Chapter 3: 🌱🌿 These Help You Work 🌺🪴

We’ve mentioned natural rhythms before, and here they are again. On the evolutionary timeline, working from an IoT-wired home, behind a Macbook Air, in a Herman Miller Aeron chair, sipping Athletic Greens, is, shall we say, a recent development. We are born of the natural world and spent most of our evolutionary history there, so it makes sense that our health and productivity would be tied to nature. 

This principle is at the core of biophilic design, an extension of the biophilia hypothesis—that humans are naturally drawn to connect with nature and other forms of life—introduced by Edward O. Wilson in his book by the same name. “Biophilic design recognizes that our species has evolved for more than 99% of its history in adaptive response to the natural world and not to human-created or artificial forces,” according to Stephen Kellert, former professor of social ecology at Yale and an expert on the subject. 

How does that translate to office life? Here are some layups: One study showed that workers in well-ventilated offices with low pollutants have significantly better cognitive functioning scores, and another study found that simply enriching an office space with plants increased productivity by 15%.

Bethany Borel, Senior Associate, WELL AP of COOKFOX Architects, is an expert at bringing biophilic design principles to life in places like the COOKFOX HQ in New York City and ​​the Solaire building in Battery Park City. The first thing she suggests is being near a window—for the quality of the light and to observe the changes in weather and anything moving and growing outside. 

“Good lighting helps you get through the day while bad lighting actually causes fatigue,” she says. “The optimum situation, physiologically, is that lighting changes subtly over the course of the day. Natural light early in the day is cool and blue, which wakes you up and makes you alert, and later in the day, toward dusk, the light turns warm, which tells the body to start slowing down. Sunset, candles, and fireplace light is intensely red, which initiates melatonin production.” 

Plants are next on your list because they provide an immediate connection to nature and help with the quality of the air by metabolizing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. Plants also help reduce the hormone sometimes associated with stress, too. “All plants will help lower cortisol levels but they are not equally relaxing,” she says. “A fern is a great example of a plant that is layered; looking at a fern your eye passes through layers of light and shadow, which is proven to be relaxing and to offer mental release.”

OK, so we’ve established that plants are good for your productivity, mental and physical health. That doesn’t necessarily make you a plant person. We get that. Here are some low-maintenance plants that will be hard to kill — even if you’re not the ideal green thumb.

• Pilea Peperomioides
• Philodendron Heartleaf
• Snake Plant

Still not sold on plants? You can also layer in the textures of nature through wallcoverings, upholstery, artwork, and rug designs. “Humans have been connecting with biophilic patterns through textiles for centuries,” Borel says. “The classic Damask pomegranate or floral sprigs patterns are some of the oldest designs dating back to around the 15th century. Even though these are abstractions, the human eye still reads the repeat as a natural pattern and we have similar cognitive responses. There are also a plethora of rug options on the market that replicate the dappled light through a tree canopy or the reflection of light off the surface of water.”