It's designing places that bring neighbors together, using color and texture to help students excel in the classroom, incorporating nature into the office, and inspiring movement. Designing for health is about enhancing the physical and mental well-being of the people who live, work, and play in our spaces. It’s about building social and financial capital in communities both urban and rural. In this graphic, explore six opportunities to achieve health through design strategies: safety, social connectedness, environmental quality, sensory environments, physical activity, and natural systems.
Architects’ professional responsibility is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Design—including active streets, thoughtful lighting strategies, and open sightlines—can protect people from more than physical harm; it can remove real and perceived impediments that cause anxiety, stress, and psychological harm.
Architects aren’t green scientists, but the places and spaces they design may mitigate or reverse quantifiable chemical and microbial site, water, and air pollutants that directly and indirectly affect human health. From clean energy to smart material selections, the decisions architects make matter.
Beyond appearance—the visible beauty of an architect-designed space—people experience the built environment through touch, sound, smell, and even taste. Design that embraces varied sensory experiences including circadian rhythms, thermal and acoustic controls, and meditative labyrinths promote mental and emotional well-being, improve quality of life, and predict improved physical health.
Architects should design myriad opportunities for exercise, recreation, and more active daily experiences including labor, chores, and commutes. Promoting individual choice through multi-modal transportation, varied and highly-accessible parks, and appealing stairs are small steps to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and other health problems.
People are awed by nature. Architects can harness the power of natural systems, including natural forms, diverse species, and calming vistas, to support healthy food production, to provide stress relief, and to improve human performance, especially in periods of intense stress.
Social Connectedness
People thrive on relationships with each other. Strong networks within our families, our friends, and our neighborhoods improve our happiness, our well-being, and our resilience. Design that encourages play, communal dining, and a friendly “hello” is fundamental to behaviors such as civic participation, voting, and helping neighbors.
Select a link to learn more
- Building Resilience: Scaled strategies for healthy community design
- Health and Community Development
- From Health to Wellness
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