A More Beautiful World
We are made for beauty. We are made to live in beautiful places and in beautiful ways. And when we don’t, we can make it beautiful once more.
Well, who says what’s beautiful? Isn’t beauty in the eye of the beholder?
Yes and no.
Researches have done their thing and discovered there is a suite of things that we pretty much all find beautiful. Like…we are wired to find beautiful. And these things are not just easy on our eyes, they make our whole bodies work better. The theory is that ages of evolution have conditioned our bodies to be drawn to places and situations that increase our chances for survival and flourishing.
This new field of study is called biophilia. Biophilia literally means love of life or living systems. Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson describes biophilia as the innate human need to affiliate and connect with the rest of life. The nice thing is, we don’t need researchers from Harvard to tell us this is a beautiful scene…
We innately know and feel when things are beautiful and when things aren’t right. But it’s actually really helpful to be able to understand why and how we determine things as beautiful because it helps us be able to design more places with those same winning qualities. Tons of solid studies have been done on this stuff (read the report from Terrapin Bright Green for a great deeper dive on biophilic design principles) but I’ll share with you some of the highlights at the bottom of this post.
I’m sharing this, not because you don’t know it, but because you already do. I want you to feel affirmed and empowered by and validated in the internal guide you already have. I want you to know that Harvard studies back up your innate sense of beauty.
Let beauty be your guide.
Follow it, trust it, act on it.
When you get into something that isn’t beautiful, step back and ask yourself:
How could this be more beautiful?
If this were incredibly beautiful, how would it look/work?
How can we foster a sense of love for this specific place?
The other main guiding question I want to offer is this:
How can everyone flourish here?
Really prioritizing the principles of biophilic design (below) and human flourishing give us reliable ground to design a world, environments, and systems where we can all flourish. The beauty in the eye of the beholder? That is the work of human flourishing that helps make us happy as individuals and creates unique places in the world that innovate, individuate, and give us that spices-of-life variety that makes the icing on all the different cakes. And make us want to travel this world!
Charles Eisenstein wrote a book called The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible. It’s an incredibly inspiring, dense book (each page gives you so much to chew on) but I find the title nearly as inspiring as the whole book itself. I mean, what do you think would happen if we got serious (and playful) about actually imagining and creating The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible?
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Ok, here’s the overview of Bill Browning’s 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design Principles…
Nature in the Space
Creating meaningful, direct connections with natural elements, particularly through diversity, movement and multi-sensory interactions.
Visual Connection with Nature. A view to elements of nature, living systems and natural processes.
Non-Visual Connection with Nature. Auditory, haptic, olfactory, or gustatory stimuli that engender a deliberate and positive reference to nature, living systems or natural processes.
Non-Rhythmic Sensory Stimuli. Stochastic and ephemeral connections with nature that may be analyzed statistically but may not be predicted precisely.
Thermal & Airflow Variability. Subtle changes in air temperature, relative humidity, airflow across the skin, and surface temperatures that mimic natural environments.
Presence of Water. A condition that enhances the experience of a place through seeing, hearing or touching water.
Dynamic & Diffuse Light. Leverages varying intensities of light and shadow that change over time to create conditions that occur in nature.
Connection with Natural Systems. Awareness of natural processes, especially seasonal and temporal changes characteristic of a healthy ecosystem.
Natural Analogues
Basically, when you can’t have nature itself, mimicking it is still better for our bodies.
8. Biomorphic Forms & Patterns. Symbolic references to contoured, patterned, textured or numerical arrangements that persist in nature.
9. Material Connection with Nature. Materials and elements from nature that, through minimal processing, reflect the local ecology or geology and create a distinct sense of place.
10. Complexity & Order. Rich sensory information that adheres to a spatial hierarchy similar to those encountered in nature.
Nature of the Space
11. Prospect. An unimpeded view over a distance, for surveillance and planning.
12. Refuge. A place for withdrawal from environmental conditions or the main flow of activity, in which the individual is protected from behind and overhead.
13. Mystery. The promise of more information, achieved through partially obscured views or other sensory devices that entice the individual to travel deeper into the environment.
14. Risk/Peril. An identifiable threat coupled with a reliable safeguard.
And here’s some of the ways these principles effect us…
Really, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Go dive into the report if you want to learn more. It’s good.
