Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Summer 2018 - 5

JUDITH HEERWAGEN
Judith Heerwagen is an environmental psychologist
whose work focuses on the behavioral, psychological,
and health impacts of building design and operations.
She has written widely on biophilic design,
sustainability and the links between human health,
the built environment, and nature. She is co-editor
of the award winning book, Biophilic Design: The
Theory, Science and Practice of Bringing Buildings to
Life. She is an affiliate faculty member in Architecture
at the University of Washington.
JAMES D. BROWN
In his role as Program Director for Biophilic Cities, JD
facilitates the connections between the partner cities
of the Biophilic Cities Network and the individuals
and organizations advancing the theory and practice
of planning and designing biophilic cities. With a law
degree from the Georgetown University Law Center
and a Masters in Urban and Environmental Planning
from the University of Virginia, JD explores the
intersection of law and planning through a survey
of legal and policy mechanisms adopted by cities to
promote abundant and accessible nature.
DR. TIM BEATLEY
Dr. Tim Beatley is the Executive Director of Biophilic
Cities Project, its principal aim being to advance the
theory and practice of planning for biophilic cities,
through a combination of collaborative research,
dialogue and exchange, and teaching. TB is the
author or co-author of more than fifteen books
including Green Urbanism: Learning from European
Cities, Habitat Conservation Planning, Native to
Nowhere: Sustaining Home and Community in a
Global Age, and Planning for Coastal Resilience.

TB: Green roofs and walls are tremendously important to creating biophilic cities. Building rooftops and facades represent a huge opportunity to insert nature, to create new and
important habitats in cities, often in visually prominent places. Years ago we filmed visitors
walking by Patrick Blanc's famous green wall at the Museé du Quai Branly in Paris (for
a film called The Nature of Cities. It was a remarkable epiphany for me, as people were
drawn to the wall, delighted in it, wanted to touch it, stand next to it, take pictures in front
of it; it had a powerful effect on them.
6. Is there a biophilic building you are particularly fond of and why?
JH: I would put Amazon's Spheres at the top of my list. You could argue that it is easy to
have a biophilic building when it is filled with plants - but the innovative aspect of the
Spheres is the way it integrates people into the experience. There are numerous nooks
among the greenery that are used for meetings, quiet work, naps, and exploration of the
plants. It fully engages the senses, and has one very captivating characteristic and that is
discovered complexity: the more you look, the more you see. The details of the plants
- the shapes, sizes, colors, patterns, textures are all so varied that you can return many
times and still discover more to see.
TB: One of my favorites is the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in Singapore. It
perhaps the most biophilic health facility in the world, containing a remarkable list of
natureful elements (several levels of green roofs, green window boxes, a waterfall and
water system with native species of fish, and a rooftop urban farm, among others).
7. What do you see as the future of biophilic design?
JH: Biophilic design - in its many forms and applications - will become one of the
ways we humanize our buildings. Like sustainability, it will be the norm not the
exception.
JB: An ever-increasing understanding of the complementary value provided by biophilic
planning and design. Cities are burdened with a wide range of problems from a lack of
affordable housing to crime and pollution, which at first seem like competing obligations that drain resources that otherwise might be used for biophilic design. Planning
and designing biophilic cities is an important part of the solution for all of these
problems. With this understanding, cities will increasing adopt policies that promote
abundant and accessible nature on public and private lands because it is a cost effective,
efficient and inspiring means to address their most pressing challenges.
TB: I am hopeful that the principles and practices of biophilic design will continue to find
application at the city scale. Biophilic cities are indeed cities with lots of biophilic buildings--but they are also much more than this. Biophilic cities see the need for nature between and around buildings, and the need to protect and grow this nature at every spatial
scale from rooftop to region. Biophilic urban design understands that we need cities where
residents are enticed to spend time outside, where there is abundant opportunities to hike
the city, where there is extensive wildlife and biodiversity to see and experience, and where
residents recognize, are curious about, and deeply care about this nature around them.

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LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR / SUMMER 2018 / 5

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