ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in subsequent chapters of this book. It explores how our evolutionary path can be seen at work in the ways human's function, including how we walk, think, see, and prioritize viewing things in our environment. Twentieth-century urban observers including the writer Jane Jacobs maintained the way forward in planning and architecture would be to better understand how people are a part of nature. Biophilic design, the approach to building design rooted in the biophilia hypothesis, strives to ensure new projects recognize and meet the human need to observe and engage with nature. The book explains the evolutionary scrim that humans look through to empower designers to not only make their projects biophilic, but also more ably anticipate and fit our humanness. The authors use cognitive architecture to explore how research in psychology and the cognitive sciences can inform our understanding of the impact of buildings and city design on people.
