Danish Interiors and Echoes from Japan: Strategies for a Spatial Design Connected to Nature

Abstract

To maximize contact with nature in promoting the health and wellbeing of populations, design strategies are urgently needed, as exemplified by numbers 3 and 11 of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. As an important alternative to large-scale nature-inclusive actions, which are not always possible due to space limitations, the design of the built interior environment offers an important and unexplored research field for increasing the human connection to nature.

This article examines how interior design acts as an extraordinary experience of the phenomenon of nature in four post-war domestic buildings in Denmark as an inspiration for contemporary design practice. Intriguing analogies, in terms of how this interaction with nature takes place, with particular traditional Japanese architecture inform the research. The case studies offer unique biophilic experiences through sophisticated and original design expressions, whose timeless lessons are prevalent today.

Based on a methodology that links architectural research and praxis, this phenomenological study provides innovative biophilic design strategies and inspiration, extending its theory and practice into a new dimension. The objective is to advance knowledge of nature-based solutions that have the potential to improve health and wellbeing through daily interaction with nature in communities. Furthermore, the study delivers a new understanding of post-war Danish domestic architecture from a contemporary perspective as well as insights into the impact of traditional Japanese architecture on it.