Sculptural wall lamps bring an otherworldly aura inspired by sunflowers

A lot of designs these days take their cue from nature, perhaps the greatest designer that ever existed. Some simply use natural forms as their starting point while others imitate them almost completely. Yet there are also others who try to interpret organic shapes in a different way, resulting in a design that is both familiar yet almost alien. This wall lighting, for example, takes inspiration from the tiny disk flowers inside a beautiful sunflower, but the play of light and shadows gives it an almost hypnotic appearance, whether the lamp is actually on or not.

Designer: Rollo Bryant

It’s probably not common knowledge, but the flower that most people “see” when looking at a sunflower is actually a flower head that’s made up of a bunch of tiny flowers called disk florets. It’s a rather unique arrangement that becomes even more enchanting when you learn about it, giving the sunflower an otherworldly character. That’s the kind of character that the Aureole collection of wall-mounted lighting tries to embody, not just in its appearance but also in the material used to create its mesmerizing form.

The lamps use quartz sand for its main body, a material that’s often used for moulds that are then used to create other objects. In Aureole, however, the sand is the final product instead, and its production pushes the envelope of both what the material can be used for as well as the 3D printing technology employed for creating the complex structures of the lamp’s shape.

That shape is almost like a maze of intersecting curves or an array of raised bits swirling around the center, trying to recreate the appearance of those disk florets without being too literal. They only suggest the general shape of the sunflower head but still leave plenty of room for artistic interpretation. Closer inspection reveals a more intricate network of lines and curves, almost like the structures that bees and ants leave behind in their hives and homes. While completely natural in inspiration, it almost gives the lamp an alien-like vibe as well.

Once the light shines from beneath an opaque black disc in the center, the wall-mounting lighting takes on a completely different personality, ethereal and mesmerizing. Thanks to those complex 3D structures, the light casts shadows in unique and intricate ways, creating an eerie atmosphere that seems to lock your eyes in a swirling spiral of yellow and black contrasts. Because the light is coming from behind the disc, there is also an element of mystery to the aesthetic, as if watching a solar eclipse corona burst into a dizzying pattern. Either way, the Aureole wall lamps definitely captivate people’s minds and imagination, a true conversation starter in any setting.

The post Sculptural wall lamps bring an otherworldly aura inspired by sunflowers first appeared on Yanko Design.

What Is The Concept of Biophilic Design?

Biophilia is the methodology that aims to establish an intrinsic human connection with the natural world through direct and indirect references to nature. Although modern life provides us with many conveniences, it is essential to establish a beautiful connection with the natural world and ensure its occupants’ psychological and mental well-being. One can do this by adding elements of nature into the built environment of architecture and interior design. Note that green building principles are responsible towards the environment with efficient use of sustainable resources. At the same time, a biophilic design focuses on the well-being of the occupants who use the spaces.

Biophilia embraces a human-centric approach to interior and building design by focussing on the human connection to the natural world. Some of the benefits of a biophilic design aim at creating an area that is in harmony with the environment. It includes improved physical health, enhanced mood, and a feeling of well-being. Along with this, biophilia helps improve productivity, reduces stress, enhances concentration and creativity, improves mental health, reduces fatigue and creates a positive space that is in harmony with nature as man has an affinity towards nature and is dependent on it.

1. Bring In Fresh Air

Open the windows daily, even during the winter season, to increase the airflow throughout the home and create a well-ventilated space. It is a great way to improve air quality and replace stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air. Also, open windows bring in the sounds of birds and whistling trees into the home and fill it with positivity.

Designer: Een droomhuis

2. Let Sunshine In

Natural light from windows, skylights and clerestory openings form an integral part of a biophilic design as it helps to regulate our mental health, mood, wellness and reduces stress. The most significant advantage of natural light is that it regulates our hormones, controls our circadian rhythm, ensures sound sleep, and is one of the biggest sources of Vitamin D. Hence, the home should have large windows to maximize natural light and establish a brilliant visual connection with nature. Organize and arrange the furniture to ensure good energy flow and remove blockages that can prevent natural light penetration. Introduce sheer curtains to filter in natural light during the day and consider reflective surfaces like glass and mirrors that can reflect natural light. Layered lighting can brighten up one’s mood, and the addition of mirrors to reflect natural and artificial light can improve the overall lighting of the home.

Tip: If you are working from home, make sure your desk is close to a window to enjoy the outdoor views, absorb sunlight, and enhance productivity.

3. Introduce Natural Materials

Bridge the gap between your home and nature by incorporating minimally processed natural materials like bamboo, cork, sustainable timber, wool, natural stone, cotton, linen, and rattan. Opting for natural over synthetic materials using natural stone and wood adds a natural aesthetic and feel to the room and is an excellent strategy for creating a biophilic design. Decorate your home with plenty of natural wooden furniture, flooring, and wall panels that celebrate the organic beauty of wooden grains. Since natural wood is expensive, you can also go with wood finish laminates, flooring, veneer, and tiles. These materials can be incorporated into the upholstery, bed linen, throw cushions and carpets. Use natural stone materials like marble, granite, limestone, and slate for flooring.

