Biophilic Design as a Part of Interior Design Education: Well-Being, Student Creativity, and Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Objective: The paper focuses on how biophilic design fits within a curriculum of interior designing and how it can affect the creativity and well-being of students and their contribution towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper by locating biophilic design as an educational strategy emphasizes the contribution of biophilic design to the human-centered and sustainability-oriented learning in interior design education.

Methodology: It employed a convergent parallel mixed-methods design approach and combined both quantitative and qualitative data through surveys, a case study, semi-structured interviews, and design evaluations of 50 undergraduate students and 5 faculty members in the University of Petra. Chosen graduation projects were examined to assess how biophilic principles of design can be applied in education.

Findings: The results show that, biophilic design interventions including green vegetation, natural light and raw materials are important in promoting creativity, emotional well-being, and sustainability awareness of students. The quantitative analysis indicated that there was statistically significant correlation between biophilic integration and the quality of the project (p < 0.01) whereas qualitative analysis indicated that empathy, design confidence, and sustainable decision-making increased.

Implications: The paper indicates that biophilic pedagogy is a scalable and transformational solution to interior design education and is in line with SDGs 3, 4, 11, and 12 and can facilitate healthy learning conditions, quality education and sustainable design practices.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that biophilic design can contribute to the future-oriented, environment-aware, and human-focused design thinking, equipping students with the ability to solve the challenges of sustainability in the field.