Bangalore, India

Project by: ANKITHA RAO R

Biophilia Urbanism
to strengthen the human nature relationship in shimoga to promote health & well being
This thesis project aims to reconfigure the current development trends in Shimoga to strengthen
the positive human-nature relationships using biophilic principles promoting health and wellbeing.
Biophilia is humankinds innate biological connection with nature. According to practitioners,
biophilic design is essential for providing people opportunities to live and work in healthy
places and spaces with less stress and greater overall health and well-being.
The evolution of Shimoga had a positive human nature relationship in the unique geographical
condition, the Inland delta (land form) consists of rich resources (timber, alluvial fan) and a
braided river system which is fed by the downstream water sheds. This study embarks on the
premise that current development trends such as sprawl, changing economic trends from primary
to secondary are causing environmental imbalance. This thesis uses biophilic design tools and
principles to address the issues and provide guidelines for future development at three scales
regional, city and precinct.
This thesis uses primary and secondary data to understand the human nature relationship at
regional scale, transects as a tool to understand different types of contact (direct & indirect) and
the attitude of interaction (haphazard, passive & deliberate) at the city scale and biophilic
patterns (nature in space, nature of space and natural analogies) at the precinct level to
understand the human nature relationship. This analysis helps me to identify conflicts in different
water-settlements interactions/conditions and derive strategies at different scales.
The project culminates in demonstrating one intervention area, the role of biophilic design
elements in strengthening the human-nature relationship in Shimoga.

P17-1744