الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Humankind has historically expressed an interdependent connection with nature, with much of human consciousness emanating from thoughtful study of the natural world around. The last decades have witnessed an incessant growth in working to determine aspects of nature that most influence people satisfaction with the built environment. As new proofs appear, the rapports between nature, science and the built environment are becoming easier to understand old wisdom and novel potentials. Thus, characteristic interdisciplinary approaches have been systematically integrated, formulating the scientific basis for new areas of research into the field of design as well as psychology and anthropology. However, these approaches are not ordinarily applied to comprehend historic buildings from a wider architectural insight. Hence, this thesis seeks to deepen the analysis of the Alhambra architecture in Granada, Spain (a World Heritage site) using a novel concept which kept pace with contemporary methodologies. This stems from the researcher’s observation that several analyses have focused much attention on the Alhambra’s historical, stylistic or constructional aspects without adequate studying of its relationship with present global needs in architecture. Accordingly, the aim of the thesis is to demonstrate that the Alhambra architecture manifests a successful biophilic design, which may allow for a positive impact on human health and well-being. Therefore, this thesis attempts to correlate the architectural heritage with the health sciences in context of biophilic design by exploring the biophilia hypothesis and biophilic design; interpreting the dialogue between nature and the Alhambra’s cultural and structural features; realizing the likely effects of the “14 Patterns of Biophilic Design”, proposed by Terrapin Bright Green consulting firm, on human health and well-being; and investigating the presence of these patterns in the Alhambra architecture in addition to five examples of its analogues around the world. The results of the thesis reveal that the Alhambra is an outstanding model for meeting the 14 patterns of biophilic design. This would explain how biophilic design can be applied through an actual example that has impressive cultural and historical characteristics, as well as highlight the probable effect of the Alhambra architecture on the health and well-being of its visitors.