Biophilic Design

🌿 From Polluted Canal to Floating Eco-Park: The Story of the Wild Mile 🌿 What if a dead industrial waterway could be transformed into a thriving floating wildlife park? 🌊🌾 In Chicago, a group of innovators asked exactly that — and created the Wild Mile, the world’s first floating eco-park. 💡✨ Once a polluted shipping channel filled with waste, Chicago’s old industrial canals had no wildlife, no plants, and no purpose. But thanks to Urban Rivers, what was once a forgotten waterway is now a living, breathing ecosystem. 🌿💚 And now? They've just raised $1.4M to scale this success to more rivers across the U.S.! 🚀 ✨ Here’s how they did it: 🛶 Modular Floating Platforms: Attaching directly to old steel walls, these platforms create space for nature to thrive. 🌱 Soil-Free Planting: Native plants grow with their roots hanging directly into the water, filtering pollutants and restoring water quality. 🐟 Habitat Creation: The floating gardens offer homes for fish, birds, and even beavers and turtles. 🚶♀️ Walkways for Exploration: Interconnected pathways let visitors explore without disturbing wildlife, blending human interaction with ecosystem preservation. 🌎 The Impact? 🐦 105+ bird species now call the Wild Mile home 🐢 Beavers, turtles, and thousands of mussels are helping clean the water 🌊 Significant reduction in local water pollution 🤝 32,000 visitors a year and hundreds of engaged volunteers From a volunteer-led experiment to a blueprint for urban ecological restoration, the Wild Mile proves that the best ideas often start with one simple question: "What if?" 💡🌿 Would you love to see projects like this in more cities? Let us know in the comments! 👇✨ Hat tip: Ollie Potter #UrbanDesign #BiophilicDesign #Sustainability #WildMile #EcoPark #GreenInfrastructure #CommunityEngagement #EnvironmentalRestoration #Chicago

🌿 75.9 House: Where Architecture Becomes a Living Landscape 🌿 Nestled on a hay farm in the Canadian Pacific Northwest, Omer Arbel’s 75.9 house is more than a home—it’s a testament to how architecture can truly merge with nature. This 9,000 sq. ft. biophilic masterpiece embraces the fluidity of concrete and the organic beauty of the surrounding environment, redefining the relationship between built form and the land. 🌱 Architecture That Grows With Nature Unlike conventional homes that impose on the landscape, 75.9 is designed to disappear into it. The house is built around four massive fabric-formed concrete ‘lily pads’, which not only define the structure but also serve as planters for trees, allowing the building to evolve over time. This is biophilic design at its core—blurring the lines between nature and shelter. 🏗️ Sculpting with Earth & Gravity 75.9’s curvilinear concrete walls aren’t forced into rigid forms—they’re shaped by gravity itself. Using an innovative fabric formwork technique, the concrete is poured in a slow, continuous flow, allowing it to settle naturally. This process eliminates waste from traditional wooden molds and creates a woven, organic texture that feels as though the structure was unearthed rather than built. #BiophilicDesign #SustainableArchitecture #LivingWithNature #OmerArbel #GreenBuilding #MaterialInnovation #ConcreteRevolution Date: 2017 - 2023 Gross floor area: 8000 ft2 | 740 m2 Client: Joe and Keira Haley Designer: Omer Arbel Office Contractor: Chris Wright of Build Wright Construction with Joe Haley and consulting by Brad Martin of Treeline Construction Architect of record: Bruce Gernon Architect Structural: Thomas Duke and Nick de Ridder of Fast + Epp Structural Engineers Geotechnical: Matt Kokan of Geopacific Consultants Building Envelope: JRS Engineering Image credit: Fahim Kassam

🌿 Bringing the Garden to the Sky: Heatherwick Studio’s Vision in Singapore 🌿 What if urban living didn’t mean sacrificing nature, but instead embraced it — pulling the landscape up into the sky? 🌱🏙️ In Singapore’s historic Newton district, Heatherwick Studio has redefined apartment living with a design that embodies the city’s long-standing vision of being a “city in a garden”. 🌳✨ This bold departure from the traditional glass-and-steel tower creates homes that feel immersed in nature, all while offering the comforts and benefits of high-rise living. 🏡🌆 ✨ Design Highlights: 🌿 Homes in a Garden: The conventional square tower block is pulled apart, creating expansive central living spaces with wide, shell-like balconies that offer both privacy and panoramic views. 🌳 Greenery That Grows With You: The building is threaded with planting, starting from an intensely planted tropical garden at ground level and rising through planted chandeliers in the 18-meter-high lobby. Over 20 species of flora fill the double-height outdoor balconies, offering residents their own private gardens in the sky. 🌸🍃 🌞 Natural Light & Shade: The unique balcony design offers natural shading from the Singapore sun while ensuring every apartment is bathed in daylight, reducing reliance on artificial lighting and cooling. 🌾 A Living, Evolving Façade: As the plants mature, they will cascade down the building, softening its appearance and making it feel like a sapling growing into a mighty tree — a dynamic façade that changes with the seasons. 🏛️ Crafted Details & Natural Materials: The design celebrates natural textures and evocative materials, ensuring a deep connection between the residents and the surrounding tropical landscape. This project isn’t just an apartment building — it’s a living ecosystem, blurring the boundaries between home and nature, city and garden. 🌎💡 It redefines what urban living can be, offering privacy, light, and a lush, calming environment in the heart of Singapore. Would you live in a building like this — where the garden grows right outside your window? 🌿🏡 Let us know in the comments! 👇✨ #BiophilicDesign #HeatherwickStudio #UrbanLiving #GreenArchitecture #SingaporeDesign #LandscapeArchitecture #Sustainability #CityInAGarden #InnovativeDesign Images: Hufton + Crow https://buff.ly/4i7ls1p

