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Healthy Design: The Latest Architecture and News

13 Design Solutions to Organize your Workout at Home

As cities keep growing and daily realities quickly shift, people turn to new and ever-changing ways to maintain their well-being. While the promotion of active lifestyles has been the focus of many Planners and Architects (Pedestrian/ bike-friendly cities, parks or fitness/ sports centers) aiming to support Human comfort and health, recent times have shown that these publicly coveted facilities might not always be accessible.   

The solution is as clear as day. In fact, if you’re not engaging in it nowadays, you’re probably witnessing those around you working out from home or even offices. Workplaces have been also adapting their interior spaces, having designated areas and equipment available for those eager to take a break from work.

© Toshiyuki Yano© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG© Toshiyuki Yano© Adrien Williams+ 17

The Biophilic Response to Wood: Can it Promote the Wellbeing of Building Occupants?

Although the term may seem recent, the concept of biophilia has been used for decades in architecture and design. The guiding principle is quite simple: connect people inside with nature to promote their well-being and quality of life. With all the ongoing design trends that have consolidated as a result, the demand has focused on organic materials that emulate outdoor environments. Among all the options, wood is one of the most popular materials to bring nature indoors, not only because of its functionality, but also due to its multiple physiological and psychological benefits.

VELUX and EFFEKT Develop Strategic Framework for Designing Healthier and More Sustainable Build Environment

VELUX Group reveals The Build for Life concept aimed at creating sustainable communities and built environment through affordable, socially-oriented designs and new housing models, healthy indoor climates and the use of low-impact materials. Developed together with EFFEKT, MOE engineers and Danish construction company Enemaerke & Petersen A/S, the concept provides architects and city planners with a “compass’ for navigating the sustainability imperatives of the moment while encouraging the design of healthier living places.

Courtesy of EFFEKT and VeluxCourtesy of EFFEKT and VeluxCourtesy of EFFEKT and VeluxCourtesy of EFFEKT and Velux+ 10

Materiality in a Post-COVID-19 World

In this week's reprint from Metropolis, Amanda Schneider, president of ThinkLab, the research division of SANDOW, explores how "designers can help create healthy, safe interiors with thoughtful surface and filtration selections". Asking how we can have sanitized surfaces, without having to deep clean them regularly, the author discusses the materiality of healthy safe interiors.

Strategic Design Should Reflect a Post-Pandemic Workforce Culture

More than a year into this worldwide experiment of working from home, we have not yet landed on the perfect formula for the workforce being once again in the workspace. Furthermore, not only has the Working From Home (WFH) situation lasted longer than anticipated, it has embedded itself into the way we will work forevermore. As vaccines are rolled out, leaders of all types of organizations must now seriously consider how to handle the return of their employees to the physical office space.

Kengo Kuma to Design Milan's Biophilic Office of the Future

Construction has begun on “Welcome, feeling at work”, a biophilic office of the future in Milan, Italy. Designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates and commissioned by Europa Risorse, this venture seeks to create a workspace centered on employee health and wellbeing, integrated within its local environment. Imagined to be one of the most sustainable office development to date, the project is scheduled for 2024.

Courtesy of Kengo Kuma and AssociatesCourtesy of Kengo Kuma and AssociatesCourtesy of Kengo Kuma and AssociatesCourtesy of Kengo Kuma and Associates+ 12

Workforce, not Workplace, Is the Key to Innovation and Success

“Change drives innovation. We must continually evolve into what a successful workplace looks like,” said Nicole Senior, director of workplace experience, Tinder. Change, innovation and human connection were topics of prominence in a December 17 Think Tank, hosted by Rapt Studio, and titled “Looking Back, Looking Forward: Workforce Lessons for 2021.”

On World Cities Day UN-Habitat Releases 2020 Report on The Value of Sustainable Urbanization

Across the globe, ever since 2014, every year on the 31st of October, World Cities Day is celebrated. To mark this event, UN-Habitat has released its World Cities Report 2020 on the value of sustainable urbanization, focusing on the most up-to-date and pressing topics. Analyzing the intrinsic value of cities in generating economic prosperity, mitigating environmental degradation, reducing social inequality, and building stronger institutions, the report highlights how together these can drive transformative change.