4. Celebrate Organic Shapes of Nature

Nature is all about imperfections, so incorporate nature’s organic and natural flowing shapes like soft edges, curves, patterns, arches, abstract forms and asymmetrical shapes. Note that right angles and straight lines are seldom found in nature.

Designer: Deniz Aktay

5. Add Indoor Plants

Plants are one of the best ways to bring in greenery and create a soothing mental effect. It has excellent air-purifying properties and enhances one’s mood. Also, green is one of the most peaceful colors that help restore our energies and reduce stress. Add freshness and create a direct connection with nature by bringing in a lot of fragrant plants, succulents, a vertical garden or air-purifying plants that can be grown in floor pots, as hanging plants, or placed on the kitchen sill. This is one of the easiest ways to create biophilic décor.
One can add a green or living wall as it forms an eye-catching feature, create a rooftop garden, and line the indoors with potted plants. It purifies the air from toxic chemicals and absorbs harmful organic compounds like formaldehyde and benzene, usually found in paint, carpets, and household cleaners.

6. Nature-Inspired Interiors

It is essential to live in a compatible and harmonious relationship with the natural world, so bring the forms and patterns of nature into the interiors. Create nature-inspired interiors by introducing floral prints in throw cushions, upholstery, curtains and pillows or even kitchen accessories.

7. Introduce Earthy Colors

Choose a neutral or earth-tone palette that is derived from nature. Let the interiors mimic the seasonal colors of nature through wallpaper, wall paint, upholstery and even the flooring tiles. Go for a peaceful color scheme that reminds you of the blue skies and water alongside nature’s earth and vegetation tones. Some of the colors include soft greens, yellow, brown, orange, and off-white to name a few.

8. Install Art

Pay homage to biophilia through artwork and the love for nature that can be incorporated into the built environment. Create a gallery wall with an artistic representation of forest views, rising sun, ocean, moonlight, birds, animals, tropical foliage and so on, as it can directly affect your mood. Beautify your walls with botanical wallpaper or accentuate the walls with nature-inspired photographs, art, prints, murals, landscape paintings, and floral or vegetal patterns to create a symbolic connection with nature.

Designer: Weijing Tan

9. Add Natural Sound And Scents

Evoke rich sensory stimuli with the sound of water and nature-inspired smells. Introduce a small water fountain within the home as water creates a sense of tranquility, has a calming effect on the mind. A saltwater aquarium, pond and water feature can create a healing atmosphere and bring in the sense of relaxation and finds opportunities to connect to the richness of our sensory system. Add natural scented candles or an essential oil diffuser and relaxing music.

10. Beautify With Natural Textures and Patterns

Stimulate the visual connection with nature by mimicking the symbolic textures and patterns found in nature. Bring in biomorphic patterns like honeycomb patterns and the rippling wave patterns of the ocean, and feel connected to nature with visual and tactile textures. These natural textures can be achieved with woven upholstery, smooth and rough surfaces and materials with patina like brass, leather, marble, and copper; they change their hues with age. As nature is full of tactile and visual textures, you can go for woven upholstery, rugs, and smooth and rough materials that add an element of richness to your space. Do not forget to decorate the space with textured pebbles, natural stone, botanical sculptures, floral arrangements, and terrariums.

It is highly recommended to go for a biophilic décor that creates a positive space and deepens attachment with the natural world. Biophilia is a great way to breathe life into the home and establish a connection with our environment.

The post What Is The Concept of Biophilic Design? first appeared on Yanko Design.

Top ten homes that perfectly embody biophilic design

The word ‘biophilic’ has been buzzing around in the architecture world recently, and for good reason. With our cities falling victim to overpopulation, it’s extremely important to mitigate the effects of urbanization as best as we can and preserve the bits of remaining green, that are slowly but surely dying. Biophilic design aims to create spaces that help us build and maintain an intimate connection with nature. It’s an architectural approach that seeks to connect our human tendency to interact with nature, with the buildings we reside in. Biophilic design elements can be integrated effortlessly into any living space by simply adding green plants and natural light. These elements create environments that are peaceful, calm, and nurturing to reside in. They positively affect our mental and overall well-being. And, we’ve curated a couple of homes that do this perfectly! From a minimal Japanese home with an indoor garden to a concrete home with a ramp-like cascading green roof – these architectural structures embody biophilic design completely.

1. Welcome to the Jungle House

Designed by architecture studio CplusC Architectural Workshop for its director Clinton Cole, the Welcome to the Jungle House has been built partially from recycled materials in Sydney. The home features a rooftop vegetable garden and an aquaponics system inhabited by fish.

Why is it noteworthy?

The home was designed and built as an experiment in sustainable urban living. The rooftop vegetable garden and aquaponics system function as the major elements of the home, and were incorporated in an effort to help the residents have and maintain a better and stronger connection with nature.

