Exploring the Integration of Biophilic Design into Interior Spaces: Case of Public Libraries

The benefits of the interaction between humans and nature in the interior spaces cannot be downplayed. The benefits have been stated in numerous studies, centering on the psychological and physiological aspects of human health, but also the reduced contact with nature has also been attributed to some illnesses in the interior space. However, the focus on the human-nature relationship in architecture has been explored by some movements like green architecture, sustainability, and biophilic design; here green architecture and sustainability have their core focus on sustaining natural resources and preserving nature, then biophilic design that focuses on the optimization of human health. Furthermore, with the increase in human development, the interaction with nature in the interior spaces, in particular learning spaces, like interior spaces of the public library are limited. Besides, there is no study on the integration of biophilic design in the interior spaces of public libraries. This has led to the research question which is “how biophilic design can be integrated into the public library’s interior spaces. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore and investigate how biophilic design can be achieved in the interior spaces of public libraries. To be able to achieve the aim of the study and provide an answer to the research question, the methodology that is employed in this study is an exploratory qualitative research method. The methodology is divided into two sections; the first section is the literature review of key terms like biophilic design and public library, which are critical to the study. The second section of the methodology involved the exploration of selected libraries. A framework has been created at the end of the first section, therefore the literature review provided a theoretical base for the analyses of the biophilic design techniques employed in the public libraries. The findings of the study are discussed under two approaches; the first approach involves the usage of biophilic design patterns in the selected cases; the commonly used patterns, patterns that have been achieved by the minimum number of concepts, and the rarely used patterns, while the second approach clarifying the elements of the interior space that can be utilized in achieving the maximum number of biophilic design patterns. Also, the findings showed the connectedness between the three used biophilic design approaches contents (patterns, attributes, and strategies). Keywords: Biophilia, Biophilic design, Public library, Interior spaces, Biophilic design utilization.