Architecture Commons^™

Health And Healthcare: Designing For The Social Determinants Of Health And Blue Zones In North Nashville, Rebecca Tonguis, Honor Thomas, Olivia Hobbs

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Owned by North Nashville’s First Community Church, a now empty site in the Osage-North Fisk neighborhood of North Nashville has been identified as a potential site for a new location of The Store, in addition to a community-centric architectural development based on the social determinants of health and informed by the principles behind Blue Zones, the locations with the highest lifespans in the world. Opened by Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, The Store is a free grocery store that “allow[s] people to shop for their basic needs in a way that protects dignity and fosters hope”, for which North Nashville …

Architectural Features Of Streetscapes And Aging In Cameron County, Texas: Preliminary Results, Cristian Maestre, Michael Minor, Rosa V. Pirela, Noe Garza, Alvaro Diaz-Badillo, Karla D. Lopez-Lorenzo, Ney Alliey-Rodriguez, Gladys E. Maestre

Research Symposium

The impact of architectural features in urban settings reveals priorities for its residents and the integration of social and natural environments. It has been estimated that 23% of global deaths to the environments in which people live. We aim to characterize the most prevalent architectural features of Cameron County, Texas streetscapes and analyze their role in health promotion and healthy aging.

Knowledge And Misconceptions Among Lebanese Community On Immunizations, Hala Ahmadieh, Tala Safa, Ihab Nahle, Yahya Obeid, Dalal Hariri, Etaf Rawass, Tala Kanaan, Ahmad Sabalbal

BAU Journal - Health and Wellbeing

Two centuries ago, immunization practices have become the greatest land mark in medical history as they significantly contributed to a decline in several major infectious diseases worldwide thus decreasing both the mortality and morbidity. Moreover, they have been able to eradicate small pox and eliminate poliomyelitis in most regions of the world. However, in recent years the general opinion towards vaccination began shifting due to the emergence of certain opposing views to it, questioning the vaccine's safety and efficacy. This study aims to shed light on the vaccination status in Lebanon by assessing the knowledge, attitude, awareness, and misconceptions among …

Art For Healing: An Exploration Of Spaces To Facilitate Arts For Therapeutic Healings, Ana Gabriela Hernandez Delgado

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Mental health is a complex and ever evolving State of being that architecture and technology play an important role in. For women, some of the ways that depression comes about is when we go through life-changing events. Giving birth, having an abortion, sexual harassment and assault just to name a few. Women have a higher chance to have severe depression and relapsing. With major depression comes the higher rate of suicide. Centers of this type have been improving their designs, but in a way that still feels like the old.

My interests lie in new forms of architecture related to …

Wood In The Built Environment: The Restorative Benefits Of Wood On Student Health And Well-Being, Samantha Mcnair

Featured Student Work

Reaching Canadian shores in March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic relentlessly continues to impact life on a global scale. Post-secondary students have been especially hard hit throughout the pandemic, with the doors of many institutions still closed 20 months after the initial lockdowns. They have had to self-navigate the difficulties of remote learning while grappling with several negative health concerns associated with extended periods of time spent in artificial environments, such as social isolation, mental fatigue, increased stress, and low levels of motivation. This study seeks to determine how interior applications of wood can be used to improve the health …

Health Infrastructure Accessibility In San Joaquin, Ca, Vinson Lok Kwan, Trisha Phuong Tran

City and Regional Planning

The purpose of this study is to assess the health infrastructure and accessibility in San Joaquin, California through the existing conditions of the city, reviewing various cities facing similar conditions, and creating potential solutions or recommendations to be implemented into the city to accommodate growth and overall well-being in the community.