Kenya, Nairobi,Mathare_COVID19 prevention in slums. Image Courtesy of UN-HabitatAerial view of Sao Paulo, Brasil. Image Courtesy of UN-HabitatKenya, Nairobi,Mathare_COVID19 prevention in slums. Image Courtesy of UN-HabitatCourtesy of UN-Habitat+ 12

CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati Designs New Workplaces, Addressing Post-Pandemic Challenges

CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati has created a pilot project for Sella Group’s Open Innovation Center in Turin, Italy, addressing post-pandemic challenges. The new workplace design features automated desk sanitizing, collaborative digital platforms, and smart windows to ensure health, safety, and sociability.

Seoul City Architectural Ideas Competition: Preparing for the Post COVID-19 Era

It is now of worldwide interest to re-think how our cities will adapt to a post-COVID-19 era, and take the necessary actions. Understanding that social distancing is of vital importance, our various daily-life spaces will face an inevitable change. Considering the current situation which calls for proper architectural solutions in response to the unprecedented pandemic, The Seoul Metropolitan Government is developing innovative concepts for new built environments, city spaces, and landscapes, able to adapt to this post-coronavirus era. Aligned with this approach, Seoul City has recently held an international Competition for Architectural Ideas in order to prepare for the post-COVID-19 world.

Bus-Restaurant. Image Courtesy of Seoul City GovernmentSchool Zone. Image Courtesy of Seoul City GovernmentSchool Zone. Image Courtesy of Seoul City GovernmentEverybody’s Mine. Image Courtesy of Seoul City Government+ 9

Reconsidering School Design: Indoor and Outdoor Learning as a Solution for a Healthy Future

Architects are mobilizing their efforts, to help schools around the world reconsider their design in order to guarantee sustainability, emotional wellness, and physical health. CetraRuddy, Cooper Robertson, and WXY are amongst those proposing an increase in outdoor programming and a rearrangement of classrooms, for post-pandemic school design.

The architectural scene has been witnessing lately a growing focus on indoor/outdoor functions. Discover 3 different interventions from 3 different practices, tackling one common issue, and focusing on outdoor space as a major programming element.

Back to School Facilities Tool Kit. Image © LAB Tool KitEdible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden — The Bronx, New York . Image Courtesy of Cooper RobertsonLyford Cay international Baccalaureate School - Nassau, Bahamas . Image Courtesy of Cooper RobertsonThe Choice School - Calicut, India. Image Courtesy of CetraRuddy+ 7

A Brief History of Workplace Design and Where it Might be Headed Next

Many of us spend more time at our offices than ever before and sometimes see our colleagues more than our own families. Workplaces can be considered to be our second homes, which is why the way we deliberately design them in the present day has garnered so much attention. The overarching design of workplaces aims to create a perfect balance between heads-down focus work and layers of collaboration to improve the productivity and general well being of employees. As workplace trends come and go, there’s a new progression on everyone’s minds- and it predicts what a post-COVID-19 office might look like both in the immediate and long term future. Although there’s no crystal ball answer, many architecture firms, research groups, and real estate companies have been tapped to ideate and implement forward-thinking design solutions and health safety policies that will be critical in redefining how we utilize our workplaces for the years to come.

CLTH Proposes Adaptive Design for Schools post COVID-19

Curl la Tourelle Head Architecture (CLTH) has imagined a new design approach for classrooms when schools reopen as the lockdown eases in the UK. The architecture practice based in London has released an innovative concept “to help mitigate restricted circulation routes within schools and maintain the necessary social distancing among pupils and staff”.

© Darc Studio© Darc Studio© Curl la Tourelle Head© Curl la Tourelle Head+ 13

MASS Releases Spatial Strategies for Restaurants in Response to COVID-19

MASS Design Group has released a guideline for restaurants in response to the coronavirus pandemic, to help these business reopen safely, viably, and vibrantly. Based on world health recommendations, the drafted protocols aim to keep both staff and customers safe, as well as facilitate operations.