Lastsummertwonineteenth-centurycottageswererescuedfromremotefarmfieldsinMontanatobemovedtoanArtDecobuildinginSanFrancisco.Thehousesweremadeofwood.ThesecottagesoncehousedearlysettlersastheyworkedthedryMontanasoil;nowtheyholdTwitterengineers.

Thecottagescouldbeanexampleoftheindustry'soddloveaffairwith"lowtechnology"aconceptassociatedwiththenaturalworldandwithold-schoolcraftsmanshipthatexistslongbeforetheInternetera.Lowtechnologyisnotvirtual（虚拟的）--sototakeadvantageofitInternetcompanieshavehadtogetcreative.Therescuedwoodcottagesfittedbyhandinthelateeighteen-hundredsareanobviousexamplebutTwitter'sdesignslieontheextremeend.Othercompaniesareusingabroaderinterpretationoflowtechnologythatfocusesonnature.

Amazonisbuildingthreeglassspheresfilledwithtreessothatemployeescan"workandsocializeinamorenaturalpark-likesetting."AtGoogle'sofficeanentireflooriscarpetedinglass.Facebook'ssecondMenloParkcampuswillhavearooftopparkwithawalkingtrail.

OlleLundbergthefounderofLundbergDesignhasworkedwithmanytechcompaniesovertheyears."Wehavelosttheconnectiontothemakerinourlivesandourtechengineersaretheoneswhofeelmostimpoverishedbecausethey'resurroundedbythedigitalworld"hesays."They’relookingforawaytoregaintheirindividualidentityandwe'vefoundthatintroducingrealcraftsisonewaytodothat."

Thiscraft-basedtheoryisrootedinhistory.WilliamMorristheEnglishartistandwriterturnedbacktopre-indu-strialartsintheeighteen-sixtiesjustaftertheIndustrialRevolution.TheArtsandCraftsmovementdefineditselfagainstmachines."Withoutcreativehumanoccupationpeoplebecamedisconnectedfromlife"Morrissaid.

Researchhasshownthatnaturalenvironmentscanrestoreourmentalcapacities.InJapanpatientsareencouragedto"forest-bathe"takingwalksthroughwoodstolowertheirbloodpressure.

Thesehealthbenefitsapplytothe workplaceaswell. RachelKaplvin，aprofessorofenvironmentalpsychologyhasspentyearsresearchingtherestorativeeffectsofnaturalenvi