STUDENT PROJECTS FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Student Projects for Health and Wellbeing
In recent years, especially on the heels of the global Covid pandemic, there has been an increased focus in design on health and wellness. For students, numerous discussions and projects center on issues of physical and mental health, and questions about how the built environment can support and sustain well-being. In a seminar I teach, Environmental Design Theory, students are introduced to design standards such as Fitwell and New York City’s Active Design Guidelines, and they study their own wellness habits by looking at the digital and physical milieus they inhabit.
Graduate Thesis students develop independent projects supported by literature and research and, in working closely with these students, it is clear that creating places and experiences to address well-being is a growing concern. Some students take an evidence-based approach, relying on research from health sciences and psychology, such as work by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan on attention restoration, or that of trauma-informed design. Other students take a more humanistic approach, thinking about how to foster culture and community, or enhance the relationship between people and place as a way of strengthening human connection. I support this work with scholarly reference material, design precedents, experts in the profession, and in drawing from my own experience and practice.
Thesis projects that address health and wellbeing include:
Alaa Alharbi - Scent as Scene: Alleviating Loneliness Through Spatial Experience Informed by Scents
Bridget McGuire - A Home for the End of Life
Erin Okoniewski - Omnis Sensory Library: Design for Autism
Taylor Regester - Healing Through Nature: A Post-Acute Care Facility for Pediatric Patients
Jennifer Sandora - Design in Rural Communities: A Holistic Human Connection to Place
Related Projects: Environmental Design Theory, Graduate Thesis, Community Health Design Studio, 602 Millington, 1 Hawks Nest
