2.4. Biophilic Urbanism

Aus Pattern Language Wiki

Within the Polycentric Region, assure that buildings and structures are conducive to high-quality human experience.


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Problem-statement: People have an instinctive need to be surrounded by the forms of nature, including biological nature. This need extends into the structures of cities, including their buildings.


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Discussion: Research has shown the importance of natural characteristics within the built environment for promoting human health and well-being. Yet many urban areas are harsh and unnatural, and as research has shown, these environments can produce high levels of stress, with negative impacts on human health and well-being.¹


Many people recognize the value of greenery, especially in urban areas. Indeed, many cities have lush canopies of street trees and other vegetation. At the same time, many cities have buildings and building elements that also produce a biophilic effect to elicit positive emotional and physiological responses from users.²


Biophilia works by combining two mechanisms: an intimate contact (emotional, visual, physical, tactile) with living beings, and human response to geometries that are created by following biological rules. This does not however mean a superficial copying of natural forms, but is achieved through mimicking the very process by which living structure is generated. Biophilic design can be incorporated to improve the healing effects experienced in the built environment. Ten factors listed here contribute to enhance the human experience, and these can be combined into the “biophilic index B”.


1. Sunlight

2. Color

3. Gravity

4. Fractals

5. Curves

6. Detail

7. Water

8. Life

9. Representations-of-nature

10. Organized-complexity³


We cannot emphasize strongly enough that these are not stylistic suggestions, nor a personal preference, nor indeed a desire to turn to the past, but have everything to do with improving human health. Recent studies have documented the health improvements of persons who experience biophilic environments. Mainstream architecture is fast adopting these ideas. Biophilic design has the potential to revolutionize architecture and urbanism in the 2020s, perhaps to the same degree that Modernism did in the 1920s.


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Biophilic design has been integrated into some of the most enduring and beloved urban and architectural works created since antiquity. Above, forms of animals and plants are integrated into columns in the Igreja de Santiago, in Coimbra, Portugal. Photo: Jl FilpoC via Wikimedia Commons.


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Therefore:

Incorporate biophilic properties and their components into urban structures at all scales, down to the details, including buildings and ornaments. Create biophilic urbanism with Street Trees, Fractal Pattern, Human-Scale Detail and Construction Ornament.


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Create biophilic urbanism with Street Trees, Fractal Pattern, Human-Scale Detail and Construction Ornament. …




¹ Much research confirms the increased stress levels including higher activation of the amygdala that are associated with negative experiences of urban living, in relation to exposure to more “natural” environments. See for example the work of Lederbogen, et al. published in Nature, “City living and urban upbringing affect neural social stress processing in humans” (2011): https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10190. Additional intriguing findings show that natural characteristics within the city can also produce important benefits, including naturalistic and “biophilic” elements of architecture. See for example Yannick Joye (2007). Architectural lessons from environmental psychology: The case of biophilic architecture. Review of General Psychology, 11(4), 305-328. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1037/1089-2680.11.4.305


² For a deeper discussion of this topic, see Kellert, S.R., Heerwagen, J.H. and Mador, M.L., Editors (2008). Biophilic Design. The theory, science and practice of bringing buildings to life. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.


³ Salingaros, N.A. (2019) The Biophilic Index Predicts Healing Effects of the Built Environment. Journal of Biourbanism, Volume 8, No. 1.



Mehaffy, M. et al. (2020). BIOPHILIC URBANISM (pattern). In A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. The Dalles: Sustasis Press. Available at https://pattern-language.wiki/.../Biophilic_Urbanism



SECTION I:

