The power of workplace plants, both those growing in pots and in pictures and art, has been clear for a long time. They do all sorts of positive things for our mental state, helping us feel less tense, for instance. They also make it likely that we feel mentally refreshed after we’ve tired out our brains concentrating; they boost our professional performance generally and our creativity particularly.
Studies continue to investigate the effects of nature, in images and in real life, on what goes on in our heads. Research recently released confirms that seeing close up images of a daisy-like blossom reduces negative emotions after stressful situations and speeds recovering from stress, just like looking at at-work plants. This finding was expected, in part, because the curving shapes of leaves and the not very saturated but relatively light colors of many flower petals have been tied to feeling comfortable and relaxed, respectively.
As office environments are transitioning to new forms post-pandemic, remembering what plants, in their various forms, in images and “real,” can do for our wellbeing, as well as our professional performance, is important. The protocols for curtailing the transmission of germs in workplaces that are in general circulation seem to allow the continued presence of live plants in workplaces – which is good news for the people who will spend time in these spaces. At this time, it does not seem that plants will need to be “wiped-down” periodically to prevent the spread of disease. This is great news as cleaning plant leaves with some sort of disinfectant regularly seems likely to shorten their lifespan. The need to clean plants in the future may change, however. A hotel cleaning video in circulation shows the leaves of some in-hotel plants in Spain being sponged.
To be ready, just in case plant washing becomes required, adding art (photographs or otherwise) of nature scenes to workplaces now seems prudent. Additional 2-D plants will insure that “plant power” remains strong in workplaces; images don’t provide useful scents or filter any air, but they can provide the other benefits that plants do, and wiping down a glass or similar surface over an image enhances its power.
The most powerful nature images will picture Spring meadows, clumps of trees, and, ideally, some gently moving water in a stream/lake/etc. Images should create the impression that a person could step easily into them, in the same ways that viewers are often encouraged to “step into” an animated sequence in a children’s movie (e.g., no step-obstructing short plants in the foreground).
Finding wall space for nature images is complicated in many workplaces as there just aren’t that many vertical wall surfaces left in most. Creativity, and extraordinary steps, such as potentially using fractal patterns like those found in pleasant nature scenes on screens between workers, etc., may be required, to introduce nature images into work areas. If barriers are built in workplaces to prevent the free flow of employees (to impede the free flow of microbes on those employees), adding nature images to those barricades might also be possible, for instance.
Consciously considering transitioning from “real” plants to plant images now may, in retrospect, turn out to be time and money well spent.
Sally Augustin, PhD, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com). Research Design Connections reports on research conducted by social and physical scientists that designers can apply in practice. Insights derived from recent studies are integrated with classic, still relevant findings in concise, powerful articles. Topics covered range from the cognitive, emotional, and physiological implications of sensory and other physical experiences to the alignment of culture, personality, and design, among others. Information, in everyday language, is shared in a monthly subscription newsletter, an archive of thousands of published articles, and a free daily blog. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.