BIOPHILIC DESIGN FOR HEALTHY AGING

Abstract

"Biophilic design" is a relatively new idea that is gaining attraction among researchers and practitioners worldwide. Nevertheless, the relationship connecting healthy aging and biophilic design is still to be properly studied, particularly in the Sudanese context, which is the main gap that this study aims to address and fill. Elderly people in Sudan as in many cultures prefer aging at home in which proximity to their family members, relatives, and social interactions as valued highly. Unfortunately, not all the existing houses provide a perfect environment for healthy aging. The study incorporates biophilic design patterns and attributes with wellness dimensions for active aging and aging in place and seeks to demonstrate how all the desired domestic environmental elements and features may meet these 3 benchmarks, therefore impeaching any agreements which might result in the creation of a checklist for biophilic design strategies specially for a home environment that can promote healthy aging while also expressing cultural aspects in the Sudanese context. This study looked at the Sudanese traditional courtyard houses in Hai Al-Wadi neighborhood, Nyala, Sudan in which interviews were conducted with 41 elder individuals 60 years and above and discovered that biophilic design features and elements are present within these houses. Questionnaire interviews were conducted into two stages; the first stage was as a pilot study to test the questionnaire and the way of evaluation. The second stage was to go in-depth and add to data analysis of the method. A five-point Likert scale questionnaire method was used and for the evaluation, Maslow’s hierarchical level needs and WHOQOL-OLD module, WHOQOL-BREF was used.