Cubicide: Ghastly Work Settings, Nature Deficit & Biophilic Design

"Return to Office" (RTO) mandates responsible for brain drain, creative rot and motivational malaise are surging in 2025. While employers routinely weaponize RTO, citing "connectivity, collaboration, innovation, mentorship, and skill development," employees remain generally less optimistic these goals are achieved by RTO mandates. Employees forced to re-engage office settings bereft of Nature, confined to drab cubicles or sterile work settings with flourescent lighting, limited natural light, excessive screen time, and the drone of industrial machinery, cell phone pings, traffic noise, and keyboard clacking have been shown to deteriorate rapidly in respect to physical health, emotional stability, ability to cope with stress and anxiety, and overall spiritual and psychological wellness. "Cubicide" refers to the effects of workplace ghastliness, enclosures of doom, the place where natural life and energy go to die. Nature-starved work environments have a Harry Potter-esque Dementor effect on employees sacrificed to the gods of productivity and expediency, a process akin to soul-sucking entropy. Why are we submitting?

Nature exhibits an astounding array of options for adapting to anemic or toxic work settings. We can learn adaptive solutions from Nature if we draw close and pay attention. Nature can teach us much about collaboration, adaptive change, mutual protection, and resiliency, all central to the stated objectives of RTO mandates.

If we look around us right now, especially in our work or home office, where do we find evidence of Nature? Are there sweeping vistas or inspiring touchpoints of green life, colorful plant-kin, the chittering of chipmunks or squirrels, or songbird melodies pervading our awareness? Can we hear anything belonging to the natural world, like the breeze sifting through leaves, owl or frog song? Is there a cool flow of water, perhaps with trailing ivy tickling the surface? (Leaky faucets or toilets don't count.) Do we perceive subtle shades of natural color, light, and texture around us, windows that open to Nature, or gentle spaces for sparking creativity and refreshment? Most likely, no. If we're fortunate enough to be able to take a "break" outside, we might gain access to Nature, but many are not so priviliged. And we usually add a nerve-wracking commute to each end of the work-day if we work at a distance. It's Nature-deficit at high speed, risking life and limb daily, adding to stress and anxiety, not to mention carbon footprint.

If we are cut off from Nature, surrounded at work by intractable hardscape, concrete walls and floors, garish overhead lighting, computer screens the size of windshields, and the incessant drone of techno-ping, we might be experiencing the effects of Nature deficit. Pulse rate, blood pressure, respiration, cortisol levels - all elevated. We may feel out-of-balance, prone to stress-induced maladies such as migraines and musculo-skeletal decay. We might be prone to obesity and all the health effects accompanying inactivity. Is there even a single house plant in the vicinity, even a sickly one, gasping for breath, water, or attention? If there is not, it might be an indication we are lacking what Nature can offer us. When was the last time - at work - we took a deep breath to smell sweet jasmine, fresh pine, or lemon citrus? When was the last time - in our work settings - we were bathed in the unmistakable fragrance of springtime or autumn, or we luxuriated in the crisp winter silence or the lush summer daylight?

Enter Biophilia (<Gk. βίος/Bios = Natural Life + φιλία/Philia = Love) or Love of Nature.

Research indicates that Biophilic design for work settings brings us into contact with Nature for psychological, physical, and emotional health and well-being. Biophilia, a term coined in 1984 by the late socio-biologist, Edward O. Wilson, describes the intrinsic relationship between human beings and Nature. Wilson understood the demonstrable positive effects of Nature for human health and consciousness that impact our ways of being members of a larger eco-system, a viable Earth-community. Our embeddedness in Nature's embrace gives us the perspective of a wider "We" of which we are part. We learn Nature's capacities for adaptive change, and become adept at collaboration in co-creative ways that engender innovation and resiliency. Without an explicit connection with Nature, we feel cut off, isolated, and energy-deficient.

In the face of RTO mandates, now is the time to reclaim our dignity and rights as human beings immersed in the Natural world. Biophilic design for work settings that features not only natural elements, but subtle cues that activate Nature-immersive memories and experiences, are healthy, raise our energy, focus, and creativity, increase our capacity for connection and collaboration, and help us thrive in our relationships.

When Biophilic design brings Nature to the workplace, we can note the measurable effects for connection, communication, collaboration, creativity, learning, and skill development. If our work setting has us or our team feeling less than inspired, we might consider:

Immediate and Mediated Access to Nature

Windows - Windows provide immediate access. They are the most coveted for office settings for this reason. Facing existing windows, adding windows, giving perennial access to windows offers immediate access to Nature. Also, include natural living green plants (with grow lights), interior water features, and comfort creatures (e.g., dogs, cats, birds). For mediated access - photos/paintings/sculptures representing Nature - gorgeous landscapes, recorded sounds of Nature, textured wall features, moss walls, interior zen gardens, stone and wood features. Soulscapes for work, like this Office Oasis, are designed for this purpose.

Natural Light - So important for regulating circadian rhythm, natural light also contributes to nervous, circulatory, and respiratory health. If natural light is inaccessible, simulate natural light whenever possible, and limit harmful flourescent lighting in the workspace.

Natural Colors - Colors in the workspace matter! Consult the Savanna Hypothesis for overall worker satisfaction and motivation, indicating a preference for hydro-blues, arbor greens, blazing golds, tans, browns, and earthy reds found in African savannas. Highlight colors suggesting flowers and fruits - bright, shimmery hues of yellows, reds, purples, oranges, and pinks. Minimizing vibrating color combinations or stark contrasts and utilizing softer shades and ombres for calm, focus, balance, and creative flow can help.

Biophony, Natural Fragrance, and Natural Texture - Providing access to real or recorded natural sound, and stimulating the olfactory with natural fragrances in work settings is conducive to alleviating stress, restoring energy, and stoking creativity and collaboration. Providing natural touchpoints in a micro-sensory garden with lambs' ear, celosia, and yarrow is more inviting than stress balls to alleviate stress and calm workplace jitters! Curved architectural features and soft furniture edges to mimic the curvature of Earth and the eye is easy on the brain, healing the hemispheric divide. A fresh fruit bowl that is replenished each morning, a delightful soundstream from a nearby Nature preserve, park, or botanical garden, or even the gentle aroma of a micro-Park in the common area will raise collective energy, encourage collaborative conversation, and kindle creativity.

Creating a Biophilic workplace design may be the antidote to cubicide. If we feel inspired and healed by Nature, this takes work to a whole new interior level, one where we feel grounded, connected, creative, calm, focused, and resilient. Who wouldn't want to work in the heart of Nature?