Abstract

The interaction between human beings and nature, especially in the urban and built environment, is increasingly important for the wellbeing of people and the planet. Various studies have been conducted to understand the effects of plants and natural elements in relation to human health and wellbeing. This article discusses the main findings of a research project around emotional responses, perceptions, and preferences toward Furniture Design with Living Organisms (FDLOs). This research is part of a larger project which also studied aspects of Biophilia and Biophilic design in FDLOs. However, this article reports specifically on the section around emotional responses to FDLOs and the different incorporated living organisms. The research explored three main questions: 1) How can emotional design theory be applied to understand FDLOs; 2) How do different groups of people, mainly designers, react to and perceive FDLOs; and 3) Which types of living organisms are preferred, or not, when embedded in furniture, and why? Emotional design encompasses diverse approaches to understand perceived feelings and emotions in relation to objects and systems. In order to study the emotions and perceptions of groups of people toward FDLOs, online surveys were conducted among selected groups of 287 respondents. The respondents were stratified into three main groups, namely: 1) Art and Design/Creative or International designers (ID); 2) Academic/Education (E); and 3) Students (S). Respondents were asked to choose between images of digitally altered furniture designs with and without living organisms, and also to rate their emotions toward the FDLOs. This article reports the process, results, and discussion around this research, summarizing the emotional responses (positive and negative reactions) to FDLOs, as well as different preferences toward living organisms to be embedded in furniture.