by Eugene C. Hopkins, FAIA

A recent issue of USA Today carried this front-page caption: “Cars changing to fit bigger buyers.” The slim copy that followed read: “Carmakers are adapting to the increasing number of overweight Americans by expanding front-seat hip room.”

The following week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed what’s called the “Cheeseburger Bill.” This piece of legislation would protect fast-food outlets from being sued by their customers for the consequences of too many burgers and fries. The bill awaits action in the Senate. Legal immunity or not, McDonald’s isn’t taking any chances and already has ratcheted down the calorie count of its menu.

Speaking at the Grassroots Leadership conference in March, Richard Jackson, MD, the senior adviser to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted that the average 11-year-old child is today 11 pounds heavier than in 1973. He also cited the increased cost to the airlines for the extra jet fuel needed to carry the heavier passenger load. The dollar amount was impressive.

Equally impressive—and disturbing—is the rising incidence of health issues related secondarily to the battle of the bulge (which we appear to be losing): cancer, stroke, heart disease, and juvenile diabetes. In the last case, Dr. Jackson predicted that we may be among the first generation in the history of our country that lives longer than its children.

We as citizens should be concerned. And we architects must act.

Part of the solution
We’re all aware that the design of many communities forces Americans off the sidewalks (assuming there are sidewalks) into cars. We can and should be part of the solution. The design of many buildings makes it easier for people to use elevators to go the short distance between floors instead of simply using the stairs. Here, too, we have a key role to play on behalf of our clients and the users. The downtowns of Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and San Antonio—to cite a few positive examples—invite people to take a stroll, because the architecture sets the stage for interesting things to happen that exercise both body and soul.

In short, the current obesity epidemic—and let there be no doubt, it is an epidemic—underscores the fact that well-being and environment are inextricably related. We know this.

But have we been as explicit and persuasive as we should in making the case that architects and architecture are at least as relevant to matters of public health as, say, the drug companies, treadmills, and diet gurus? (Perhaps even more so. After all, if everyone followed a healthy lifestyle, who would buy treadmills or appetite suppressants?) What came first in winning the war against tuberculosis: a cleaner, healthier, better-built environment or antibiotics? We know the answer. Does the public?

“Peripatetic or peri-pathetic?”
The case, indeed the opportunity for architects to advance the well-being of our fellow citizens by design is powerfully outlined in the January-February 2004 Architecture Minnesota. In these pages, Editor Camille LeFevre and the magazine’s contributors cite historic precedent (Olmsted) and current enlightened practice for quantifiable evidence. Their message: When it comes to the health of our communities, design matters a very great deal.

The magazine makes for great reading. For example, the following is from “Fat City” by Bill Beyer, FAIA: “We can remain on our current treadmill to nowhere, bulging ‘burbs hanging over our beltways, or we can design our cities to speak the language of walking. The choice is ours: peripatetic or peri-pathetic.” (page 25)

I was especially struck, however, by this sentence in an interview with 2004 AIA Minnesota President Howard F. Goltz, AIA: “Our work directly influences the quality of the built and natural environments, which in turn affects the function, cost, safety, and enjoyment in how we live, work, play, learn, and worship. It’s a 24/7, quality-of-life issue for virtually everyone.” (page 58)

Impressive, right? Listen to the sentence that comes immediately before: “One of my primary goals is to increase public understanding and appreciation of what architects provide, so that together we can make the world a better place in which to live.”

No doubt President Goltz’s insight and passion stem in part from his earlier years, when he considered a career in medicine. Yet, the larger point to be made from his example is the role of leadership.

The current obesity epidemic is both a challenge and an opportunity: a challenge to the well-being of our society and an opportunity for our profession to be of service. To put that message across will require our commitment to get out of our offices and, like Howard Goltz, be eager to make house calls.

Copyright 2004 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved. Home Page