What we like

  • Designed to combat the climate emergency
  • Equipped with solar panels

What we dislike

  • Climate change has already disturbed the home’s aquaponics system

2. Villa KD45

Located in the hot bustling city of New Delhi, is the Villa KD45, a majestic home defined by a flowing ramp-like green roof that adds a somewhat surreal and biophilic element to the otherwise brutalist and concrete house. The home rises like a gentle wave, from the landscaped ground on which it has been built, giving the impression of a subtle tsunami flowing on an angled property.

Why is it noteworthy?

Besides featuring a unique cascading form, the roof is populated by concrete planters, which add a rather calming green effect to it. The rest of the home is also heavily marked with trees, gardens, and loads of shrubbery. The impactful presence of green in the home beautifully contrasts against the concrete and rugged appearance of the home, tactfully balancing the rough and the smooth, the soft, and the hard.

What we like

  • The terrace also features a landscaped garden, that provides lovely views of the neighborhood park
  • Large sliding doors create an alluring indoor-outdoor connection between this section and the garden

What we dislike

  • The property seems quite difficult to maintain

3. Atri

Created by a company called Naturvillan, Atri is a newly built A-frame villa located on the shores of Lake Vänern. With a rather large form, that instantly grabs eyeballs, the home also manages to be self-sustaining, climate-smart, and sustainable. It’s like a sustainable greenhouse in the middle of the mountains! The home also provides stunning views of the lake, as well as of the surrounding majestic trees, and a natural plot with rock slabs.

Why is it noteworthy?

Atri features a traditional A-shaped form, with a rather stable base embedded directly in the mountains. It also features a continuous axis, allowing you to glimpse through the entire house in one single view! As you slowly look up at the house, you notice that it artfully blends amongst the trees, effortlessly becoming a part of the natural landscape, and seeming as if it is at one with nature.

What we like

  • Self-sustaining and sustainable
  • Climate-smart

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

4. Oasis Towers

Dutch architecture studio MVRDV designed the Oasis Towers development in Nanjing, China. Functioning as a residential and commercial complex, the structure comprises of two L-shaped skyscrapers with intriguing cascading terraces. The facades of the skyscrapers mimic cliffs, giving them a rather jagged and geometrically interesting appearance.

Why is it noteworthy?

The most interesting highlight of the towers is the lush green ‘oasis’ situated at the center of the site. This green landscape slowly moves outwards, and harmoniously integrates with the cascading terraces. It functions as the biophilic element of the architectural structure, and a rather imposing one too. “With Oasis Towers we wanted to push this trend to the max – not only emulating nature with curving, stratified ‘cliffs’ but also to literally incorporate nature into the design with the greenery and by tapping into natural processes,” said MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas.

What we like

  • The terraces are clad with recycled bamboo and are covered in trees and other greenery
  • The green space ensures privacy for the residents staying on the upper levels

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

5. The Slope House

3D visualizer and international architect Milad Eshtiyaghi is known for his enchanting architectural creations, that you always wish to see in real life! Some of them are concepts, while some of them manage to transform into something tangible. The Slope House is one of his untraditional creations that perfectly embodies biophilic design on the inside and the outside. The home is an A-frame cabin, but a rather unconventional one. It’s an angular timber cabin that finds itself located on top of an idyllic hillside, somewhere in the depths of the Brazillian rainforests.

Why is it noteworthy?

Called the Slope House, the timber cabin maintains a signature triangular frame that’s a thoughtful twist on the conventional A-frame cabin. The home has been equipped with two modules – one is an internal structure that houses the primary bedroom, while the other holds all the main living spaces – the kitchen, the dining area, and the den. The tiny cabin from Eshtiyaghi is envisioned propped atop a truss system that was specifically chosen to minimize the home’s impact on the preexisting landscape.

What we like

  • The home is a rather unconventional and fun twist on the traditional A-frame cabin
  • Natural plants have been added inside the house as a small garden

What we dislike

  • The theme and form of the home may be a bit too eccentric for some

6. The Melt House

The Melt House was built at the request of a young family that wanted to “feel green” in the home they were staying in. It was designed by Satoshi Saito of SAI Architectural Design Office and was meant to be a home that not only feels and looks green, but is truly green in its essence, and allows the family to actively use the external space, and grow together with the green.

Why is it noteworthy?

The main attraction of this home is its centerpiece – which is basically a dry garden that acts as a multifunctional room right in the middle of the house. The double-height space almost resembles a courtyard, connecting the two main structures that comprise the home. Clerestory windows have been interwoven through the space allowing for a generous amount of sunlight to stream in while sliding doors separate it from the outside. This creates an interesting indoor/outdoor connection.

What we like

  • It features an impressive dry garden that also doubles up as a multifunctional room
  • The home allows its residents to grow with the green

What we dislike

  • A garden in the middle of the home can be difficult to maintain and tend to

7. The Raintree House

The Raintree House is a beautiful modern sanctuary that boasts stunning views of the ocean, as well as the exotic jungle surroundings. It is located in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, and it was designed to ensure that it “felt like it had always been there”.

Why is it noteworthy?