🪸 Coral Like You’ve Never Seen Before 🪸 Under a 3D laser-scan confocal microscope, coral comes to life — glowing, intricate, and mesmerizing. ✨🔬 This groundbreaking tech lets scientists study living coral in stunning 3D without harm, revealing a hidden world: 🌊 Coral Polyps: Tiny, tentacled creatures building massive reefs. 🌿 Symbiotic Algae: Bright red zooxanthellae that power coral through photosynthesis. 🦴 Calcium Skeletons: Delicate, lace-like structures forming marine habitats. ✨ Bioluminescence: Corals glowing under UV light in surreal, fluorescent colors. 🔬 Micro-Ecosystem: A vibrant community of polyps, algae, bacteria, and tiny invertebrates. 💡 Why It Matters: Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor but support 25% of marine life. Protecting them is vital for our oceans’ health. 💙🌍 Seeing coral in this incredible detail reminds us just how precious — and fragile — these ecosystems are. 🌱🪸 #CoralReefs #MarineBiology #OceanConservation #3DMicroscopy #Sustainability #ClimateAction Credit: Christine Farrar, PhD, Confocal Microscopist H/T Oliver Bolton

🌿 Where Learning Flows with Nature: Kakapo Creek Early Learning Centre, New Zealand 🌿 What happens when you design an educational space with both children and the planet in mind? 🌱✨ The Kakapo Creek Early Learning Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, is the answer — a stunning example of biophilic design that seamlessly connects young learners with nature every single day. 🏫💚 Completed in 2021, this early learning center doesn’t just coexist with its natural environment — it becomes part of it. 💡🌳 ✨ Design Highlights: 🏛️ Nature-First Architecture: A circular-shaped building wraps around a central, open-roofed courtyard and playground, blurring the line between indoors and out. Minimal disruption to the site meant only three small trees were removed during construction. 🌳✨ 🌞 Natural Light & Ventilation: Open-air rooms and generous windows flood the space with daylight, promoting well-being, enhancing student performance, and reducing the need for artificial lighting or mechanical ventilation. 🌬️ Eco-Friendly & Energy Efficient: The design maximizes natural ventilation, reducing reliance on heating and cooling while lowering the building’s carbon footprint. 🌍💨 🌿 Built Around Nature: A stream flowing by the center was integrated into the design, offering children a real, living connection to water — a vital biophilic element. 💧🐟 🏡 Sustainable Materials: The structure incorporates upcycled materials from existing houses, and its native plant-covered green roof not only insulates the building but also filters rainwater, reducing stormwater run-off by over 50%. 🌾🌧️ Kakapo Creek isn’t just a place to learn — it’s a living, breathing classroom that fosters curiosity, respect for nature, and a sense of community, all while promoting sustainability and well-being. 🌎💡 Wouldn’t you have loved to explore a space like this as a child? Let us know your thoughts below! 👇✨ #BiophilicDesign #EarlyLearning #Sustainability #EducationalArchitecture #GreenBuilding #KakapoCreek #LandscapeArchitecture #HolisticEducation #NatureInspiredDesign

📢 🎟️ This just in - Amanda Sturgeon (FAIA, CEO of the The Biomimicry Institute) will be a Keystone Presenter at the Biomimicry Confluence. 🌍 Amanda is a force to be reckoned with. Not only is she an award-wining architect, she's also an author ("Creating Biophilic Buildings"); and serves on several boards and advisory committees (including Climate Action Network Australia). But on Thursday 13 March, she is pressing pause on all that to speak at the Biomimicry Confluence - what an incredible opportunity to come and learn from her. 🎟️You can join the flow here: https://buff.ly/uc2XaYP #Biomimicry #Innovation #Sustainability #DigitalEvent

