…” “Biomimicry – The Burr and the Invention of Velcro” | Micro Photonics |
00:49:43 | “…and prototyped four different designs that included light shelves…” “Light shelf” | Designing Buildings |
Host
Nirmal Kishnani
Producer
Maxime Flores
Editorial assistant
Abhishek Srivastava
Sound technician and editor
Kelvin Brown | Phlogiston
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Singapore 068804
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