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Biophilic design refers to human architecture that connects a building’s occupants to their environment in the outside world. In a biophilic building, occupants should feel nature’s presence around them through the walls, floors, decorations and other design elements. 

With that in mind, you need to do more than simply add plants and open the windows. Here are seven impactful biophilic design choices you can make to transform your office space.

Use Natural Building Materials

The most impactful biophilic design choice you can make is building your office space with naturally occurring materials, namely wood and stone. No more drywall, no more carpet floors and no more fiberglass ceilings. Artificial materials are undeniably cheaper, but they’re also low-quality and suck the soul out of an office building, removing it further from nature.

Stone buildings and hardwood floors recall simpler times, when architecture reflected the spirit of its people and families built their homes from scratch. These materials cost more to install but will remain in stable condition for the foreseeable future.

Wood and stone aren’t the only natural materials you can use. Here are some other sustainable and realistic options for an office building:

MasonryCobBambooCorkAdobeCordwood
Create Outdoor Hangout Areas

Your office should have at least one outdoor refuge that employees can seek throughout the day. It should serve both as an alternative workspace and a lounging area, where they can sit and observe the nearby trees, plants and any animals that might scurry past them.

Aim to establish this area away from your building’s parking lot and main entrance to limit foot traffic. If feasible, it should lie in a secluded section of your property with only the sounds of nature in earshot. Think about installing a small pond or fountain to improve the ambiancewith sound,and hang up bird feeders to attract more wildlife. These details will make the hangout area more immersive and relaxing.

Use More Natural Hues

The human eye finds specific colors more soothing than others, and it’s no coincidence that most of those colors are often found in nature. Green, grey and blue in cool hues can help create a soothing environment for your employees. The blacks, browns and whites of stone and wood are also welcome. 

Bright colors like red and orange have their places, but too much brightness can be distracting. Incorporate colors into the walls, furniture and office landscape, and use the bright colors more sparingly.

Add More Plants

An easy way to make your office space more biophilic is by adding more plants. It sounds simple enough, but you have to choose the colors wisely and place them strategically around the building. Here are a few office areas that could use some plant life:

Entrances and exitsShared workspacesConference roomsLounging areasDead cornersRooms with high ceilings

You should also encourage your employees to bring their own plants into the building and place them where they wish. Of course, you still want your building to have enough walking space, so you can’t put all of the plants on the floor. Instead, hang some vines, ferns and ivy from the ceiling and let them grow downwards. Visual growth is a key aspect of biophilic design.

The more greenery you have, the better. Green is the most naturally occurring shade and can even boost productivity in your workers. Use flowers with bright colors in moderation.

Choose Curves Over Sharp Edges

One of the hallmarks of ancient architecture was its rounded structures: arches, columns and rotundas, just to name a few examples. Curved shapes appear more often in nature than jagged edges, and you can incorporate that fact into your building in the following ways:

Circular light fixturesRound tablesCurved chairsPorthole windowsPut Nature on Display

Speaking of windows, you should be extra generous with your window designs. Install window walls and skylights to let in more natural light and put the outdoor scenery on display. The more natural light filtering through your building, the better. As the day goes on, the lights and shadows will change, giving your employees a stronger connection to the outside. Change is another important quality in biophilic design.

Bring Sound Into the Mix

You can add another layer of nature to your building with soothing sounds. Create a white noise playlist with sounds of running water, rainfall, birds chirping, etc. and play it throughout the day. Let employees add to the playlist as they please. You might also install a modest indoor fountain in the lobby or another high-traffic area. Anything to break the silence will help.

Just Act Natural

All of the above additions include the word “natural” in front of them: building materials, lounge areas, colors, decorations, shapes, sights and sounds. The more natural design elements you incorporate into your office space, the more biophilic the space will appear. When you add these seemingly minor additions together, the building stops looking like an office and begins to look more like home.

“Ain’t I a woman?”

This phrase was a quote as well as a title of a popular book on second wave feminism. The quote was uttered by the recently departed, yet ever memorable, Gloria Watkins, once a Stanford Professor. Gloria, a second wave feminist, took a pen name, bel hooks, in honor of a relative. I believe the esteemed relative was her grandmother!

