What I’ve Learned About Biophilic Design Certification at My Age
I’ll be honest – when I first heard about formal certification programs for biophilic design a few years back, my initial reaction was skeptical. Here I was, a retired engineer…
What I’ve Learned About Smart City Planning That Actually Includes Nature
Living in the same house for nearly four decades gives you a front-row seat to how communities grow and change around you. What started as farmland beyond our back fence…
How Plants and Natural Light Transformed My Tiny Studio Into a (Slightly) Less Depressing Place to Work From Home
Okay, so I need to tell you about something that basically saved my sanity during the pandemic – and it wasn’t therapy or meditation apps or any of that stuff…
Learning from the Past: How Our Ancestors Got Biophilic Design Right All Along
When I first started reading about biophilic design eight years ago – trying to figure out how to make our house work better for my wife after her stroke –…
What I’ve Learned About Careers in Biophilic Design – From an Engineering Background to Nature-Centered Spaces
This whole concept of biophilic design as a career field is something I’ve been learning about over the past few years, ever since I started modifying our home for my…
How to Actually Say “Biophilic” Without Sounding Like a Plant Newbie (Plus What It Really Means)
Okay, real talk – I used to completely butcher the word “biophilic” when I first started getting into plants and apartment transformations. I’d say everything from “bye-oh-FILL-ick” to “bio-PHIL-lic” until…
How Churches and Community Groups Are Leading the Nature-in-Buildings Movement
I’ve been following the work of nonprofit organizations in promoting what they call biophilic design, and I have to say, it’s impressive how much these groups are accomplishing on limited…
Portland Just Became America’s First Official Biophilic City and Here’s Why That Actually Matters
So I was scrolling through my usual urban planning Reddit rabbit hole the other night (don’t judge, we all have our weird interests) and came across this news that honestly…
What I’ve Learned About Making a Home More Natural-Friendly After Eight Years of Trial and Error
When my wife had her stroke eight years ago, I started reading about something called biophilic design – basically bringing natural elements into your living space. At first, it sounded…
How Nature Sounds Changed Our Home and Could Transform Public Spaces Too
When I step out our back door these days, I’m struck by how much more aware I’ve become of the sounds around me. The rustle of leaves in the maple…
When Your Apartment Gets a Digital Nature Upgrade (And Why I’m Not Sure How to Feel About It)
Look, I spend way too much time staring at screens already – between work, doom-scrolling Instagram, and watching Netflix in my tiny studio – so the idea that technology might…
Native vs. Exotic Plants: What I’ve Learned About Making Green Spaces Work in the City
Living in a tiny Chicago apartment with basically no natural light has taught me more about plants than I ever expected to know. When I started trying to bring some…
How I Learned to Work with My Apartment’s Weird Weather (And Why It Actually Matters)
So here’s something weird that happened to me last week. I was standing on our building’s rooftop garden, watering the tomatoes, when I realized that one side of my body…
Making Tiny Apartments Kid-Friendly: What I Learned About Bringing Nature Into Small Spaces
Okay, I’m definitely not a parent and I don’t claim to be an expert on kid spaces, but something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is how kids growing…
Real Talk: The Hidden Costs of Making Your Small Space “Nature-Inspired”
Walking into one of those Instagram-worthy biophilic spaces makes me feel some type of way. You know the ones – all that gorgeous reclaimed wood, those smooth stone countertops, plants…