Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species

7. Can Architecture Become Second Nature? An Emotion-Based Approach to Nature-Oriented Architecture

7 Can Architecture Become Second Nature? An Emotion-Based Approach to Nature-Oriented Architecture Yannick Joye Since the dawn of architecture, representations of natural elements and processes have been an integral part of architectural constructions and of the decorative elements with which they were adorned. For example, in Western architecture, there has been a long history of organicism, according to which architecture, to be aesthetically convincing, had to follow the form laws that were thought to govern organic nature (Van Eck, 1994). More recently, instances of so-called organic architecture have sought to integrate nature into architecture as a way to symbolize a (re)connection with or orientation toward the natural world (Pearson, 2001). A more technological perspective on introducing nature into architecture is based on the assumption that the shape or design of many natural structures elegantly and efficiently solves a particular ecological problem (Benyus, 1997). When buildings emulate these good design solutions in architecture, they are claimed to become more efficient, healthy, or sustainable. Ample psychological evidence shows that contact with nature can positively influence human well-being. Environmental psychology research, for example, indicates that visual exposure to natural landscapes and elements can reduce stress in humans and bolsters cognitive performance on attention tasks. In recent years, a number of researchers have proposed to exploit these positive nature effects by means of architecture or within architectural settings. The central goal of this chapter is to contribute both theoretically and practically to this literature on nature-oriented architecture. The account I develop tries to ground nature-oriented architecture in nature’s capacity to trigger so-called object-oriented emotions, such as awe, wonder, fascination, and delight. Because urban dwellers have few opportunities to experience these emotions , introducing nature into the built environment can counteract this trend and create lively living environments. 196 Yannick Joye The chapter begins by outlining the theoretical essentials of this emotion-based account and the ways that it differs from other versions of nature-oriented architecture, especially biophilic architecture. The main part of this chapter presents a selective overview of some natural elements or features that trigger object-oriented emotions and illustrates how naturalness can be introduced into architecture. Special attention is paid to questions of which structural aspects (such as complexity) and which natural elements (such as animals) natural environments contain and how they can give rise to such type of emotions. There are essentially two ways in which naturalness can be introduced in architecture—by bringing nature into architectural design (for example, by including water within a building or providing visual access to nature outside a building) and by mimicking nature through design. One nature-oriented intervention that is extensively discussed is the practice of applying nature’s so-called fractal geometry to architecture. Biophilic Architecture In recent years, psychological justification for nature-oriented architecture has been provided from the perspective of biophilia (literally, philia, “love,” and bio, “life”), a notion that was defined by Edward O. Wilson (1984) as the innate human tendency to focus on or to affiliate with life or lifelike processes and elements. According to Wilson and others, this human tendency evolved to negotiate encounters with lifelike things and processes during our species’ evolutionary history. Adherents of biophilia argue that, much like human individuals with an innate tendency to fear snakes or spiders survived better than those who remained affectively neutral to these creatures, biologically prepared positive responses toward specific natural elements or processes also increased human survival chances (Kellert & Wilson, 1993).1 Such biophilic tendencies still influence our behavior and attitudes. Diverse lines of supportive empirical evidence are commonly invoked for the biophilia hypothesis, including research on the restorative potential of natural settings (Heerwagen & Orians, 1993; Ulrich, 1993), Koyukon Indians’ intimate relationship with the natural world (Nelson, 1993), and the healing effects of (positive ) human-animal interactions (Katcher & Wilkins, 1993). With its emphasis on a deep and possibly innate affiliation with the natural world, biophilia shares common ground with ecopsychology. As biophilia attempts to provide a scholarly and science-based explanation Can Architecture Become Second Nature? 197 for our affiliations with nature, it becomes ecopsychology’s ally in its quest for more scholarship. Both biophilia and ecopsychology researchers agree that cutting ourselves loose from nature negatively affects human physical and psychological well-being. As urbanization increases globally, possibilities to experience nature and its beneficial effects are steadily declining (Kahn, 2002; Miller, 2005; Pyle, 2003). Given our...