FRACTAL FLOORING IN HEALTHCARE
The prevailing approach to design of the modern urban built environment has encouraged the massive transformation and degradation of nature in everyday spaces and increasing human separation from the natural world. This design paradigm has resulted in human alienation from nature.
Patients spend their time in healthcare environments during very vulnerable periods of their lives where even indirect contact with nature has been found to enhance healing and recovery from illness and major surgical procedures. Due to the clinical demands of healthcare spaces, a seamless integration of biophilic elements such as plants, water, or natural materials is often limited. This creates a greater need for natural analogues — and few are better studied than fractals. Prof. Dr. Richard Taylor from the University of Oregon and Fractals Research spent decades researching how fractal patterns, promote measurable stress reduction in the human nervous system.
Through our collaboration within the ScienceDesignLab, 13&9 Design and Fractals Research have translated this science into fractal-based flooring collections for Mohawk Group, bringing this natural analogue directly into the spaces where healing happens.
Special thanks to the Cass Health Shive-Hattery in Iowa, Pathlight Mood and Anxiety Center in Baltimore, Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta for integrating these outstanding examples of fractal flooring in healthcare environments. Mohawk Group will also host one of their future CEUs focusing on this topic.
Credits: © Caleb Tkach Architecture Photographer