Biophilic Design at the Core of Rawness

Tian Taru in Bali, a masterpiece of Biophilic Design

At Rawness, we do not see a house, a retreat, or a place as a building separated from its surroundings, but as a living part of the landscape. We believe that the way we shape our environments directly influences how we feel, how we behave, and how we relate to nature. For us, Biophilic Design is not a trend, but a foundation.

What is Biophilic Design?

The word biophilia literally means “love of life.” Popularized by biologist Edward O. Wilson, it describes the innate human tendency to connect with nature. Biophilic Design translates this principle into architecture and spatial design: it is about creating environments that restore this connection.

It works on three levels:

1. Direct nature – daylight, plants, trees, water, fresh air.

2. Indirect nature – natural materials and patterns, organic forms, color palettes that reflect landscapes.

3. Spatial experience – places that combine refuge and prospect, where we feel safe yet connected to views and horizons, as in a forest or valley.

Biophilic Design is not about adding a green wall or a few plants. It is about designing spaces that embody the qualities of nature and invite wellbeing and harmony.

Biophilia Hypothesis

The biophilia hypothesis, suggests that humans possess an innate, genetically rooted tendency to seek connection with nature and other forms of life. This stems from our evolutionary past, when survival depended on attunement to natural environments.

This “love of life” is not a luxury but a fundamental human need. It shapes our sense of well-being, fosters emotional bonds with the natural world, and guides our behavior and preferences. Our attraction to flowing water, green vegetation, and familiar tree shapes reflects this deep evolutionary memory – reminders of the landscapes that once ensured our survival and still nurture us today.

Returning to the essence

Humans evolved in nature. Our bodies, our rhythms, our senses: everything is attuned to sunlight, fresh air, the smell of soil, the sound of water, the shelter of trees. Yet in a short time we have reshaped our habitats into boxes of stone and glass, often disconnected from the world we belong to. Rawness chooses to restore that connection.

Spaces that nourish instead of deplete

When we create a retreat, we start with one question: how can this place nourish us? Not just aesthetically, but physically, mentally, and emotionally. Biophilic Design is our guide in answering that question.

• Materials: clay, stone, wood, bamboo, lime – materials that breathe and belong to their environment.

• Light and air: buildings that open to the sun, the wind, the stars. Natural light and ventilation are central.

• Forms and rhythms: organic lines and patterns that calm the mind and strengthen our sense of belonging.

• Green and water: plants, trees, and streams woven into and around our places, not as decoration but as co-inhabitants.

Why we do this

We shape our spaces in this way because we believe regeneration begins with experience. When a guest or resident remembers what it feels like to truly be in contact with nature, something shifts: calm arises, inspiration awakens, connection is felt. This goes beyond comfort; it touches wellbeing and a sense of coming home to the larger web of life.

A broader movement

For Rawness, Biophilic Design is not a style, but a key to transformation. By creating spaces that breathe nature, we are reshaping not only hospitality but also our way of thinking about economy, community, and the future.

We do this because the world needs places that heal instead of deplete. Places where humans and nature strengthen each other. Places that remind us that we are nature.

Rawness: an environment without noise

For us, it is essential that the environments we create consist solely of natural materials. Every object the eye perceives must belong to this whole. Whether indoors or outdoors – architecture, interior, garden, or objects – everything must exist in harmony with nature.

When an environment is fully in harmony with nature, our eyes experience clarity and calm. A gaze that moves across a room or a garden encounters only coherence: forms, materials, and elements that together create a whole. Instead of noise, there is a sense of balance, shelter, and beauty – as if everything falls into place and nothing disturbs our perception.

This is why we chose the name Rawness. It stands for purity and authenticity, for working with natural elements in their original strength. Architecture built from natural materials such as earth, stone, wood, or bamboo. Interiors that radiate warmth and simplicity. Gardens that do not appear cultivated but live in natural forms. Objects that do not seem “made,” but born from nature itself.

In this way, environments arise in which our vision is never clouded. Places where nothing disrupts our senses, but where everything enhances a feeling of clarity, calm, and connection. This is what Rawness is: spaces that are honest, raw, and natural – places that remind us that we are nature ourselves.