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by Thompson E. Penney, FAIA
When you come toe-to-toe with an epiphany, it grabs you by the lapels
and slams you against the wall. When you come to, adjust your glasses,
and focus, what you see is a whole new reality. That pretty much describes
an experience I had earlier this year; an experience that resulted in
a whole new insight into the poetry and proof of the AIA Livable Communities
program.
Of course, “Livable Communities” has been high on the AIA’s
agenda for quite some time. And why shouldn’t it be? Who wouldn’t
be an advocate of “livable” communities? Ever since I first
heard the phrase, it struck me that being in favor of livable communities
was a no brainer: It was motherhood and apple pie.
Yet,
when I was asked to talk about the importance of livable communities to
an audience of non-architects, I kept stumbling over the question “why?”
Why was I, an architect and an AIA representative, promoting livable communities?
What was my real motive? Mind you, I wasn’t tongue-tied, because
I didn’t believe this was anything less than a praiseworthy goal.
But how, I wondered, does an architect credibly advocate a livable-community
agenda to the public and their elected officials without appearing to
be . . . well . . . self-serving?
Then I had my epiphany. Let me set the scene.
Proof positive
My wife, Gretchen, and I had been invited to Seaside, Fla., to participate
in a symposium sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “Architecture
and the Nation’s Health: Design Matters.” The title intrigued
me because it echoed the theme I had chosen for the AIA 2003 National
Convention, “Design Matters: Poetry + Proof.” Featured on
the program was Dr. Richard Jackson, director of the National Center for
Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control. As he spoke,
Dr. Jackson shared compelling statistics that documented alarming trends
in the course of chronic illnesses in America, and how both the trends
and the illnesses themselves are related to design!
It was a powerful presentation. And as his words sank in, that’s
when it hit me: Here was the kind of objective “proof” I was
searching for. Here was information that could help lead our profession
down the road to becoming “trusted advisors.” With objective,
verifiable data in hand, we could be persuasive and informed advocates
for the importance of good design, sustainability, and livability without
sounding self-serving.
Codes: Locked in a time warp?
Later in the symposium, a white paper was presented by landscape architect
Stephanie Bothwell, ASLA. She suggested that many of today’s codes
and zoning laws are locked in a time warp; many still address the same
health issues of, for example, open fires and poor sanitation that were
common to the Victorian industrial age. To be sure, Bothwell recognized
that existing codes and zoning have made great contributions to “healthy”
living with respect to the issues that they addressed. She went on, however,
to make a case for redefining what we mean by health, safety, and welfare
to include issues unique to the 21st century that may not always be so
obvious as those faced by previous generations but nevertheless turn out
to be just as important to the public’s well being. Here, too, design
was identified as a key component of a modern public-health strategy.
The AIA is exploring opportunities to link arms with public-health and
code officials to explore connections between design and health. To cite
one recent example, the AIA has initiated a conversation with James Lee
Witt, former Federal Emergency Management Agency director and new CEO
of the International Codes Council, to pursue an updated vision of the
role that building codes play in promoting better health among Americans.
Linking design, codes, and health
Here are some examples where public health, code language, and design
all intersect:
- Obesity. Seventy percent of Americans do not get the recommended
minimum daily 30 minutes of exercise because they’re “too
busy,” it’s inconvenient, or they do not have safe environments
in which to exercise. Nearly one-third of Americans are obese, and another
third are overweight. One unintended consequence of existing code language
is that fire-exit stairs are often completely enclosed and remote, which
discourages usage and, therefore, a more active lifestyle. Incorporating
physical activity into daily routines, such as taking the stairs instead
of the elevator, is the best way to get the recommended amount of exercise
each day.
- Depression. The leading chronic disease in American adults is depression.
Anti-depressant medication prescriptions rose by 300 percent from 1988
to 1998. In far too many communities, unimaginatively restrictive zoning
ordinances promote an illogical separation of uses, which have the effect
of forcing residents into cars, impeding social interaction, and increasing
the sense of isolation and depression. On the opposite side of the coin,
psychologists have found, just being able to see green space improves
mood and productivity; being able to walk in a natural environment is
even better.
- Asthma. Deaths due to asthma increased by 85 percent from 1979 to
1995. Asthma-related admissions to emergency rooms went down by 42 percent
during the World Olympics in Atlanta, when driving was reduced by 22
percent. Federal budget allocations that only favor more highway construction
to accommodate cars may do so at the cost of increased exhaust pollution
and asthma. Moreover, communities designed around cars instead of people
create dangerous environments that discourage pedestrian activities.
As I said at our national convention last May in San Diego, architects
have always known in their hearts that design matters. What we often lacked
in making the most persuasive case for our work was objective, verifiable
proof that our design decisions have a measurable impact on the public’s
health and well being. Now we’re learning from medical professionals
that a poorly designed community is not just ugly; it’s bad for
a community’s health. This is a breakthrough or epiphany whose power
we’re just beginning to comprehend.
Copyright 2003 The American Institute of Architects.
All rights reserved. Home Page
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FYI: For
the past two years, the AIA has co-sponsored the annual New Partners
for Smart Growth Conference, “Building Safe, Healthy, and
Livable Communities.” This event brings together not only
the usual partners in land-use and smart-growth issues, such as
architects, planners, local government officials, transportation
experts, and developers, but also law enforcement, public-health
experts, and civil-rights advocates. In 2004, the conference will
be held in Portland, Ore., January 22–24, 2004, and once again
the AIA is a cosponsor. For
more information, click here. (Photo from the PSU Web site.)
The AIA’s Center for
Livable Communities has numerous resources on public health
and the built environment, including talking points (to be posted
to the Center’s Web site in the near future) and an
issue brief addressing how architects can design for better health.
This is an emerging topic in the general press, as you can see
from articles
recently published in the Washington
Post and on
Yahoo.
—TEP
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