Health infrastructure and accessibility is important to every community since it has the ability to influence the quality-of-care individuals are able to receive. When it comes to infrastructure, it is important to determine the underlying health conditions the local population faces and whether the services provided are adequate in …

Community Health Interventions To Reduce The Burden Of Radon-Related Lung Cancer, Benjamin Weaver

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. One in seven homes in Vermont has elevated levels of radon, but most patients are unaware of radon as a risk factor for lung cancer or that radon testing and mitigation services are available to them. To promote increased testing and mitigation of radon we screened patients presenting to a Family Medicine practice in Vermont about whether they had had these services done in their home. We also developed a patient education resource for providers to give to patients who had more questions about radon …

Language Change To Enhance Health And Well-Being:A Sociolinguistic Approach, Laila C.A. Helmi Associate Professor, Department Of English, Faculty Of Human Sciences

BAU Journal - Health and Wellbeing

There is no doubt that language change is strongly related to social change, and this is always associated with an essential change in the socio-cultural meaning adopted by the relevant speech-community. It is also a fact that a speechcommunity’s perception of a concept or a phenomenon depends largely on their linguistic encoding thereof, i.e. the lexicalization and/or grammaticalization of the concept. When a social institution, therefore, seeks to influence the community’s conception and behavior, it becomes essential to introduce relevant changes in the language used by the community. If such process does not follow adequate language planning policies and mechanisms, …

Ten Questions Concerning Well-Being In The Built Environment, Sergio Altomonte, Joseph Allen, Philomena M. Bluyssen, Gail Brager, Lisa Heschong, Angela Loder, Stefano Schiavon, Jennifer A. Veitch, Lily M. Wang, Pawel Wargocki

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Well-being in the built environment is a topic that features frequently in building standards and certification schemes, in scholarly articles and in the general press. However, despite this surge in attention, there are still many questions on how to effectively design, measure, and nurture well-being in the built environment. Bringing together experts from academia and the building industry, this paper aims to demonstrate that the promotion of well-being requires a departure from conventional agendas. The ten questions and answers have been arranged to offer a range of perspectives on the principles and strategies that can better sustain the consideration of …

Guidelines For Sustainable Practices In The Rural Built Environment, Nash Kelly, Ethan Weiche

UCARE Research Products

This poster provides information about sustainable changes people can make to better improve their health, community and built environment. From what is shown, this can be done through community gardens, pedestrian access and building certifications.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), climate change will have direct and significant health impacts (1), which the Lancet Countdown identifies as disproportionately affecting at-risk populations.(2) The challenges of geographic isolation and lack of population density in rural and remote areas limits adequate access to basic healthcare services, such as primary care, emergency care, and mental health services. Additionally, the health deficit experienced by …

Correctional Landscape Studies: Improving The Restorative Potential, Allyson Fairweather

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation’s prisons and jails. On average, one-third of former offenders will return to prison for re-offence within three years of their release (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2018). This cycle is known as recidivism, and demonstrates a major reflection of the criminal justice system’s failure to provide rehabilitation that meets the needs of the incarcerated population. However, horticultural therapy in prison may offer a sliver of hope. Also referred to as Green Prison Programs (GPPs), studies indicate that participants in these programs gain valuable job …

Elevator Or Stairs? A Dive Into Patron Decision Making, Lucas D. Elliott, Oliver W.A. Wilson, Melissa Bopp

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology

• When put in a situation to get to higher/lower floors of a building, there are many factors that go into play for whether an individual chooses to take the stairs (active) or ride the elevator (sedentary).
• Students were approached at waiting area for the four elevators in a University Library and were asked series of questions regarding their reasoning for taking the stair or elevator to ascend, as well as their thoughts on the stairwell appearance.
• Point of application #1: Stairwell appearance and aesthetics should be considered during the design process in order to increase use and physical activity amongst …

Photosynthesizing The Workplace: A Study In Healthy And Holistic Production Spaces, Kaeli Howard

Masters Theses

Throughout time nature has been a prescribed healer of stress on the human condition. Its vital integration into our daily lives has been proven by scientific evidence. The majority of Americans spend approximately 1/3 of their life working, whatever that job may entail. Therefore, it makes sense that the environments that we spend so much of our life in for work at extremely important to our physical and mental health, however, current workplace models are not acknowledging that. Redefining the workplace to integrate nature would start to change work life in this country and how work itself is viewed.

