The World’s 10 Best Places to See Natural Landscape Patterns

A Biophilic Designer’s Guide: The World’s Best Places to See Natural Landscape Patterns

There is a fundamental reason a walk in the woods can calm the mind or the sight of a coastline from above can feel so deeply satisfying. This phenomenon, our innate and genetically determined affinity for the natural world, is known as biophilia. It suggests that our connection to the natural landscape is not merely a preference but a biological need. This connection is often forged in the subconscious, through the recognition of repeating patterns—the elegant, efficient, and universal visual grammar that nature employs. From the branching of a tree to the cracking of dry earth, these motifs are nature’s design language. Understanding this language is the first step toward biomimicry and effective biophilic design.

This exploration serves as a guide to the world’s most spectacular classrooms, where these natural phenomena are on full display. We will not only journey to these locations but also deconstruct the underlying patterns, examining their formation and their profound implications for creating more resonant, human-centric designs in both our physical and digital worlds.

The Algorithms of Nature: Understanding the Core Patterns

Before we can appreciate the grand canvases where nature has painted its masterpieces, we must first learn to recognize the brushstrokes. The patterns we see in landscapes are not random; they are the result of physical laws and mathematical principles working over millennia. They are nature’s algorithms—sets of rules that, when followed, produce complex and beautiful results from simple beginnings.

Fractals & Dendritic Networks

Imagine a single floret of broccoli. It looks like a tiny tree. If you break off an even smaller piece from that floret, it too looks like a tiny tree. This is the core concept of a fractal: a pattern that repeats itself at different scales, a property known as “self-similarity.” In nature, this is an incredibly efficient way to solve problems.

For a river delta trying to find the easiest path to the sea, or a lung trying to maximize the surface area for oxygen exchange, a fractal branching pattern is the optimal solution. These branching patterns are often called dendritic, from the Greek word dendron, meaning “tree.” The mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot was a pioneer in studying and naming these complex shapes, showing us that what appears to be chaotic roughness often has a beautiful, underlying order.

Tessellations & Voronoi Patterns

If you’ve ever looked at a honeycomb or a tiled bathroom floor, you have seen a tessellation. It is a pattern made of repeating geometric shapes that fit together perfectly without any gaps or overlaps. Nature is the ultimate efficiency expert; it wastes nothing. When materials need to be packed tightly or when a surface cracks from stress, nature often settles on the most efficient shape: the hexagon.

When lava cools and contracts, or when mud in a dry riverbed shrinks, the tension pulls from many different points. The most stable and energy-efficient way to relieve this stress is to form cracks that create shapes with six sides. These are also related to Voronoi patterns, which you can see in the wings of a dragonfly or the pattern of cells in a leaf, where each shape is defined by its closeness to a central point.

Spirals & Fibonacci Sequences

While less common on a massive landscape scale, the spiral is one of nature’s most iconic forms. From the swirl of a hurricane to the shell of a nautilus, the logarithmic spiral is a pattern of growth. It allows an organism to grow without changing its overall shape. Many of these spirals are related to the famous Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two before it (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…). The ratio between these numbers approaches the “golden ratio,” a proportion that humans have found aesthetically pleasing for centuries. This pattern reminds us of the deep mathematical elegance that governs life’s expansion and development.

Flow & Meander Patterns

The world is not static; it is constantly being shaped by the movement of wind, water, and ice. These forces leave behind clear evidence of their paths in the form of flow patterns. The graceful, S-shaped curves of a meandering river are a perfect example. A river rarely flows in a straight line because any small disturbance will cause the water to swing from side to side, eroding the outer banks and depositing sediment on the inner banks, exaggerating the curve over time.

Similarly, the wind blowing over a desert landscape creates an incredible variety of sand dunes; crescent-shaped barchan dunes, long linear dunes, and complex star dunes—each a perfect record of the prevailing winds that sculpted them. These patterns are a direct visualization of energy moving across a landscape.

A Global Tour of Nature’s Design Masterpieces

With an understanding of these core landscape patterns, we can now travel the globe to see them executed on a breathtaking scale. Each of the following locations is a living museum of natural design.

