Just to follow-up on Rob’s comments, there are many examples where interior spaces (e.g. zoos, biodomes, botanical gardens) have been designed to replicate certain natural environments (e.g tropical rainforest, the ocean) . You should check out the California Academy of Sciences building in San Francisco, which has a four-story rainforest. There were many different birds and insects inside the biodome.
In my opinion, I believe that interior landscapes are successful in ‘stimulating’ the connection between humans and nature. I’ve put ‘stimulating’ in quotations to emphasize your inquiry. Even though these environments may be seen as artificial, certain natural elements such as trees and plantings evoke different sensations to humans. When I was conducting research for my thesis project on interior landscape design, I came across several scientific research papers on the benefits of indoor plants and worker’s productivity. Furthermore, research has also been conducted on the use of indoor plants within hospital environments and their effectiveness on therapeutic healing.
I do not agree that interiorscapes and exteriorscapes are comparable in terms of the experiences they provide. The experiences within an interior environment is limited versus the natural environment which is continuous, a cycle that evolves over time where many components are connected to one another. However, indoor plants can provide many benefits for buildings. You should try to check out books/articles by Nelson Hammer, Dr. B.C. Wolverton & NASA research papers.
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