FRAMEWORK COMPARISON

In 2008, Kellert et al.’s Biophilic Design Elements & Attributes were published to include six “elements” and seventy related “attributes”.  In 2014, Terrapin published the 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design, including three categories and fourteen patterns. Terrapin added a fifteenth pattern entitled “Awe” in 2020. In 2015, Kellert and Calabrese published a simplified framework entitled Biophilic Experiences & Attributes that include only three categories with twenty-four attributes.  The frameworks have different emphases, strengths, and limitations. Kellert et al.’s 2008 Elements & Attributes provides a robust list of potential strategies across design topics and scales. In contrast, Terrapin’s 2014 14/15 Patterns provides a curated list of biophilic topics that are left to the designer to interpret. The 15 Patterns capture, in a concise manner, the essential issues found in Kellert et al.’s two frameworks and provides a simplicity that supports ease of design application. Kellert and Calabrese 2015 Experience & Attributes emphasizes the direct and indirect human experiences of nature, space, and place. The table (right) illustrates how Kellert et al.’s patterns nest under Terrapin’s three categories: 1) Nature in Space Patterns, 2) Nature Analogue Patterns, and 3) Nature of Space Patterns.