Biophilic architecture: possibilities and grinders

Abstract

The notion and concept of biopphilic architecture is discussed in the article and the author also reconsiders its assumptions asking whether it can become on the global scale a tool for solving the problems of quality of life in cities. The notion of biophilia, introduced several decades ago by socio-biologist Edward O. Wilson, has become an object of interest not only in the architectural academy but also by those architectural designers dissilusioned with promises of vanguard modernist ideology and the ongoing "business as usual". The author attempts to inquire how this concept can make an impact not only on current architectural theory, but also what role it can play in equipping architectural designers with practical tools for reshaping the ailing urban environment. At the same time, the author suggests that it is the "vanguard" ideology of modernism with its dogmatism that resurfaces in globalised Western architectural discourse. Modernism keeps architectural designers from shifting their attitudes towards reshaping the built environment and halts the momentum of biophilic architecture to solve the most acute problems of the built environment.