Designer Insights: The Future of Offices
Vol.12 Creating Biophilic Spaces through Photography
Greenery is growing its presence in offices. From green walls and large potted plants to terraces that connect indoor and outdoor spaces, biophilic design, which brings nature into the places where we work, has become an essential keyword when considering the workplaces of the future. But does placing plants in an office suffice to make it biophilic? A new photography service has been launched that explores the core of the concept.
Report by Miki Homma, Lifestyle Journalist
Is it possible to feel nature without indoor plants?
The very definition of biophilic design is beginning to expand. Bringing plants into a space is no longer the only way to connect people with nature. The focus is gradually shifting from bringing nature indoors to ways to create environments where people can “feel” the nature, whether through photographs, light and materials, views from their windows, or experiences that involve physically venturing out into nature.
One interesting example of this has emerged at WORK VILLA YAESU, an office building managed by Sumitomo Corporation in Yaesu, near Tokyo Station. Photographs of nature that look like views from a window have been installed in various locations throughout the building.
The project was conceived by a team called kivi, a service provider that creates spaces embodying biophilic design through nature photography. I spoke to members of the project team.
“Biophilic design is receiving a great deal of attention at the moment. Many companies are actively incorporating plants into their workplaces. However, biophilic design is not simply about increasing the amount of greenery. Its essence lies in creating an environment that makes it easy to feel the calming, beneficial effects nature has on our minds, in integrating with nature”, a team member explains.
Introducing more plants drives up the monthly running costs for taking care of and replacing them. Large-format photographs of nature offered a solution to this issue. Japan’s national parks were selected as the theme for the nature photographs in WORK VILLA YAESU.