Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition
by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler
017 Biophilia Effect
A state of reduced stress and improved concentration resulting from nature views.
Poets and philosophers have long held that exposure to natural environments produces restorative benefits. In the past few decades, this claim has been tested empirically, and it does appear that exposure to nature confers benefits emotionally, cognitively, and physically.1
In a longitudinal study following seven- to twelve-year-olds through housing relocation, children who experienced the greatest increase in nature views from their windows made the greatest gains in standard tests of attention (potential confounding variables such as differences in home quality were controlled). A comparable effect was observed with college students based ...
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