The home aims to be a fine specimen of sustainable architecture and merges seamlessly with its surroundings. The project was led by the studio’s design principal Benjamin G Saxe. It is heavily inspired by the tall trees that are positioned around it, as well as the tangled foliage and raised canopy situated close to it.

What we like

  • Causes minimum damage to the surroundings of the home
  • Sustainable + eco-friendly

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

8. Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex

Five imposing sustainable green towers were designed together to create the Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex. This complex was built in an effort to mitigate the effects of urbanization, and to fight for the environmental survival and preservation of our cities. This is extremely critical since our cities are becoming more and more populated by the day, and it is imperative to focus on sustainable and biophilic architecture in these current times.

Why is it noteworthy?

Designed to be “a completely innovative green space for the city”, the forest city complex is a form of biophilic architecture that incorporates growing and teeming greenery into the structure and essence of residential buildings.

What we like

  • 404 different trees fill out the layout of Easyhome, absorbing 22 tons of carbon dioxide and producing 11 tons of oxygen over the span of a year
  • Increases biodiversity by attracting new bird and insect species

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

9. The Wall House

Designed by CTA, the Wall House is a multi-generational family home located in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. The home is marked by hole-punctured bricks that are designed to bring air and sunlight into the home. These perforated square bricks aid in creating a living space that feels open, free-flowing, and airy – which were the requirements of the clients.

Why is it noteworthy?

To create an expansive indoor and outdoor connection, a small garden was created around the periphery of the home. This was done by planting trees, and leafy green plants throughout the home, in turn adding a beautiful biophilic element to the home. The presence of the trees and plants makes you feel as if you’re standing in a garden, rather than at someone’s home!

What we like

  • Generous amounts of light and air stream into the home, which improves the air quality

What we dislike

  • The aesthetics of the home may not be universally liked

10. Hugging House

This modern eco-home architecture concept is called the Hugging House, and it features a beautiful garden roof while managing to incorporate the natural landscape of the site into its layout. Designed by Veliz Arquitecto, the Hugging House is still a concept, but one we would love to see come to life.
Hugging House is a modern eco-home architecture concept that features a garden roof and incorporates the natural landscape of the land into its layout.

Why is it noteworthy?

If built, the Hugging House’s location would be fully incorporated into the layout of the home. Describing the design in his own words, Veliz Arquitectos notes, “We have taken advantage of the slopes of the land in order to create visual connections at different heights with the existing vegetation and beyond the landscape, as well as [used] the premises with which we always try to characterize the project.”

What we like

  • Features a garden roof
  • An intriguing floating staircase

What we dislike

  • It’s still a concept!

The post Top ten homes that perfectly embody biophilic design first appeared on Yanko Design.

Top 10 architectural structures that are the epitome of biophilic design

Biophilic design in architecture has been gaining immense popularity! It’s an architectural approach that seeks to connect our human tendency to interact with nature, with the buildings we reside in. It aims to increase the connectivity between a building’s residents and the natural world. These structures create environments that are peaceful, calm, and nurturing to reside in. They positively affect our mental and overall wellbeing. With biophilic designs slowly taking over the world of architecture, we’ve curated a collection of designs that we felt were the best of the lot! From a tiny timber home to a self-sufficient green retreat in the forest – these architectural structures are the epitome of biophilic design!

1. Atri

Designed by a company called Naturvillan, Atri is a newly built A-frame villa located on the shores of Lake Vänern. The self-sustaining and climate-smart home is like a sustainable greenhouse in the middle of the mountains! It provides stunning views of the lake, as well as of the surrounding majestic trees, and a natural plot with rock slabs.

Why is it noteworthy?

It is A-shaped with a stable base directly on the mountain and has a continuous axis so you can see through the whole house in one view. As you look up the house blends in among the trees, becoming part of the natural landscape.

What we like

  • Self-sustaining and sustainable
  • Climate-smart

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

2. The Slope House

The Slope House from the 3D visualizer Milad Eshtiyaghi is an untraditional A-frame cabin that employs biophilic design inside and out. 3D visualizer and international architect Milad Eshtiyaghi has long been drawn to escapist hideaways perched on rugged, seaside cliffs and isolated cabins envisioned beneath the Northern Lights. Today, he turns his gaze to tiny cabins. A bit more quaint than treacherous, Eshtiyaghi’s latest 3D visualization finds an angular, timber cabin nestled atop an idyllic hillside somewhere in the rainforests of Brazil.

Why is it noteworthy?

Dubbed the Slope House, the timber cabin maintains a signature triangular frame that’s a thoughtful twist on the conventional A-frame cabin. Defined by two modules, one internal volume hosts the cabin’s bedroom while the other keeps the home’s main living spaces, like the dining area, kitchen, and den. The tiny cabin from Eshtiyaghi is envisioned propped atop a truss system that was specifically chosen to minimize the home’s impact on the preexisting landscape.

