Feeling Materialistic?

On our minds

For the majority of our history, humans have lived closely with nature. We crave nature on a primal level, and consequently, it shows up in our built environment. Nature is the inspiration behind two different but related material phenomena: biophilia and biomimicry.

Biophilia is when we evoke or represent nature in design, to access the benefits of actually being in nature. It can be as simple as filling a room with plants or as holistic as designing light, air-flow, water features, and even office ecosystems that mimic the natural world. Biophilic design incorporates materials such as stone, cork, reclaimed wood, and natural fibers. Plant “walls” may be used to divide rooms. Carpets may resemble grassy fields. Interior glass that lets light stream through, aquariums, koi ponds, and breezeways may all come into play, in designing indoor (or partially indoor) spaces that feel more like outdoor spaces.

Biophilic design is multi-sensory, something we talk about a lot at PLASTARC. It considers texture and scent (think aromatherapy), as well as sight and sound. Interested in incorporating biophilia into your home office? This site sells everything from moss walls to moss floor mats, while full-spectrum lightbulbs can mimic natural light if you don’t have floor-to-ceiling windows. Set smart-bulbs on a timer, and they will subtly dim as the day winds down, to mimic the effects of daylight slowly fading—and support your circadian rhythm. You may want to arrange plants around your desk in a semicircle, so that you feel hidden in greenery. This taps into our deeply embedded need of refuge, in order to relax, focus, and be productive. (In the early days, we were hiding from predators. Now we’re just fending off distractions and chatty coworkers.) Even the things we touch throughout the day—our ceramic coffee mug, our bark-covered pen box—can evoke the textures of nature.

In the absence of actual nature, biophilic design may be paired with technology to create immersive, virtual experiences. As VR grows more affordable, we expect to see these elements incorporated into office design more often. Can you imagine your desk in the middle of the forest, with towering redwoods and soothing birdsong? This kind of scene could be projected floor-to-ceiling onto office walls, in the same way that CGI is used to create Hollywood dreamscapes; forest sounds could be piped in via hidden speakers. Virtual landscapes have already been shown in a small study to increase positive emotions among college students.

Biomicricy is different from biophilia, in that it actually mimics functions found in the natural world. One of the best known examples is Velcro, famously inspired in 1941 by the burs (seed pods) George de Mistral found on his dog. Bumps have been added to wind turbine blades, after noting how they reduce drag on the fins of humpback whales, and special coating is applied to windows—inspired by the reflective silk of the Orb weaver spider web—to prevent birds from injuring themselves flying into through glass. An electrical engineering student, Chang-Jiang Chen, solved an early issue with LED lights when he noticed that fireflies have asymmetric microstructures in their lanterns, which project more light than a flat structure. Redesigning LED bulbs to mimic these microstructures resulted in greater light output. (Want some more examples of biomicricy?)

One of our favorite architectural examples is Eastgate Center in Harare, built in 1996. In collaboration with local engineering team at Arup, Zimbabwean architect Mick Pearce designed a sustainable office and retail complex that heats and cools itself naturally, after he was inspired by termite mounds. These mounds must maintain a narrow interior temperature range to keep the inhabitants healthy. They accomplish this with vents that open and close at the top and bottom of the mound, drawing air where it needs to go. During the day, Eastgate Center warms from the sun and human activity. At night, the warm air rises and is vented through openings at the top. This motion draws cool air into vents at the bottom. The result is that Eastgate Center is cool and ready for the next day's activity, and overall, uses less than 10% energy on temperature control than that of a conventional building of the same size.

As consumers move from synthetic to natural fabrics and look for biodegradable and compostable options on everything from underwear to iPhone cases, a similar trend is happening in the world of building materials. Japanese builders have long used naturally fire-retardant and anti-bacterial seaweed extracts in construction glue. Both ancient Danish and Chinese people wove fire-and-rot proof roofs from seaweed; as global warming kicks off a range of vegetation over-growth design teams are finding new solutions and uses for excess biomass. Mushroom bricks have proven to be stronger than concrete, while hempcrete, made from hemp and limestone, is becoming an increasingly popular, carbon-sequestering insulator. The latest MIT DesignX cohort teams are exploring cool solutions such as using crop stubble for construction filler, as opposed to releasing carbon by burning it, or making leather out of coffee grounds. And all of this is, to borrow yet again from nature, the “tip of the iceberg” (you know, the thing we are trying to keep from melting!).

So the next time you’re feeling trapped in the concrete jungle, maybe take refuge near the closest example of biophilic design. And the next time you’re stuck on something, take a walk in a green space or plan a weekend hike. If conversations about the circular economy are making your head spin, (re)read Cradle-to-Cradle, under a tree. Not only will you benefit from reduced cortisol and extra oxygen, you just might stumble across the exact solution you seek naturally!

From the archives

In earlier springs, PLASTARC has been fascinated by the concept of location intelligence and what it means for the workplace, what neuroarchitecture has to do with office design, and how buildings shape our health and habits. Back in the day, we were speaking on panels about crowdsourced and funded workplace platforms and creating truly healthy office environments. The takeaway: a full decade ago, we held similar obsessions—some things don't change! We wanted work and the workplace to be equitable and to build us up, physically and mentally, rather than tearing us down. In 2015, just like in 2025, we were examining science-backed means of accomplishing that.

In the spirit of material goods, we present Material Girls – an Atlanta-based glam-punk group that may send you swinging across your office, brushing everything your fingertips can reach. But, if forest ambiance is more your thing, here’s three hours of it.