This concept manifests itself in love and care for other people, animals, plants and the natural environment in general. For Fromm, fostering Biophilia is essential for mental health and well-being, as it promotes a productive, creative and caring attitude towards life.
Later, Roger Ulrich, Professor of Architecture, would publish numerous papers highlighting the importance of interior design in the recovery of hospital patients and the general wellbeing of their communities, and among the aspects he studied, contact with nature is very important.
Patients with views of natural landscapes showed visibly better recoveries than those without access to them. He then went on to find that even an image of a landscape had positive effects on the condition of patients and the hospital community in general.
My wife is an architect and is in the middle of her Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture. Her work deals with the impact of biophilic design and its impact on the hospital community and as her assistant I have been learning a little about it and find it fascinating.
And this led me to a reflection: How is that natural connection in our work environments?
The working environment at Telefónica de Venezuela
The Torre Parque Canaima, the headquarters of Telefónica de Venezuela in Caracas, is located in a privileged position. To the north the windows have a view of the Avila, a mountain range that accompanies the city from the north, and to the south is the Parque del Este, a green lung in the east of the city. When we get an office aligned to either of these two extremes we will have a view that will undoubtedly feed our natural connection.
On the other hand, I noticed that after the pandemic and with the birth of hybrid work, plants disappeared from the office. Perhaps the only survivor is a bush that our director keeps in his office, but the common spaces are not conducive to its presence and maintenance.
Although hybrid work helps, because on the days when I am working from home I take it easy with my garden, I am left with the question that I leave you with as a conclusion to this article: Are we starting a movement to put very low-maintenance plants in our offices, or are we proposing to go for a walk in a park to get lunch down at lunchtime?
Like everything else, there are many possible solutions and I am sure we will come up with more than one.