1. The Lena River Delta, Russia – A Study in Dendritic Flow

Far above the Arctic Circle in Siberia, one of the world’s largest rivers, the Lena, meets the frigid Laptev Sea. Here, the river slows and fans out, depositing millions of tons of sand and sediment it has carried for thousands of miles. The result is a massive wetland delta, frozen for much of the year, that sprawls over 12,000 square miles. From above, it is a perfect, textbook example of a fractal and dendritic network. The main river channel splinters into hundreds, then thousands of smaller streams and channels, which splinter again, creating a pattern that looks remarkably like the veins of a leaf or the structure of a nervous system.

• Pattern Type: Fractal and Dendritic.
• The Scientific Explanation: This pattern forms as the water seeks the path of least resistance to the sea. As sediment builds up and blocks one path, the water is forced to find a new one, creating an ever-expanding and intricate network of branches.
• The Biophilic Connection: This pattern represents distribution, connection, and complexity. It evokes a sense of interconnected systems, reminding us that all parts are linked to a whole. In design, it inspires logical information architecture and network visualization.
• Viewing Tip: Due to its remote location and immense scale, the Lena River Delta is best appreciated through satellite imagery from services like Google Earth or NASA’s Earth Observatory.

2. Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland – Nature’s Perfect Tessellation

On the rugged coast of Northern Ireland stands a geological wonder that looks as if it were carved by a giant. The Giant’s Causeway consists of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, most of them perfect hexagons, stepping down from the cliffs into the sea. The formation is so geometrically precise that ancient legends attributed its construction to the mythical giant, Finn MacCool.

• Pattern Type: Hexagonal Tessellation.
• The Scientific Explanation: Around 60 million years ago, a massive volcanic eruption poured molten basaltic lava across the landscape. As this thick layer of lava cooled and contracted, cracks formed. To relieve the stress evenly, the cracks formed at angles that resulted in the most energy-efficient shape: the hexagon. The columns started forming on the bottom and top surfaces and grew towards the middle.
• The Biophilic Connection: The causeway evokes feelings of order, strength, stability, and structure. It is a powerful example of order emerging from a chaotic event. For designers, it is a direct inspiration for modular grids, logos, and structural elements that require both beauty and resilience.
• Viewing Tip: This site is easily accessible by foot. Walking on the columns allows you to experience the pattern tactilely and visually, appreciating the slight variations in each shape.

3. The Wave, Arizona, USA – Rhythms of Fluid Dynamics

Tucked away in the Coyote Buttes North area on the Arizona-Utah border is a surreal sandstone formation known as The Wave. To walk through it is to feel as if you are inside a moving painting. The rock forms two main U-shaped troughs that have been eroded into flowing, candy-striped lines of red, orange, pink, and yellow.

• Pattern Type: Flow and Stratification.
• The Scientific Explanation: The lines represent different layers of sand (a pattern called stratification) that were deposited as massive dunes during the Jurassic period. Over millions of years, this sand was compacted into Navajo Sandstone. First, water runoff began carving the channels. Then, the prevailing winds funneled through these channels, acting like sandpaper to sculpt and smooth the rock into its current fluid shape.
• The Biophilic Connection: The Wave is a perfect representation of rhythm, movement, and the slow, powerful passage of time. It guides the eye and creates a sense of direction and flow. In web and graphic design, these principles are used to direct a user’s attention and create a visually pleasing journey through content.
• Viewing Tip: Access is extremely limited to protect the fragile formation. A permit is required and awarded through a highly competitive lottery system months in advance.

4. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia – Cracked Earth and Crystalline Forms

In the high Andes of Bolivia lies the world’s largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni. It is a vast, otherworldly landscape of white salt crust stretching over 4,000 square miles. During the dry season, the surface water evaporates, and the salt crust shrinks and cracks into a seemingly endless expanse of repeating polygonal, mostly hexagonal, shapes.

• Pattern Type: Desiccation Cracks (Tessellation).
• The Scientific Explanation: This process is called desiccation. As the water evaporates from the salt-saturated ground, the crust loses volume and contracts. Tension builds until the surface fractures. Like the cooling basalt at Giant’s Causeway, the cracks form in the most energy-efficient way, resulting in the familiar honeycomb pattern.
• The Biophilic Connection: This pattern provides a powerful visual texture that speaks to natural cycles of wet and dry, presence and absence. It feels both vast and minutely detailed at the same time. For designers, it’s an ideal source for subtle, ordered background textures that add depth without being distracting.
• Viewing Tip: Visiting during the dry season (May to November) is best for seeing the cracked patterns. During the wet season, a thin layer of water transforms the flat into the world’s largest mirror.

5. Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia – The Geometry of Wind

The Namib Desert is one of the oldest and driest deserts in the world. Its most famous feature is the sea of massive sand dunes at Sossusvlei. These are not just any dunes; they are some of the tallest in the world, glowing with a deep rust-red color due to the oxidized iron in the sand. Their most fascinating feature is their shape.

• Pattern Type: Flow Patterns (Star Dunes).
• The Scientific Explanation: Unlike dunes that are shaped by wind from a single direction, the dunes at Sossusvlei are “star dunes.” They are formed by complex, variable winds blowing from multiple directions. This causes the sand to build up into a central peak with three or more arms radiating outwards, like a star.
• The Biophilic Connection: These dunes represent dynamic forces, adaptation, and equilibrium. The sharp crest lines combined with soft, sweeping curves create a compelling visual duality of hard and soft. They teach a design lesson in creating balance and interest through contrasting forms.
• Viewing Tip: The best time to see the patterns and colors of the dunes is at sunrise or sunset when the low-angle light creates long, dramatic shadows that define their geometric shapes. Climbing a dune like “Dune 45” or “Big Daddy” provides a spectacular vantage point of this landscape.

6. Zhangye Danxia Landform, China – A Canvas of Stratification & Color

Known as the “Rainbow Mountains,” this geological park in China displays an incredible pattern of color. The mountains are composed of layers of different colored sandstone and minerals that were pressed together over 24 million years and then buckled up by tectonic forces.

• Pattern Type: Stratification.
• The Scientific Explanation: Each colored stripe is a layer of sedimentary rock with a different mineral composition, formed at a different time. The red is from iron oxide (rust), the yellow from sand and clay, and so on. Millennia of erosion have carved the rock into dramatic valleys and peaks, exposing the vibrant layers.
• The Biophilic Connection: This landscape is a direct visualization of history and process. The layers evoke a sense of deep time and natural order. In design, layered elements can be used to create depth, organize information, and tell a story sequentially.

7. The Great Barrier Reef, Australia – Biomorphic & Fractal Corridors

Viewed from above, the world’s largest coral reef system is not a solid wall but an intricate, branching collection of smaller reefs, islands, and channels. The way the reef has grown over thousands of years creates complex fractal patterns that fill the space between the Australian mainland and the deep ocean.

• Pattern Type: Biomorphic and Fractal. “Biomorphic” means it resembles the shapes of living organisms.
• The Scientific Explanation: The reef is a living structure built by billions of tiny coral polyps. Its growth pattern is dictated by factors like water currents, sunlight, and the underlying geology, resulting in complex, self-similar clusters and branching corridors that maximize the reef’s exposure to nutrient-rich waters.
• The Biophilic Connection: The reef’s patterns feel organic, complex, and alive. They represent community, interconnectedness, and the delicate balance of a complex ecosystem. These forms inspire fluid, non-rigid design layouts and organic user interfaces.

8. Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina – The Physics of Fracture

Located in Patagonia, the Perito Moreno Glacier is a massive river of ice that is constantly advancing. As the immense pressure and movement put stress on the brittle ice, it cracks and fissures, creating a network of crevasses and dramatic icefalls.

• Pattern Type: Fracture and Striation.
• The Scientific Explanation: As the glacier flows over the uneven bedrock beneath it, the ice on the surface, which is more brittle, cracks under the tension. This creates deep crevasses. The lines you see on the valley walls, called striations, are scratches left by rocks embedded in the glacier’s base as it moved.
• The Biophilic Connection: These patterns of fracture and stress represent immense power and raw natural forces. While seemingly chaotic, they follow the predictable laws of physics. They can inspire designs that are bold, dynamic, and have a “raw” or “unfinished” aesthetic.

9. Caño Cristales, Colombia – Ephemeral Color and Flow

For a few months each year, this Colombian river, often called the “River of Five Colors,” transforms into a liquid rainbow. The vibrant colors are not from the water or rocks, but from a unique aquatic plant that blooms in brilliant reds, yellows, greens, and purples.

• Pattern Type: Biomorphic and Flow.
• The Scientific Explanation: The plant, Macarenia clavigera, clings to the rocks on the riverbed. Its color changes depending on its exposure to sunlight. The pattern it creates is therefore a living map of the river’s depth, flow, and the amount of light penetrating the clear water.
• The Biophilic Connection: This is a pattern that is ephemeral, alive, and constantly changing. It represents seasonality and the vibrant, fleeting beauty of life. It inspires designs that incorporate color in a dynamic, meaningful way, perhaps even changing with user interaction or time of day.

