How nature and natural systems enhance design

Architecture should play up natural elements like light and water to create harmonious surroundings

The interaction of architecture with the various elements of nature, such as wind, light, water and earth, can transform the surrounding in extraordinary ways to ensure user well-being.

User-centric architecture relies on nature and natural systems to enhance the design and promote a harmonious balance between the user's physical, mental and psychological well-being while revitalising built environments.

Role of light in promoting well-being

Fire, one of the most magnificent elements in nature, radiates heat and light, which assists nature in providing a sense of time and orientation to the human mind.

Light plays an integral role in ensuring functionality and efficiency in design; therefore, architecture responds to the function of space through lighting techniques and intensity. Ambient and thoughtful lighting can elevate the user's mental and physical health in numerous ways.

For instance, prison cells are designed to restrict any form of light as a form of psychological punishment, while on the other hand, soft, diffused light illuminates religious spaces to create a sense of calm and peace.

Bright light in a commercial office is different from a restaurant's ambient mood lighting schemes.

Planning for light requirements in varied spaces requires an informed and versatile approach.

For instance, a theatre would require minimal natural lighting, whereas a playground would welcome natural light throughout the daytime.

Similarly, ambient temperatures create comfortable and habitable environments.

Optimal and strategic placement of fenestrations adds to the lighting quality and the ventilation in the space to create an environment of well-being.

Water as a design element

The incorporation of water in design elements creates a rhythmic and harmonious environment.

Small artificial water bodies create invigorating pause points while flowing water adds a new dimension of white noise to the experience of the space.

The correct placement of a massage bed in a spa surrounded by the landscape and water elements can create a revitalising environment leaving the user wanting more.

No matter how appetising and well-curated a restaurant menu is, it will seldom have returning customers if the space does not offer comfort, warmth, and ambience.

Integrating natural elements in an interior space creates a good mood, adds to the material aesthetics, and energises the place in more ways than one creating an environment of well-being.

(Apoorva Shroff is the founder and principal designer of Lyth Design)