I have been trying to write a blog about bel hooks ever since 1/30/2022. “My bad when it comes to the delay, though I must admit that idiotic dehumanizers have robbed me of my free time.”

Below is why bel hook’s critical thinking guides my classroom practice:

Progressive professors [must] teach [students] that they should oppose domination [and oppression and othering]. Students [can arrive at] these positions via their own capacity to think critically and assess the world they live in…realizing the goals of democracy in [their] ways that are awesome.

C’est dommage. That means what a pity in France. No worries; I am back in Chicago and am doing my best to set boundaries with many in my life.

Only time will shed light on whether I can set boundaries, but I am pretty confident! My first step in establishing boundaries would be to modify bel’s quote (“ain’t I a woman”)–perhaps phrase it as “ain’t I a human?”

For those of you who know me, I am a fairly confident person. Yet, folks are wondering if I can continue to dig myself out of unexpected circumstances, including the cancellation of IMSA’s and CGCC’s Kids Climate Summit (previously scheduled for April of 2022). These unexpected events have left me bruised–yup banged up–although today, I just feel mugged by the reality of the aborted summit, given profound evidence of terrible tactics by those who had the power to empower K-9 students.

Yup– these alleged perpetrators continue to fail to protect and respect children. And, even though I view myself as a privileged white woman with my fair share of resources and power, there is nothing I can do but listen to the children and try to give them a platform for expression. And that is what pains me the most; my former organization had received nearly 300 submissions–from students of all ages–who aimed to participate in the Kids Climate Summit (you may find earlier summit accomplishments on the website of the Chicago Gifted Community Center; see https://www.chicagogiftedcommunity.org/KCS-2021 or https://www.chicagogiftedcommunity.org/2020-projects.

So Rhonda—I talk to myself once in awhile–the beginning of 2022 sucked, but it might improve.

I must keep going and be faithful to bel’s message:

Put simply, “pleasure in the classroom” is feared by authoritarian teachers and others.

Well, thank goodness not everyone–i.e., Maxine Greene–thinks differently.
Maxine admires folks who respect and don’t other “others.” So, I will continue my day with affirmations from Greene and hooks.

INTRO
SOME OF YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS AND HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR AN ANSWER TO CONNECT OR DISCONNECT THIS SET OF BEHAVIORS TO THE PRESENT (FOREVER).

TO EXPLAIN THIS HISTORIC EXPLANATION
∆ A DUMBASS BEHAVIOR PATTERN WAS SET TO TAKE A (BANK) OFFER [NOTE THIS IS OLD] FOR $8,000,000,000 TO •STAY AWAKE TO •BE ANTI-SLEEP TO •PRO ACTIVELY PROHIBIT OTHER LIFE FROM SLEEPING •TO (A)CCOMPLISH AGAINST OTHERS’ PROFESSIONAL, INVENTIVE, PURCHASING AND ACQUIRING, BUILDING LIFE ACCOMPLISHMEANTS •TO BE DUMBASS VIOLENT •TO DO EVERYTHING YOU DO WITH DUMBASS VIOLENCE •ATTAINING A REPUTATION FOR SUCCESS OF (A)CCOMPLISHING AGAINST OTHERS BY ±RECRUITING OTHER DUMBASSES THAT (A)CCOMPLISH AGAINST OTHERS ±ADDING TO (BANK) OFFER OF $8,000,000,000 EVERY OTHER DAY (IN CONFIDENCE THAT IT WOULD PAY OUT SOME DAY) ±BE ATTENTIVE TO AND DOING THIS EVERY DAY OR EVERY OTHER DAY

TO EXPLAIN THIS HISTORIC RESULT
±THIS HAS ADDED TO THE DUMBASS VIOLENCE THAT CAUSED PLAN, PLANNING, THE PLAN + PROACTIVE D=EVOLVE = ALL IMINAL ACTIVITIES WHICH ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES (REFERENCE ANTI-STALKING LAWS, ANTI-INTERFERENCE, ANTI-IMPOSITION, NO KILL, NO HARM, NO SUBVERSIVENESS, NO OVERWHELM).

± THIS HAS CREATED A SOCIETY WIDELY UNEDUCATED 1/3 IN MATH, EMOCRACY (CHOICE), LITERACY (WELL READ, WELL SPOKEN, WRITING ABILITY).

