Your Cart is Empty
Immerse yourself in a world of selections at one of our stunning East Coast showrooms. Architessa sources our tile both domestically and internationally, bringing the best of porcelain, natural stone, ceramic, and more to convenient locations and through our national commercial representatives Contact us to explore an in-store or virtual appointment with an Architessan. Orders ship worldwide or can be picked up at Architessa's warehouse locations. Delivery options are available for orders within Virginia, Maryland, and D.C.
Whether you’re already fully on board with this trend or are still catching up, we’re here to update you on everything you need to know about biophilic design and how to incorporate it into your home with ceramic tile.
You may have heard this term used before in discussions about paint color, furniture options, and interior design styles. Let’s pause to define what biophilic design means.
Biophilia is humans’ inherent tendency to seek out connections with nature and other life forms.
A combination of the Greek words for “life” (“bio”) and “love” (“philia”), biophilia can be translated literally as “love of life” — but in this case, life is interpreted as organic life, or nature, rather than the act of living.
Biophilic design, then, is an effort to fulfill this desire to connect with nature by incorporating natural elements into the built environment, and interior design specifically.
Some proponents of biophilic design even maintain that it is less of a want and more of an innate need, directly tied to our mental and physical well-being. After all, humans have spent most of their history on earth living in and among nature, and those ties don’t just disappear.
As Stephen R. Kellert, a Professor Emeritus at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, puts it, “We became biologically encoded to associate with natural features and processes.”
Biophilic design has been shown to increase productivity. Above photo features our Baywood tile collection.
Beyond the fulfillment of our need to connect with nature (or perhaps because of it), biophilic design provides many additional tangible benefits.
Terrapin Bright Green explains that connecting with nature has been proven to improve our cognitive, psychological, and physiological well-being:
Oliver Heath Design also enumerates all of the benefits that biophilic design can bring to specific types of spaces, identified through studies from the past three-plus decades:
With many natural looks to choose from, ceramic tile is a great choice for anyone who wants to incorporate biophilic design into their home. Above photo features our Brighton wall tile collection in peacock.
So, now that you understand the importance and many benefits of biophilic design, how can you add biophilic design to your space?
According to the experts, there are three primary categories of biophilic design: direct experiences of nature in your space, analogue representations of nature, and spatial elements of nature.
Each of these categories presents numerous options for biophilic design, meaning that there’s something for everyone and every space. Let’s take a closer look at examples of biophilic design in each category:
With all of these ideas in hand, you can incorporate as little or as much biophilic design into your space as you want.
Ceramic tile’s many low-maintenance benefits make it a natural for biophilic design. Above image features our Vibes wall tile collection.
Some materials lend themselves to biophilic design more than others, and that’s certainly the case with ceramic tile. Biophilic advantages of ceramic tile:
Let’s explore some of the many natural styles that are possible with ceramic tile.
Biophilic tile encompasses any tile that emulates, depicts, or reminds you of nature — whether the connection is as subtle as a color or as direct as a natural pattern.
Let’s start simple: Incorporate biophilic design into your home with ceramic tile in natural colors, such as earth tones. Think greens, browns, reds, and everything in between.
For example, this restaurant does a lovely job of combining the oxidized green floor tile with a weathered red brick wall, and the hanging ivy looks right at home.
Variegation is another trending biophilic tile option. Variegated tile features subtle color shading that produces a natural, organic appearance and is typical of handmade tile, stone-look tile, and gemstone-look tile.
This vertical tile grid features variegation as well as an earth tone, making it a biophilic design knockout. Oh, and did we mention that green tile is another expected 2021 tile trend?
When trying to achieve biophilic design, you can’t go wrong with stone-look tile. Above photo features our Art House Reloaded marble-look collection.
Stone-look tile combines classic style with a natural aesthetic, proving that biophilic design can be as refined as any other trend.
In this master bathroom, the green view adds a pop of color to the marble-look tile’s gray and white color scheme.
An alternative to tile in a natural look is tile with nature printed onto it — we’re talking about natural patterns such as stars, flowing lines that resemble hills or waves, florals and leaves, other botanicals, and more. With modern printing capabilities, any scene or design from nature you can imagine can be printed directly onto tile.
Nature isn’t all smooth and level surfaces — it has some texture, and tile can, too. Textured tile has a rustic look that fits right in with biophilic design.
To take this option even further, opt for three-dimensional tile with surfaces that resemble pebbles in a stream, ripples in sand, sloping hills, craggy cliffs, or your favorite natural landscape.
Look for tile in natural shapes, such as flowers, leaves, stars, honeycomb-like hexagons, or seashells. Luckily, tile comes in many different shapes to inspire your biophilic creativity.
These biophilic ceramic tile ideas have us itching to get outside and connect with nature — and to incorporate biophilic design into our own homes!
However you satisfy your own need to be one with the natural world, keep an eye out for the natural beauty surrounding you — both outdoors and, as biophilic design continues to become more popular, in the homes, businesses, and other spaces you visit.
----------------------------
This blog post courtesy of TCNA and WhyTile.com
