Everyday Biophilia

IT’S A WORD THAT HAS BEEN THROWN AROUND A LOT IN RECENT YEARS BUT THERE’S NOTHING NEW ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF BIOPHILIA. PRACTICED SINCE ANCIENT TIMES, IT IS THE INNATE HUMAN NEED TO CONNECT WITH THE NATURAL WORLD LITERALLY, VISUALLY OR EVEN REMOTELY. WHILE THE TERM WAS COINED BY SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGIST ERIC FROMM IN THE 1960S, IT HAS FOUND FERTILE SOIL IN RECENT YEARS AS A REACTION TO THE INCREASINGLY PERVASIVE NATURE OF TECHNOLOGY IN OUR LIVES. THAT IS, WE’RE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO BALANCE OUT ALL THAT SCREEN TIME.

AT A GRASSROOTS LEVEL, SECRET GARDENS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT NICOLE SAYS THE NEED IS OBVIOUS. “A LOT OF US WORK IN ENVIRONMENTS WHERE WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING AT SCREENS,” SHE SAYS. “IT’S SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO REALISE THAT THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN WORK AND TO CONNECT BACK TO NATURE.”

“A lot of us work in environments where we are always looking at screens,” she says. “It’s so important for us to realise that there is more to life than work and to connect back to nature.”