± THIS HAS LEAD TO THE UNDERWORD SOCIETY THAT TAX IDs + ESPOUSES THE USE OF THE WORDS WITHIN EACH FORMAL INVENTED WORD, TO MISREPRESENT A OLDER PRIMAL LANGUAGE SUPPORT, TO UNDERMINE CURRENT PRESENT=DAY USAGE + INTENDED MEANING.

± THIS LEAD, BY HALF, TO THE SOCIETY THAT LISTS WHAT HAS NOT BEEN DONE FOR THE DAY AT NIGHT AND PASSIVELY DOES NOT ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING BUT EVENTUAL EXTINCTION PATTERNS WITH ITS GLISTS.

± THIS HAS LEAD TO THE REWRITE SOCIETY THAT HAS GROUP REWRITES OF QUALITY PUBLISHED (5 OR MORE) BOOKS FOR MISUNDERSTANDING + BREAKDOWN OF READERS.

TO EXPLAIN THE EVOLUTIONARY (FORWARD + UP) ANTIDOTE TO THIS HISTORIC ANTICEDENT TO DUMBASS VIOLENCE
1) THE ACTIVITY WAS MADE TO PROMOTE NO SLEEP, IGNORING THAT SLEEP IS A NECCESSITY, ADMITTEDLY SO, TO 95% TO 100% OF THE POPULATION OF PEOPLE & THINGS. SLEEP IS UP TO 60% OF THE HEALING FROM INJURY (OF EXISTENCE, PSYCHE, MIND, BODY, SOUL, AWARENESS, TRANSCENDENCE, TRANSCENDANCE, HUMAN, THING, EPIC, GOD). WORDS RELATED = SOMNIA (SLEEP RELATED) INSOMNIA (UNABLE TO SLEEP, LACK OF SLEEP ISSUES) SOM (SLEEP RELATED)

2) ACCOMPLISHING MEANS TO GET THINGS DONE. IT IS AN ACTION THAT IS POSITIVE. CCOMPLISHING WAS ADOPTED FOR THIS ISSUE TO MEAN ANTI-ACCOMPLISHMEANT OR SUBVERSIVE ACCOMPLISHMEANT = IEGAL TO ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES. IT IS NOT A REAL WORD. IT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE DICTIONARY. THOSE THAT USE CCOMPLISHMEANT TALK THEIR OWN LANGUAGE OF UNEDUCATED CRIMINALITY.

3) THE PROMISED BANK AMOUNTS OF $8,000,000,000 EVERY OTHER DAY WERE A FARCE (NOT COLLECTED, NOT TRANSMITTED COLLECTABLE, STOLEN EVEN IN CONCEPT BY THE BANK THAT PROMISED IT, WHOSE IDEA IT WAS, AS A DUMBASS WRONG SHE COULD THINK OF.) NO FUNDS HAVE EVER BEEN PROVIDED NOR WERE EVER GOING TO BE PROVIDED.

4) INSTRUCTIONS TO DISPELL :
READ, SAY :
SOM CCOMPLISHMEANT(S) (WHITE, BLACK, POSITIVE, NEGATIVE)
READ, SAY :
SOM MYOCRACYING
READ, SAY :
SOM YOCRACYING
READ, SAY :
YOCRACYING

5) EMOCRACY MEANS CHOICE AS MENTIONED. SVREMOCRACY MEANS EVERYONE VOTES. YOCRACY MEANS THE BASICS NEEDED TO BE HEALTHY. YOCRACYING MEANS THE MISUSE OF TRYING TO OVERLORD OTHER PEOPLE’S BASIC NEEDS + AUTONOMY TO BE HEALTHY. IT IS IEGAL TO ILLEGAL IN THAT IT IS IN THE WAY OF THE RIGHTS OF LIFE, LIBERTY, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS ESPOUSED + FREELY AFFORDED TO ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS IN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

6) AN ADDITIONAL DUMBASS DIFFICULTY RELATED TO THIS IS NUMEROLOGY (NUMBERS 1-4 ARE SET WITH PATTERNS OF DAMNING TO FOLLOW) READ, SAY : NUMERICAL READ, SAY : SNUMERICAL READ, SAY : UMERICAL