10. Fly Geyser, Nevada, USA – The Art of Accretion

On private land in Nevada, a bizarre and colorful geological feature rises from the desert floor. Fly Geyser is not entirely natural, it began when a well was drilled in 1964, but the patterns it has formed since are a spectacular lesson in a landscape of mineral deposition.

• Pattern Type: Accretion and Terracing. Accretion is the gradual buildup of layers.
• The Scientific Explanation: Superheated, mineral-rich water shoots from the ground. As this water evaporates and cools in the dry desert air, it deposits dissolved minerals, primarily calcium carbonate. Over decades, these deposits have built up into a series of otherworldly mounds and terraces. The vibrant red and green colors come from thermophilic algae that thrive in the hot, mineral-rich environment.
• The Biophilic Connection: This is a pattern of slow, additive growth. It shows how small, consistent deposits can create a large, complex structure over time. It can inspire designs that feel layered, rich in detail, and have a sense of having been built or crafted over time.

Applying Natural Patterns: From Landscape to Digital Interface

Observing these magnificent patterns is more than just a lesson in geography; it is a source of direct inspiration for design. As a biophilic designer, my work involves translating this natural grammar into the digital spaces where we spend so much of our time.

• Fractal Navigation: A website’s structure is often a hierarchy of information. By visualizing a site map as a dendritic network, we can create more intuitive and logical navigation paths for users, allowing them to branch out and explore topics just as a river explores a delta.
• Tessellated Grids: Most websites are built on simple rectangular grids. But why not a hexagonal grid for a photo gallery or a product display? It’s visually more interesting, draws on the stable and efficient patterns of the Giant’s Causeway, and allows content to interlock in a more organic way.
• Flowing Layouts: Instead of rigid, straight lines, we can use the gentle, sweeping curves found at The Wave to guide a user’s eye down a page. A soft curve can lead from a headline, around an image, and down to a call-to-action button, creating a more natural and less jarring user experience.
• Natural Textures: A plain white or gray background can feel sterile. By incorporating a subtle, high-resolution texture from the cracked earth of Salar de Uyuni or the layered rock of Zhangye, we can add depth, tactility, and a sense of grounding to a digital design without overwhelming the content.

Questions about Landscape Patterns

Q: What are the best examples of fractal patterns in nature?

A: Excellent examples of fractal patterns include river deltas like the Lena River Delta, the branching of lightning, the intricate coastlines of countries like Norway, and the structure of plants like ferns and Romanesco broccoli. All exhibit self-similarity, where the smaller parts of the structure resemble the whole.

Q: Where can I see hexagonal basalt columns like Giant’s Causeway?

A: While Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland is the most famous, similar formations of columnar basalt exist worldwide. Other notable locations include the Devils Postpile National Monument in California, USA; the sea cliffs of Stuðlagil Canyon in Iceland; and the Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa, Scotland.

Q: What causes the striped patterns in rocks like The Wave?

A: The striped patterns, known as stratification, are layers of sediment deposited at different times. In the case of The Wave, these were ancient sand dunes. The different colors come from different minerals present in each layer, such as iron oxides which create reds and oranges. Erosion later exposed these layers and sculpted them into their flowing shapes.

Q: How do patterns in nature influence design and architecture?

A: Patterns from nature are a core principle of biomimicry and biophilic design. Architects might use the efficiency of a honeycomb (a tessellation) to design a strong yet lightweight building facade. A web designer might use the flowing curves of a river (a flow pattern) to guide a user’s eye through a webpage. These patterns are used to create designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing but are often more efficient, resilient, and psychologically comforting to humans.

Conclusion

The Earth is the original designer, the ultimate engineer, and the most profound artist. Its landscapes, shaped by physics, chemistry, and biology over eons, are not just beautiful places to visit; they are a library of proven design solutions. By learning to see the world in terms of its underlying patterns—the fractals, tessellations, and flows—we can better understand the world itself and our place within it. More than that, we can borrow from this universal language to create spaces, both physical and digital, that are more efficient, more beautiful, and more aligned with our own innate biology. Observe, analyze, and apply. This is the foundation of effective biophilic design.