What we like

  • A biophilic design style has been integrated into the cabin’s interior spaces
  • Natural plants have been added inside the house as a small garden

What we dislike

  • The theme and form of the home may be a bit too eccentric for some

3. Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex

Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex, comprised of five sustainable green towers, was built to mitigate the effects of urbanization and fight for the environmental survival of our cities.

Why is it noteworthy?

As our cities become increasingly popular destinations for younger generations, the need to introduce sustainable and biophilic architecture has never felt more urgent. As we face urban expansion and densification, architects are taking initiative to ensure the environmental survival of our contemporary cities. Italian architect Stefano Boeri has found promise in vertical city forest complexes, a form of biophilic architecture that incorporates teeming greenery into the very structure of residential buildings. Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex is Boeri’s latest sustainable undertaking, a forest complex in Huanggang, Hubei, China “intended to create a completely innovative green space for the city.”

What we like

  • 404 different trees fill out the layout of Easyhome, absorbing 22 tons of carbon dioxide and producing 11 tons of oxygen over the span of a year
  • Increases biodiversity by attracting new bird and insect species

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

4. The ZeroCabin

Two sisters in Chile got the ZeroCabin crew to help create their dream retreat in a forest in the Lake District. The cabin faces the sea on the east and then on the west, you can see a 70-meter tall hill so you get a perfect view either way.

Why is it noteworthy?

Following their previous designs, this ZeroCabin Krul uses timber as a frame for the entire structure but with structural insulated panels with pulverized cardboard. The cabin is built to be green and so it uses a two-kilowatt solar system for its electrical needs and a five-cycle system that collects rainwater for its water needs. Shower water is also collected and is used to flush the toilet. The bathroom waste is treated with the Toha System, a vermicomposting process that lets earthworms turn them into nutrient-rich humus.

What we like

  • They used natural materials as well as affordable but sustainable technologies to build the cabin

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

5. Hugging House

Hugging House is a modern eco-home architecture concept that features a garden roof and incorporates the natural landscape of the land into its layout.

Why is it noteworthy?

Veliz Arquitecto’s Hugging House is still only in its conceptual phase, but if brought to life, Hugging House’s location would be fully incorporated into the layout of the home. Describing the design in his own words, Veliz Arquitectos notes, “We have taken advantage of the slopes of the land in order to create visual connections at different heights with the existing vegetation and beyond the landscape, as well as [used] the premises with which we always try to characterize the project.”

What we like

  • Features a garden roof
  • An intriguing floating staircase

What we dislike

  • It’s still a concept!

6. Timber House

We’ve seen a lot of development in green architecture, and so we see buildings, condominiums, and other developments successfully incorporate environment-friendly aspects when creating these structures. An upcoming development in Toronto will be including some of these kinds of structures, including what may become the largest residential mass-timber buildings in Canada.

Why is it noteworthy?

Timber House will become part of the Quayside development in Toronto’s waterfront. The building, which will be long and narrow, will house affordable residential units as well as residences for senior citizens. What will make it stand out is that it will be a plant-covered building with the facade getting crisscrossed narrow beams and incorporating patios in the structure to put up the greenery. Once completed, it will be one of the biggest mass-timber structures in Canada.

What we like

  • The first all-electric, zero-carbon community
  • Will also have a community care hub, recreation places for the community

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

7. CABN.CO

Today, more and more people are veering towards homes that are green and energy-efficient. Words like net zero, prefab, and Passive House standard are thrown like confetti while describing their dream home! In an age, where sustainable architecture is thriving more than ever, CABN.CO by Jackson Wyatt is a much welcomed upcoming project.

Why is it noteworthy?

CABN.CO is on a mission to build energy-efficient and smart homes that can be placed in unique and diverse locations all over the world. These versatile cabins can be a home for you almost anywhere in the world – whether in the city or on a remote island in the Bahamas! These cabins focus heavily on solar shading and roof overhangs.

What we like

  • Energy-efficient
  • Equipped with smart technology

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

8. The Rain Harvest Home

Even though I know I will probably never be able to live in one, I definitely like looking at homes that are located in the middle of nature. Of course, it still needs to have some kind of modern conveniences as a city girl like me still loves her creature comforts. But the idea of living in a luxurious but eco-friendly home near mountains and trees and rivers has a certain, romantic appeal, even if that will most likely remain just a dream.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Rain Harvest Home seems to meet all of the criteria I was mentioning above as it is located in a nature reserve in Valle Bravo, just two hours away from Mexico City. It’s actually more than just a house, although the house itself is already pretty amazing in itself. It also has an architect’s studio and a detached bathhouse just a few steps away from the main house.

What we like

  • A green roof that seems to be hovering above the house
  • Net-zero structure

What we dislike

  • The raw and unpolished aesthetics may not appeal to everyone

9. Playa Viva

Playa Viva is an ecoresort in Juluchuca, Mexico made up of off-grid treehouse-style villas with roofs shaped like the wings of Mobula Rays.

Why is it noteworthy?