NUMBER BALANCE IS TO BE ABLE TO COUNT ALL THE NUMBERS FOR THE QUANTITY THERE, NOT TO PREFER THEM, NOR ASSIGN THEM A SUBJECTIVE PREFERENCE. REFERENCE : COUNTING, ADDITION, SUBTRACTION, MULTIPLICATION, DIVISION, MEASUREMENT, QUANTITY, INVENTORY.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that “Beetroot” is KitchenAid’s (R) color of the year. And I’ll also venture to guess that you aren’t yet aware that Stan’s Donuts & Coffee (online at Goldbelly) is selling beetroot -inspired donuts (pictured) to celebrate its introduction.

Small appliances, including KitchenAid’s Artisan Stand Mixer and its K400 Blender, will be available in Beetroot all year, but the donuts are featured only through Sunday.

As an added bonus, customers who purchase a beetroot donut at Stan’s are eligible to participate in a drawing for a Beetroot mixer.

KitchenAid introduced the first Stand Mixer colors in 1955, in recognition of “the power of color to fuel creativity,” Carley Smith, the company’s senior marketing manager, explains. She adds, “Beetroot…invites adventurous cooks of all skill levels to make every day more vibrant by feeding their insatiable appetite for new experiences in the kitchen and beyond.”

What happened to the rioters who attacked Chicago police while protecting Columbus statue?

Despite all the demands to control guns, some found to be illegally packing get off lightly.

Not many rioters were arrested during Chicago’s riots downtown, but some of those who were skated with community service and probation.

Here’s just one jarring example:

Police said they saw a 22-year-old woman “attempting” to load three 65-inch televisions into her Jeep Liberty outside a South Loop Best Buy during a wave of looting on May 30, 2020. She pleaded guilty to burglary in exchange for two years probation.

That’s from a CWBChicago compilation: “Dozens were arrested during the riots, protests, and looting of 2020. Here’s what happened in court.”

Read it and weep. This is just one example of what the George Soros-funded prosectors has wrought. In Cook County, that means Kim Foxx, the state’s attorney whose sympathies more often are extended to the criminals instead of their victims.

CWBChicago deserves a lot of credit and attention for doing the kind reporting not done by the legacy media. Go here to see some real journalism.

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Material Issue fans were heartbroken after the sudden death of Jim Ellison on June 20, 1996. The lead singer checked out at the early age of 32 and left us with many unanswered questions. Suicide has that effect, leaving things feeling unfinished and empty. Now, Out Of Time, a new documentary about that band’s triumphant run hopes to fill that void. Director Balin Schneider offers a bit of closure, delivering a hopeful piece of nostalgia that leaves us with a way to say goodbye to singer Jim Ellison, while at the same time celebrating the bands legacy with the members who are still here and can testify to writing the soundtrack of our lives.

Michael Jordan once told author Roland Lazenby, “Timing is everything.” This turned out not only to be true in his career but also during a key moment of the pandemic when the whole world was watching his documentary, The Last Dance.

Like Jordan and his last dance, the guys from Material Issue are trotting out their story for one last curtain call, and I believe there could be no better time. Will the whole world watch? I think they should. Balin Schneider and his hardworking crew at Arvonia Films are betting three years of their lives on it. Schneider’s Out Of Time is a documentary with a gripping story about one band’s musical journey and their quest to rejuvenate rock and roll.

The film begins with a stroll through Ellison’s childhood, and then takes us into his college years when he told his mother he “needed to go to college to become a rockstar.” Touching on the songwriter’s deep love for music through home videos of the early days when the band was just forming, to numerous studio clips of the band recording their biggest hits, to a 1991 Spring Break performance of “Diane” on MTV’s 120 Minutes at the pinnacle of their career. Out Of Time plays like a love letter to rock and roll. It’s a composite dish that gradually builds you up, only this time through, we know how the film ends.

Material Issue: Mike Zelenko, Jim Ellison, and Ted Ansani

There is much I didn’t know about Ellison, and his two best friends, bassist Ted Ansani, and drummer Mike Zelenko. Producers and musicians alike loved working with this band, it was truly a family affair. In the documentary, producer Mike Chapman agonizes over the loss of Jim, like he was one of his own. Manager Peter Katsis and producer Jeff Murphy (Shoes) are just a few of the other guest stars you will see profess their love (and their loss) for Jim and there are countless others who tell stories of inspiration.

