Bring in the Pattern! Fractal Patterns of Nature and their Wellbeing Effect
Noor Murteza
MFA Design Research and Development, 2020
Thesis Abstract:
Although humans spend the majority of their time indoors, within built spaces, these interior spaces are visually divorced from the natural environment. Human affinity for nature, termed biophilia, has captivated designers interested in designing for well-being. The aim of these designers is to leverage the restorative effects of nature into interior spaces. The well-being impact can be categorized into psychological effect, physiological effect, and an aesthetic effect. Fractal well-being effects have practical applications. Among many others, fractal patterns can be applied to calm patients in hospital waiting rooms, athletes in locker rooms before a game, or airline passengers to reduce anxiety. The installation here challenges prevailing Modernist clean lines by reintroducing pattern and ornamentation with an aim to increase well-being within the interior space by calling on the mathematics found in nature, which have been used by traditional architecture in our recent global past.
Noor Danielle Murtezais is an MFA Candidate in the Design Research and Development Track at the Design Department. She holds a BA in Interior Architecture and Design. Her research explores biophilic design in intersection with mathematical fractal patterning, in an effort to increase well-being within the built environment. Her explorations question the legacy of Modernism that has distanced the natural environment and its mathematical echoes from indoor living.