The beauty of biophilic architecture is that nature provides the blueprint. In environments with dense foliage and rough terrain, integrating the natural landscape into the lay of the building helps define the floor plan’s parameters and the building’s structural shape. Immersing guests in nature, biophilic architecture artfully dissolves the barrier between the outdoors and interior spaces. Atelier Nomadic, a Rotterdam-based architecture firm that specializes in biophilic architecture, designed Playa Viva, an eco-resort village of treehouse-style villas that plants guests right on the surf of the Pacific Ocean in Juluchuca, Mexico.

What we like

  • The structural shape replicates the flexed wings of a Mobula Ray
  • Functioning like a gigantic umbrella, the hyperbolic and paraboloid-shaped roof offers total coverage from the blazing sun and heavy rain
  • It’s an eco-resort

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

10. The Holiday Home

The Holiday Home is an eco-conscious tiny home in Belgium that was built using circular construction and bio-ecological building methods. In an effort to close material loops, circular construction methods choose first to recycle and reuse before consuming new building material. In this way, circular construction is inherently eco-conscious and fairs well with architecture that’s rooted in the environment.

Why is it noteworthy?

Biophilic and organic architecture tend to rely on disused waste and recycled matter for building material, underlining a stalwart commitment to the land below each building’s foundation. Depending on circular construction and bio-ecological building methods to give rise to one of their latest projects, Polygoon Architectuur designed and constructed a tiny holiday home for a small family.

What we like

  • Eco-conscious home
  • Utilizes circular construction

What we dislike

  • Not everyone may be comfortable with the unique shape of the home

The post Top 10 architectural structures that are the epitome of biophilic design first appeared on Yanko Design.

A green roof helps this villa in Norway to blend in with the surrounding countryside

Villa Aa is a countryside residence in Norway built with a green roof to be in harmony with the surrounding environment.

The style of organic architecture looks no further than the land for inspiration. In an effort to not disrupt the preexisting landscape, organic architecture forms homes that move in harmony with nature, not against it. Norway architecture firm C.F. Møller recently finished work on their latest organic architecture undertaking, Villa Aa.

Designer: C.F. Møller

Invisible from far distances, Villa Aa retreats into the sloping hillside with help from a green roof that follows the natural topography surrounding the residence. Located in a protected countryside near Oslo Fjord, Villa Aa is a residence built to adapt to changing land regulations so future generations can still the countryside home.

Designed to be an office as well as a home, Villa Aa’s interior rooms seamlessly transition between garden courtyards and office areas, informal and formal living spaces. Looking at Villa Aa from its rear exterior deck, entire glass facades are created with sliding glass doors that dissolve the barrier between the outdoors and interior spaces. From there, residents enjoy unfettered views of Oslo Fjord, connecting the home to its larger environment.

Also facing the home’s outdoor spaces, a formal living room, kitchen, and three main bedrooms are blended into the villa’s layout. Then, an office space, a family living room, bathrooms, and smaller reception areas make up the other end of the home. Throughout the residence, rooms sharing the same axis feature overhead skylights that merge with Villa Aa’s green roof.

Acting as the home’s upper terrace, the green roof artfully conceals the home’s concrete facades, which trace the entirety of the home’s rear, outdoor spaces. The concrete merges with steel columns and girders that stand in contrast to the home’s warmer, rustic interior made from varnished and smoked cedarwood. Used for the villa’s walls, floors, terraces, stairwells, and exterior steps, concrete gives rise to the backyard’s pool area that merges with the interior concrete flooring.

The villa’s exterior concrete living spaces blend seamlessly into the interior’s concrete flooring. 

Villa Aa’s green roof conceals the home from a distance. 

From the exterior deck, residents can enjoy unfettered views of the Oslo Fjord. 

The post A green roof helps this villa in Norway to blend in with the surrounding countryside first appeared on Yanko Design.

Off-grid treehouse style villas make up this eco-resort that takes inspiration from Mobula Rays

Playa Viva is an ecoresort in Juluchuca, Mexico made up of off-grid treehouse-style villas with roofs shaped like the wings of Mobula Rays.

The beauty of biophilic architecture is that nature provides the blueprint. In environments with dense foliage and rough terrain, integrating the natural landscape into the lay of the building helps define the floor plan’s parameters and the building’s structural shape. Immersing guests in nature, biophilic architecture artfully dissolves the barrier between the outdoors and interior spaces. Atelier Nomadic, a Rotterdam-based architecture firm that specializes in biophilic architecture, designed Playa Viva, an eco-resort village of treehouse-style villas that plants guests right on the surf of the Pacific Ocean in Juluchuca, Mexico.

Designer: Atelier Nomadic

Unlike their usual approach, Atelier Nomadic had to meet with the client behind Playa Viva online as a result of the pandemic restricting travel. From these virtual workshops, the architects with Atelier Nomadic envisioned Playa Viva’s structural shape to replicate the flexed wings of a Mobula Ray. A familiar sight to the shores of Mexico, Mobula Rays seem to encapsulate Atelier Nomadic’s mission for integrating nature into their designs, as well as the spirit of Playa Viva. Functioning like a gigantic umbrella, the hyperbolic and paraboloid-shaped roof offers total coverage from the blazing sun and heavy rain. On the opposite end, each treehouse villa is propped up on a collection of wooden stilts that support the larger bamboo dwelling.

