Justin Deddens

The Nature of Atmosphere

Current data estimates we spend 87-92% of our time indoors with an additional 6% in transit,1 resulting in an average of only 2-7% of our days being spent outdoors. In addition, less than half the urban population of Europe lives within 300m of green space, the maximum distance recommended by the World Health Organization.2 Looking at the share of green space in European cities reveals that Gent, Belgium has approximately 15.5 square meters of green space per inhabitant, while the average among major European cities is 18.2 square meters per inhabitant.3 However, “publicly accessible green areas form a relatively low share of total green space, estimated at only 3% of the total city area on average.”4 

Combined with the relative inaccessibility of green space, many of these urban spaces lack a sense of atmosphere, the quality that would elevate them from buildings to architecture. Building on the reflections of Peter Zumthor and Juhani Pallasmaa, I understand atmosphere to be an emotional quality of space appropriate to the building’s purpose, which is experienced through all of the senses and perceived intuitively, prior to the arrival of any intellectual conclusion. I’m interested in exploring what tangible spatial and material design choices create atmosphere, and if both atmosphere and a connection to nature can be achieved through the use of biophilic design—an emerging field within architecture that uses natural or nature-inspired design elements to improve the wellbeing of building occupants.5 A material category of particular interest in this exploration is mass timber due to the inherent characteristics connecting it to biophilic and regenerative design. 

If architecture is, as Zumthor states, “an envelope and background for life,”6 we should make sure it is supportive of life. Through this research I hope to identify ways in which a unity of materiality and emotion can promote enhanced connections between humanity, our built environment, and the natural world in a way that helps people experience spaces on a deeper level, and supports life for all of us and our planet.

1. Christian Schweizer et al., “Indoor Time–Microenvironment–Activity Patterns in Seven Regions of Europe,” Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology 17, 2 (2007): 170–81, https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jes.7500490.

2. European Environment Agency, “How Green Are European Cities? Green Space Key to Well-Being – but Access Varies,” European Environment Agency, 2023, https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/how-green-are-european-cities.

3. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, “The Future of Cities: Space and the City,” European Commission, n.d., Accessed 2 December 2023, https://urban.jrc.ec.europa.eu/thefutureofcities/.

4. European Environment Agency, “How Green Are European Cities?.”

5. Stephen R. Kellert, Nature by Design: The Practice of Biophilic Design. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2018).

6. Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture, Translated by Maureen Oberli-Turner and Catherine Schelbert. (Boston: Birkhäuser, 2015).