PATTERNS OF SCALE


1. REGIONAL PATTERNS

Define the large-scale spatial organization…

1.1. POLYCENTRIC REGION

1.2. BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

1.3. MOBILITY CORRIDOR

1.4. 400M THROUGH STREET NETWORK

2. URBAN PATTERNS

Establish essential urban characteristics…

2.1. WALKABLE MULTI-MOBILITY

2.2. LEVEL CITY

2.3. PUBLIC SPACE SYSTEM

2.4. BIOPHILIC URBANISM

3. STREET PATTERNS

Identify and allocate street types…

3.1. URBAN GREENWAY

3.2. MULTI-WAY BOULEVARD

3.3. AVENUE

3.4. SHARED SPACE LANE

4. NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS

Define neighborhood-scale elements…

4.1. STREET AS CENTER

4.2. PEDESTRIAN SANCTUARY

4.3. NEIGHBORHOOD SQUARE

4.4. NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

5. SPECIAL USE PATTERNS

Integrate unique urban elements with care…

5.1. SCHOOL CAMPUS

5.2. MARKET CENTER

5.3. INDUSTRIAL AREA

5.4. HOSPITAL

6. PUBLIC SPACE PATTERNS

Establish the character of the crucial public realm…

6.1. PLACE NETWORK

6.2. WALKABLE STREETSCAPE

6.3. MOVABLE SEATING

6.4. CAPILLARY PATHWAY

7. BLOCK AND PLOT PATTERNS

Lay out the detailed structure of property lines…

7.1. SMALL BLOCKS

7.2. PERIMETER BLOCK

7.3. SMALL PLOTS

7.4. MID-BLOCK ALLEY

8. STREETSCAPE PATTERNS

Configure the street as a welcoming place…

8.1. STREET AS ROOM

8.2. TERMINATED VISTA

8.3. STREET TREES

8.4. STREET FURNISHINGS

9. BUILDING PATTERNS

Lay out appropriate urban buildings…

9.1. PERIMETER BUILDING

9.2. ARCADE BUILDING

9.3. COURTYARD BUILDING

9.4. ROW BUILDING

10. BUILDING EDGE PATTERNS

Create interior and exterior connectivity…

10.1. INDOOR-OUTDOOR AMBIGUITY

10.2. CIRCULATION NETWORK

10.3. LAYERED ZONES

10.4. PASSAGEWAY VIEW



SECTION II:

PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE SCALE


11. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

Build in coherent geometries at all scales…

11.1. LOCAL SYMMETRY

11.2. SMALL GROUPS OF ELEMENTS

11.3. FRACTAL PATTERN

11.4. FRAMING

12. AFFORDANCE PATTERNS

Build in user capacity to shape the environment…

12.1. HANDLES

12.2. CO-PRODUCTION

12.3. FRIENDLY SURFACES

12.4. MALLEABILITY

13. RETROFIT PATTERNS

Revitalize and improve existing urban assets …

13.1. SLUM UPGRADE

13.2. SPRAWL RETROFIT

13.3. URBAN REGENERATION

13.4. URBAN CONSOLIDATION

14. INFORMAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Accommodate “bottom-up” urban growth…

14.1. LAND TENURE

14.2. UTILITIES FIRST

14.3. DATA WITH THE PEOPLE

14.4. INCREMENTAL SELF-BUILD

15. CONSTRUCTION PATTERNS

Use the building process to enrich the result…

15.1. DESIGN-BUILD ADAPTATION

15.2. HUMAN-SCALE DETAIL

15.3. CONSTRUCTION ORNAMENT

15.4. COMPLEX MATERIALS



SECTION III:

PATTERNS OF PROCESS


16. IMPLEMENTATION TOOL PATTERNS

Use tools to achieve successful results…

16.1. FORM-BASED CODE

16.2. ENTITLEMENT STREAMLINING

16.3. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING CENTER

16.4. COMMUNITY MOCKUP

17. PROJECT ECONOMICS PATTERNS

Create flows of money that support urban quality…

17.1. TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING

17.2. LAND VALUE CAPTURE

17.3. EXTERNALITY VALUATION

17.4. ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION

18. PLACE GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

Processes for making and managing places…

18.1. SUBSIDIARITY

18.2. POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE

18.3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT

18.4. INFORMAL STEWARDSHIP

19. AFFORDABILITY PATTERNS

Build in affordability for all incomes…

19.1. INTEGRATED AFFORDABILITY

19.2. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

19.3. MULTI-FAMILY INFILL

19.4. SPECULATION TAX

20. NEW TECHNOLOGY PATTERNS

Integrate new systems without damaging old ones…

20.1. SMART AV SYSTEM

20.2. RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY

20.3. AUGMENTED REALITY DESIGN

20.4. CITIZEN DATA