Chosen for its speedy regenerative process, Guadua bamboo comprises the build of each villa’s main living volume, roof structure, facade louvers, and ceiling. In the main living volume, guests can find the main bedroom and untouched views of the ocean, while enjoying natural cross-ventilation from the bamboo louvers. Besides Guadua, fishpole bamboo was used to give rise to Playa Viva’s annex building’s walls and facade panels. In each structure, Cumaru timber was chosen for the flooring. In the annex structures, Atelier Nomadic placed the bathroom and additional sleeping accommodation, or a lounge area.

As part of Playa Viva’s eco-resort appeal and mission, each villa is entirely self-sustained, garnering energy from the sun to power each facility and amenity. In close collaboration with the local community, Playa Viva supports health and education services for locals and works on a year-round basis to restore the surrounding land. Offering access to the rugged, unspoiled beauty of Mexico’s land, Playa Viva also works hard to protect it through the La Tortuga Viva Turtle Sanctuary, a nonprofit organization rooted in sea turtle conservation.

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This hanging light fixture doubles as a planter to bring nature indoors

Jungle is a one-part light fixture and one-part planter that can be suspended from the ceiling by two lengthy fabric straps.

Ever since we started working from home, biophilic design has been our saving grace. Created from the intersection of nature and the indoors, biophilic design typically combines some aspect of nature with interior design or architecture.

Designer: KABO & PYDO

Most commonly in homes across the world, indoor gardens are a form of biophilic design. Interpreting biophilia in a similar way, Jungle, designed by Poland-based KABO & PYDO design studio, is a planter that can hang from the ceiling and also function as a semi-flush mount light fixture.

Comprised of only a few parts, the beauty of Jungle lies in the design’s simplicity. Defined by a bulbous, capsule-shaped centerpiece, Jungle is a half-planter and half-light fixture. The capsule-shaped planter emanates a warm, golden light that’s diffused with an opaque body. The opaque body softens the light and accentuates the plant life by offering an unassuming canvas for teeming greenery to drape across.

 

As the designers describe, “The simple form of a glowing vessel is a perfect background emphasizing the beauty of the main actors – plants. The lamp emits a soft, silky-smooth light that creates a relaxing atmosphere, ideal for places such as the chill-out zone. Light and nature will help you relax.”

Hanging from the ceiling, the light fixture is suspended by two lengthy fabric straps that merge with the ceiling for a seamless look. Watertight by design, the opaque, plastic lampshade keeps a simple, modern look that fits right into any living room.

The post This hanging light fixture doubles as a planter to bring nature indoors first appeared on Yanko Design.

This biophilic air purifier uses 100% fully biodegradable filters to combat landfill waste!

Olus is a compact, biophilic air purifier designed for those living in small city spaces and is stocked with 100% fully biodegradable filters to combat landfill waste.

In major cities, dealing with air pollution is a given. We check the AQI just like we check the weather. As soon as the AQI slips into the yellow and worse yet, red territories, that’s when our air purifiers start whirring. However, living in small city spaces makes dragging bulky air purifiers from the closet feel like a chore and when everyone’s using one, the waste produced from discarding used air filters becomes another problem. That’s why Louie Duncan created Olus, a compact, biophilic air purifier designed with 100% fully biodegradable air filters.

Breathing in polluted air is physically unhealthy and the mental strain that comes from dealing with its effects only amplifies the stress. Then, the waste produced as a result makes poor air quality that much more difficult to combat, garnering 6,000 tonnes of air filter waste every year, all of which ends up in landfills. Most air purifiers taking on a bulky build with a clinical aesthetic, so Duncan aimed to give Olus an inviting look with biophilic accents that warm up its personality to enhance the product-user relationship. A digital display panel also reveals the room’s AQI, temperature, and other data.

Taking to nature for inspiration, Olus features organic forms, patterns, and textures like a moss-covered exterior and abstract trims that resemble flower petals. The filter, fan, and motor encased inside Olus’s body operate the product’s purification method in a similar fashion to most air purifiers, except Olus only works with 100% fully biodegradable filters.

The two-stage air filtration process purifies the air in any room, with the interior fan drawing in air to push through a layer of dried moss that removes large pollutants before passing through a high-efficiency particulate air filter that removes 90% of fine particulate matter. The plant-based biodegradable air filters are made from polylactic acid, a derivative of corn plants, and can be sent to Olus following use where they’ll be composted.

Designer: Louie Duncan x Christian P Kerrigan Architecture

An interior look reveals that even the encased fan resembles flower petals.

The fan, filtration system, and motor are stacked inside of Olus. 

Dried moss coats the exterior of Olus with a preliminary filtration system. 

Users can easily replace the air filters by dissembling Olus into three parts. 

Duncan created Olus to have an air purifier on the market that produces zero waste while cleaning the air we breathe.

