THE ELEMENT OF HAPPINESS: WATER

Presence Of Water: A condition that enhances the experience of a place through the seeing, hearing or touching of water. P5

Where water collides with itself, magic happens. How many opportunities do we have for water collision in our homes? Why is water colliding on itself important to our happiness? Glad you ask. When water collides on itself it releases negative ions. Science is now able to explain the impact of negative ions on our happiness with data instead of it just being an inexplicable observation. If you have ever wondered why humans are so drawn to waterfalls, fast running rivers, rain showers, the beach and the like, keep reading. If you feel like you suffer from seasonal or chronic depression, P5 is the biophilic pattern for you!

What kind of an effect do negative ions have on humans?

"Negative ions are odorless, tasteless, and invisible
molecules that we inhale in abundance in certain environments. Think mountains, waterfalls, and beaches. Once they reach our bloodstream, negative ions are believed to produce biochemical reactions that increase levels of the mood chemical serotonin, helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost our daytime energy." ~ WebMD

Many of us have probably experience the more obvious benefits to having the presence of water near us. The benefits are almost immediate; reduced stress, increased feelings of tranquility, lower heart rate and blood pressure. It is amazing how just one element can have such an impressive and positive impact. This is one of the reasons why including biophilic patterns is important to wellness living and the subsequent movement.

What you may not know about are the other benefits of P5. Scientists have been able to measure improved concentration and memory restoration. Additionally, enhanced perception, and psychological responsiveness have been observed. It would be ideal to have a water feature located centrally in the home if not close to the home office.

The purpose of including biophilic design in your home improvement project is to be able to access the body's natural healing and balancing systems. We all have the capacity to heal and elevate our emotional state of being ourselves. It is just a matter of understanding how to do it. For that science has turned to nature and observed how it works and how we respond to its systems in an organic and primal sense.

Between the 1950's and the 1960's it was not uncommon to see homes built around atriums. While one might argue this was born in Ancient Greece, Eichler put his own architectural spin on the age old idea. It is time once again to revisit the concept with a fresh look at today's standard of living. Kitchen and Landscape gardening are more than a trend. Similar to the necessity of victory gardens during WWII, we are finding ourselves growing our own food at home. Instead of war being the catalyst it is global warming, contaminated water sources, and polluted air that are motivating the movement. By growing food at home, we have more control of the nutrient density and quality of our fruits, vegetables and herbs. This allows a perfect opportunity to incorporate water features that are functional as much as they are ornamental.

PINTEREST | THE URBAN INTERIOR

This is especially good news for homes in the desert. Fortunately, homes by Eichler and architects within his genre were predominant in California. This means there is already a nice inventory of homes in the Coachella Valley that have atriums ready for you to revive them and give them purpose. If we take a common passive cooling solution from the middle east, centrally located cooling towers, atriums are poised to be the next version. Add vertical gardens to the walls of the atrium. have 1-3 openings into the house from the atrium. Hot air is naturally pulled down by the cool low pressure in the tower. As it travels down the tower the air is cooled by plants and the water feature. It then circulates through the home and is vented back out through the exterior. The concept is illustrated below:

ENERGY SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Water serves so many purposes in our daily lives which are both functional and ornamental. Interestingly, humans have a marked response to landscapes that include water vs. those that don't. The restorative properties of the view are higher with a view of a water feature in the landscape. A report by Barton and Petty in 2010 revealed that the presence of water, even in a green space significantly improves self esteem over green spaces without a view of water. For even more benefits, being able to hear and touch water awakens other senses and healing properties within our bodies. It is one of the patterns that we can view repeatedly without diminishing the impact. It should be noted that forceful or highly turbulent water displays will likely have a negative effect creating discomfort and possible agitation. We tend to equate aggressive displays with destruction and or harm. How can we introduce water either figuratively or literally into our personal spaces?

INDOOR: Indoor water walls and fountains are one of the easiest ways to introduce water into the built environment. Use them as partitions between rooms. Using water in this way also brings in two other patterns Mystery as well as Dynamic & Diffused Light. Fountains are opportunities to play with Feng Shuai and create focal points in a room. Add a wall fountain between two vegetation panels and not only add moisture to what could be otherwise dry air but, you create a air filtering system as well. You may be able to see why this is a good addition to Wellness Living. Air quality is an important part of our everyday wellbeing. With an accumulation of pollution on the exterior and increasingly airtight homes locking in particulates, vegetation and water walls become healthy solutions to stale and degraded air quality.

OUTDOOR: From water walls to creating "rain" in the desert. Including a water feature in your hardscape can be enjoyed both outside and indoors. Just open a window to be able to listen to the soothing sounds of running or dripping water. With some thoughtfulness, the water feature can be placed in a way that allows light to reflect off of the water and into the house. This will help bring water into the built environment "artificially" yet organically enough to feel "real". Refer to the chart below.

GLASS: Glass is a material that allows for multiple biophilic patterns to be addressed. In regards to simulated water, it can mimic everything from a placid lake to a frosty frozen winter. The more distorted the glass the better a job it does creating a sense of mystery as well as dynamic and diffused light. Use glass panels in cabinetry or even in partitions that separate living areas. Not only do these glass panels come in a variety of textures but, they also come in a variety of colored tints.

LIGHTING: Lighting is another great way to simulate water in the built environment. Three areas in particular are the color, shape, and texture. Varying densities of seeded glass will replicate air bubbles that hypnotically find their way to the surface of water. Color can literally inspire the idea of dark blue-black waters of the North to turquoise and blue-green waters of the tropics. As featured to the left, the shape of the globe can throw glistening waves across the surfaces of a room. In the evening one could easily get lost in the idea of being under water without ever getting wet.

SURFACES: Surfaces are possibly one of the most obvious opportunities to simulate water while not having to do anything extra beyond what you may have planned for your remodel. Consider glass wall tile that comes in a spectrum of translucent blues. Cambria quartz surfaces are a perfect choice for solid surface in the kitchen and bath. They are certified food safe and anti-bacterial. 3D wavy tile comes in an array of choices between wave textures and colors. Many of the the 3D surfaces come paintable as well so you can color match.

No matter how you choose to introduce water into your home, there are very real benefits to doing so. While sifting through all of the patterns and figuring out to weave them into a cohesive design can be overwhelming, there is always a designer to help. Designers are trained to maximize every opportunity without overwhelming a space. Lynn Wallace is an expert on making the built environment feel as natural as the great outdoors.