I myself, as a fan, needed the backstory on Jim and Material Issue. With Schneider’s Out Of Time we get a hell of a lot more. Heartfelt moments with family and friends, including his mother, father, and sister, who are all still missing his frenetic energy and love. By the end of the film, there was not a dry eye in the house. Fan or not, you can’t leave this story without being touched.

Out Of Time gives new reason to explore the life of Jim Ellison, and the music of Material Issue. Here’s hoping that younger generations, who might have missed the band’s story, get a chance to enjoy songs like, “Valerie Loves Me,” truly one of the greatest rock songs ever written. Nothing can fill the void left by suicide but Out Of Time might just eclipse it? Like Jim once wrote, “Who needs love, when we got this?”

Come back tomorrow when I post my interview with the director of Out Of Time, Balin Schneider. We will hear more about his directorial debut with Arvonia Films, his emotional journey working with Material Issue, and exactly when the rest of the world will get to see this incredible documentary.

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Marriott Theatre brings to their stage a musical that was
nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, West Side Story. This 50’s multiracial love story with racial tension, prejudice, and violence inspired by William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet is set in the upper west side of Manhattan where we meet two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks.

The Jets, a Polish teen gang led by Riff, scrabble with a gang of immigrant boys from Puerto Rico, the Sharks, led by Bernardo.
Bernardo and his boys hate the Jets, who never accepted them as Americans, and Riff boys hate the Sharks for coming to America.

The intensity builds when at a school dance, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of Riff, is smitten with the beautiful Maria, the sister of Bernardo. Unfortunately, Tony and Maria are blissfully naive to the dynamics of prejudice caused by the interracial mingling, and Bernardo is totally against his sister falling for the first gringo she sees.

Thrust into the same neighborhood and school, this never-ending battle between Polish and Puerto Rican teens culminates with one night that will kill the love shared between two unexpected teens.

Marriott Theatre’s stage doesn’t allow for the glamorous or picturesque background settings seen recently at Lyric Opera of Chicago, West Side Story. However, the storyline theme of the play is still evident through this two hours and thirty-six-minute production. You could feel the buzz and excitement that night in the audience, which seemed to have been family and friends shouting, clashing, and cheering throughout; that withstanding West Side Story was an entertaining performance. There were occasions where the song, singer, and music were a bit off, and a few dance numbers by the men needed some brush-ups, but overall, it was a fun night.

Making a debut at Marriott Theatre is Jake David Smith, who resembles a young Tom Cruise plays the young protagonist, Tony. Smith is acquainted with this role, playing Tony at the performing arts theater in New London Barn Playhouse in New Hampshire. Smith’s chemistry on stage with Lauren Maria Medina is magical, as you could feel the love between them.

After meeting Tony, Lauren Maria Medina, who plays Maria, an adolescent girl, becomes a woman who has her love at first sight experience. Medina was amazing as Maria and with a beautiful operatic voice that hasn’t fully matured, but you should be seeing her at Lyric Opera of Chicago soon. Gary Copper, Vanessa Aurora Sierra, Drew Redington, and Lance Baker as the racist policeman and a few of the names in a cast of 29 members. It was good to see Matt Decaro, a familiar face to theatergoers and television, recently played Big Daddy in 2018 at The Drury Lane Theatre, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

The famous songs, Tonight, America, Cool and Somewhere (There’s A Place For Us) and I Feel Pretty, with Maria and the Shark girls, are entertaining, but, Gee, Officer Krupke performed by the Jets was hilarious. But, West Side Story pivots around Tony and Maria, and it’s the scenes where they come together singing and revealing their young, innocent love surrounded by the hostility of two groups of adolescents fighting for respect that provides the most joy.

This West Side Story at the Marriott Theatre isn’t a national touring production where stars join or are born, but it’s one of the many theatrical performances that Marriott has produced that will provide a pleasurable evening for anyone that appreciates live theater.

Let’s Play Recommends West Side Story at Marriott Theatre.

Marriott Theatre
West Side Story
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Victor Malana Maog
Feb 02 – Mar 27, 2022