📢 🎟️ LAST CALL: Join the Revolution at Biomimicry Confluence! 🌍 Imagine a world where 42 dynamic networks, over 1,161 passionate innovators, and creative minds from 29 countries finally unite. The Biomimicry Confluence is that moment—a digital stage where groundbreaking ideas meet nature’s genius. Join us on 13th & 14th March 2025 for a two-day journey to: 🤝 Forge personal, lasting connections 💡 Spark innovative conversations 🌱 Unlock nature-inspired solutions 🔍 Discover the untapped potential within your community We’re a young species embracing a young approach—evolving together to regenerate, restore, and live in harmony with Mother Nature. Are you ready to be part of this transformative movement? 🚀 🎟️ Register here: https://buff.ly/uc2XaYP #Biomimicry #Innovation #Sustainability #DigitalEvent

🌿 Reimagining Rooftops: From Concrete to Green Havens Event 🌿 🎟️ Get your tickets now! https://buff.ly/9iMUhaZ How can rooftops become thriving, biodiverse parks that enhance urban life? Join us for an inspiring session with the architects of this amazing circular building that recycles its air 💨♻️ and boasts an 800-meter running track -- Jonas Berglund from Kragh & Berglund Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. In this event he will talk about 'Basecamp Lyngby,' the innovative project that has propelled the Danish city of Lyngby to win the Green Cities Europe Award 2023 as well as how rooftop spaces can seamlessly blend beauty, sustainability, and functionality. 🎟️ Get your tickets now! https://lnkd.in/gCmbJMDB #circulareconomy #zerowaste #GreenRoofDesign #BiophilicCities #SustainableUrbanism #LandscapeArchitecture #Biodiversity #RooftopParks DronePixels for the footage 🍃

Where Play Meets Nature: ECOKID Kindergarten, Vietnam 🌿 What if learning wasn’t confined to four walls, but instead flowed seamlessly with nature? 🌱✨ The ECOKID Kindergarten near Hanoi, Vietnam, beautifully answers that call — creating a space where curiosity, creativity, and a deep connection to the natural world flourish. 🏫💡 Designed by LAVA (with studios in Sydney, Stuttgart, and Berlin) for Hoo Goong Education Development & Investment, this 6,300 sqm campus is a shining example of biophilic design in education — a place where nature isn’t just a backdrop, but an integral part of learning. 🌎💚 ✨ Design Highlights: 🏛️ Organic & Playful Architecture: Three semi-circular buildings over three levels are connected by playful bridges, forming a network of indoor and outdoor spaces that invite discovery at every turn. 🌳 Nature at Every Corner: Designed around three courtyards and a central forest, with breezes from a nearby lake weaving through, nature is always within sight — whether in the classroom or on the playground. 🎨 Child-Friendly, Not Childish: The architecture embraces organic curves, circular glazing, and primary color accents, creating a stimulating yet sophisticated space that supports learning and play. 🧩 Non-Linear, Safe Spaces: From the structural pillars to the ceilings and even the indoor swimming pool, everything follows curvilinear forms, minimizing sharp angles and creating a welcoming, safe, and playful environment. 🌱 A Living Classroom: Designed to promote holistic development, the campus encourages activity-based learning, interaction with nature, and a deep sense of well-being — all while reducing stress and improving mood through biophilic principles. The ECOKID Kindergarten isn’t just a school — it’s a vision for how architecture can nurture young minds while fostering a meaningful connection to the natural world. 🌾💚 Wouldn’t you have loved to learn in a space like this? Let us know in the comments! 👇✨ #BiophilicDesign #EducationalArchitecture #Sustainability #LandscapeArchitecture #ECOKIDKindergarten #VietnamArchitecture #FutureOfLearning #HolisticEducation #LAVAArchitects https://buff.ly/3QrXEtn

🌿 Turning Rainwater into a Resource: The Power of SuDS Planters 🌿 What if the solution to urban flooding was as simple as a planter? 💧🌱 SuDS Planters (Sustainable Drainage Systems) are an innovative, nature-based solution that not only manage rainwater but also bring life and beauty to our urban spaces. 🌎✨ ✨ Why SuDS Planters Matter: 💧 Flood Prevention: By capturing and filtering rainwater runoff, SuDS planters ease the pressure on traditional drainage systems, reducing surface water flooding risks. 🌱 Natural Filtration: Layers of plants and specially designed soil filter pollutants, improving the quality of water that returns to the environment. 🐝 Boosting Biodiversity: These green systems support pollinators and urban wildlife, creating mini ecosystems right in the heart of our cities. 🌞 Cooling Urban Spaces: The added greenery helps reduce the urban heat island effect, cooling our streets and improving air quality. 🌿 Enhancing Public Spaces: Beyond their functional benefits, SuDS planters bring aesthetic value to streetscapes, commercial areas, schools, and residential settings. Source: Meristem Design #SuDS #SuDSplanters #NatureBasedSolution #WaterManagement #GreenInfrastructure #UrbanDesign #Sustainability #ClimateAdaptation