This concrete restaurant merges brutalist architecture with a vertical garden design for an inviting green vibe!

Walking into the Loop Design Studio’s Playground Restaurant, patrons will feel transported to some whimsical greenhouse somewhere in the middle of their concrete city.

When a new restaurant opens up, it has the potential to change the entire vibe of your neighborhood. Restaurants have to make sense of the neighborhood they come into and contribute something new to it. The new Playground Restaurant in the commercial hub of Chandigarh, India tries to do just that by incorporating familiar brutalist and modernist interior design elements and blending those with blooming plant life to give the recognizable concrete look playful, green energy.

A cinder block wall forms an irregular building pattern and merges a concrete look with a vertical garden of potted plants. Overhead, a translucent glass ceiling disperses soft light, and the surrounding walls, plotted with concrete planters and greenery, aerate the restaurant’s open-air space. While markings of the city’s modernist origins appear throughout the restaurant, those are juxtaposed with key biophilic design elements.

The industrial ceiling is softened with vintage hanging lamps and surrounding greenery. Even the walls, made from protruding cinder blocks, are bustling with vines and plant life. The cinder blocks assemble an irregular pattern, stacked on top of one another at varied orientations. Loop Design Studio filled the blocks’ exposed cores with vintage glass Edison light bulbs that emanate warm, golden light and the blocks that jut out from the wall with potted plants.

The wall between Playground Restuarant’s cinder block walls is lined with audio cassette tapes. A woodfire oven sets the stage for the restaurant’s elevated, cozier corner that features terracotta flooring with polished cobalt blue tiles.

Rustic, mismatched wooden tables fill the interior of the Playground, enhancing its cozy appeal. Flanking both sides of a wall lined with audio cassette tapes, the cinder block walls create a sort of shelf system which Loop Design Studio filled up with warm lighting fixtures and plenty of different potted plants, like dracaena and evergreen vines.

The restaurant’s lounge area features webbed woodwork and brass accents to evoke a darker, more romantic mood. By tapping into Chandigarh’s brutalist cityscape while embracing the natural playfulness of biophilic design, Loop Design Studio established a restaurant that feels familiar and sheds new light on the city’s ingrained concrete personality.

Designer: Loop Design Studio

This hydroponic smart garden mounts on your wall to remove the air pollutants accumulated in quarantine

We get it – wanting to be in nature with fresh air after being holed up in quarantine for practically an entire year. In quarantine, I’m currently living in a tiny apartment in a city with an AQI that seems to perpetually read, “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” without a car and no want for transportation other than my own two feet. Trust me, I get it. Being locked up for so long can make you feel stir-crazy. To make up for it, I’ve bought more plants and flowers for myself in 2020 than I have my entire life. The team at Respira, experts in commercial living walls quote that 90% of our time is spent indoors. If my math is correct, with stricter stay-at-home orders put in place, then that’s a lot of days. In efforts to keep our indoor spaces feeling open and healthy, Mitchell Cowburn and Dylan Robertson founded the company New Earth Solutions, an Ontario-based firm focused on creating low-energy biophilic design solutions. With New Earth Solutions, they designed Respira, an air-purifying, modular wall garden that takes care of itself.

Respira, “is a hydroponic smart garden that optimizes the plant’s ability to remove indoor pollutants from your home through the science of biofiltration,” as described on the team’s website. Biofiltration is simply a natural form of air purification that takes place when microbes that live near a plant’s roots help recirculate clean air into indoor living spaces. Essentially, toxic air pollutants drift into Respira’s purifying system and an integrated fan pushes that air towards the roots of Respira’s plants, which cleanse the toxic air and turn it into healthy air we can breathe. The whole system comes in either white or black, with a 20W LED grow-light, and is manufactured using sustainably-sourced ABS plastic. Advertised as a garden that takes care of itself, Respira comes equipped with an integrated monitor that manages water temperature, levels, and flow, air temperature, humidity and TVOC levels, and the total amount of dissolved solids present in the plant’s water. If that’s not enough to keep up with the needs of your garden, text alerts can also be set so you can be notified each time one of your plants needs acute attention and Respira’s fully-automated care system allows users to tend to their plants from anywhere. The only responsibilities left for users are filling the water basin every ten days, changing the nutrients every six months, and washing the prefilter every two months. Check it out mom, I can feed my plants miles away from home.

The work that comes with taking care of a Respira plant system is, unsurprisingly, similar to taking care of everyday house plants, but by advertising their “backed-by-science” biofiltration system, Respira attempts to set their design above the rest. Soil biofiltration has garnered a lot of attention in the search for greener air purification models, but it’s still a relatively young technology. Installing biofiltration systems in living spaces can produce cleaner air, but leave it for bigger industrial spaces. The truth is, plant management is easy enough if your living space can accommodate it, and taking the time out to learn how to care for each one of your plants and their specific needs might get you closer to enjoying nature from behind closed doors than responding to a text ever could. Besides, I know of an outdoor nursery that sells ivy for ten bucks a pop and it’s within walking distance.

Designer: New Earth Solutions

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