Creating Biophilic Buildings out this November from Ecotone Publishing: The book takes a case study-style approach to this burgeoning field, using carefully curated examples to illuminate the holistic process of biophilic design and its attendant benefits.
Available for purchase November 9th
Amanda Sturgeon, FAIA, (CEO, International Living Future Institute) turns her award-winning eye for sustainable buildings toward biophilic design, an emerging design discipline that creates spaces where people and nature can thrive together as an integrated whole. Her forthcoming book, Creating Biophilic Buildings, takes a case study-style approach to this burgeoning field, using carefully curated examples to illuminate the holistic process of biophilic design and its attendant benefits.
As the founder and driving force behind ILFI’s Biophilic Design Initiative, Ms. Sturgeon brings over 15 years of design work and practical field experience to her writing, infusing her future-forward prose with the data, research, and deep thinking that will help distinguish this book as a foundational work in this nascent field. Amanda is an award winning architect who was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, became a LEED Fellow from the USGBC, and was named one of the top ten most powerful women in sustainability.
What is Biophilic Design?
Biophilic Design is the practice of creating spaces that mutually benefit both nature and humans. At its core, it is the reconciliation of people and nature in the built environment; observing how nature has survived for thousands of years and implementing the elements and attributes which have aided in nature’s survival despite the continuously changing environment. Just as nature is rooted in its land, Biophilic Design emphasizes the relationship to the land through enhancing geographic features, embodying the historical background, advocating for ecological restorations, and expressing the cultural connections to place.
“Biophilic design is a conscious discipline, and has the potential to intentionally reconnect people and nature through buildings. Some project teams have tried it out by adding plants and trees or a fountain in their buildings. Stopping there and going no further, these teams miss the power of this new discipline to completely revolutionize the way that we create and design our places. The opportunity of biophilic design is to connect to the particular ecology of the place, to its culture, history and beauty and to create a building that will regenerate life.Since the industrial age we have used our buildings to assert domination over nature and to highlight our separation from it…Now that the impacts of global climate change require us to move to urgent solutions, buildings and their 40% share of the energy consumed are an essential influencer.”–Author Amanda Sturgeon READ MORE
EXAMPLES OF BIOPHILIC DESIGN AS DISCUSSED IN “CREATING BIOPHILIC BUILDINGS”:
Pub Date: 11/09/2017
Season: Fall 2017
Pages: TDB
Trim size: 9.00 x 9.00 inches
Text: 4 process colors
Softcover: Perfect Bindery
Publisher: Ecotone Publishing
ISBN 13: 978-0-9972368-3-5
ISBN 10: 0-9972368-3-3
Price: $39.95 USD (unconfirmed)
Category: Architecture
Subcategory: Environment
Subcategory: Philosophy
ABOUT AUTHOR AMANDA STURGEON
Amanda Sturgeon, FAIA is the CEO of the International Living Future Institute and the founder and driving force behind the organization’s Biophilic Design Initiative. Amanda is an award-winning architect who had a successful 15-year career as an architect working on some of the most sustainable buildings in the Pacific Northwest.
Amanda has served on many boards and committees including the 2017 AIA COTE Top Ten Awards jury and has taught at the University of Washington as well as Bainbridge Graduate Institute (now Pinchot University). In 2013 she was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and became a LEED Fellow later the same year in recognition for her extensive advocacy and volunteer service to the green building movement. She was named as one of the top ten most powerful women in sustainability in 2015 as a recipient of the Women in Sustainability Leadership Award.
Amanda was born in the UK, educated in Australia and now calls Bainbridge Island, Washington her home. Read more about Amanda in GB&D Magazine
ABOUT ECOTONE PUBLISHING
Founded by green building experts in 2004, Ecotone Publishing is dedicated to meeting the growing demand for authoritative and accessible books on sustainable design, materials selection and building techniques in North America and beyond. Ecotone searches out and documents inspiring projects, visionary people, and innovative trends that are leading the design industry to transformational change toward a healthier planet.
ABOUT INTERNATIONAL LIVING FUTURE INSTITUTE
The International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO committed to catalyzing the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. The Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Institute operates the Living Building Challenge, the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard, and Declare, an ingredients label for building materials. It houses the Cascadia Green Building Council and Ecotone Publishing.