This …

Forest-Walks – An Intangible Heritage In Movement A Walk-And-Talk-Study Of A Social Practice Tradition, Margaretha Häggström

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

This article seeks to understand and extend current understandings of intangible heritage and particularly forest-walks as such. The study is related to Swedish conditions and has been conducted in Sweden. The research is grounded in social practice theory – and the perspective of practice architectures in particular – and it draws on the work of Stephen Kemmis. Further, we view practice theory entangled with the phenomenological life-world concepts of intersubjectivity and historicity. The data are based on 12 walk-and-talk interviews conducted in the forest with individuals who willingly walk in the forest on their leisure time. The analysis takes its …

The Impact Of Housing Insecurity On Community Health Outcomes: Exploring Collective Community Solutions And Housing Models In The Western Addition, Jacqueline V. Brown, Jacqueline Victoria Brown

Master's Projects and Capstones

In a city where housing is scarce and prices continue to rise, the lower income residents of the Western Addition are in panic. Historically, the Western Addition/Fillmore is ground zero for Urban Renewal. This community is still bouncing back from the negative effects of the out migration of Black residents, Japanese internment, and rapid gentrification. For twenty years, this part of the city was known as Harlem of the West due to its world-renowned Jazz and Blues composers, and is informally known as “Tha ‘Mo”. San Francisco has set the tone nationally for public, mixed income, and private housing that …

The Farmacy, Emilie E. Dunnenberger

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The human population has practiced natural, herbal forms of medicine since the beginning of recorded healthcare. Only in the past 150 years have our ideas of healthcare evolved to what we know today, a reactive and immediate response to disease and illness. Using the science of phytotherapy and the processes of herbalism, this network of spaces work together to offer a traditional form of healing in a modernized setting. Prototyped in the city of Philadelphia, The FARMacy works alongside existing buildings to treat patients through an alternative yet instinctive form of medicine.

Nourishing Nycha: Food Policy As A Tool For Improving The Well-Being Of New York City’S Public Housing Residents, Nevin Cohen, Nicholas Freudenberg, Craig Willingham

Publications and Research

This policy brief examines food environments in New York City public housing. It looks at the food public housing residents buy, prepare and eat and the role food plays in the health, environment and economy of the city’s NYCHA population. Our goal is to contribute new insights into how NYCHA can use food policy and programs to improve the well-being of its residents and make New York City healthier, more self-sufficient, safer and more sustainable.

Designing For A Demographic: How To Reduce Poverty And The Homeless Population Through Design, Danielle M. Becker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research paper is a response to my personal encounters and experience with the homeless and low-income population in Akron, Ohio over the course of my 5 years at the University of Akron. It explores the causes and statistics of poverty and homelessness within the United States and the greater Akron area as well as what is currently being done to aid and reduce this population. Haven of Rest Ministries, one of the largest and most successful shelters in Akron, is showcased for the multitude of services they provide on a daily basis. Referencing the shelter helps to point out …

The Concept Of Happy: Bartonville, Illinois, Kelsey D. Kauffman

ASA Multidisciplinary Research Symposium

While working to solve the underlying multiplicity of issues, Bartonville will need to focus on being HAPPY; that is the residents will need to actively engage in Health, Advancement, Purpose, Preservation, and Youth. The concepts of HAPPY are proposed to be expressed architecturally in the form of a community center.

Health Impacts Of Parks And Trail Systems, Lessons Learned From The Overton Park System Fort Worth, Texas, Jacob Schwarz

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses

This thesis explores the health impacts of parks and trail systems on residents by studying the Overton Park System in Fort Worth, Texas. Specifically, this research assesses how park features, amenities, and experiences impact physical activity levels of residents who live nearby. The Overton Park System, as defined in this study, consists of Overton Park, Foster Park, and the trail system that connects them to the Trinity Trail System. Numerous studies have shown the health benefits of daily physical activity over a sedentary lifestyle (Lewis and Hennekens, 2016). Literature illustrates that parks and trail systems offer an array of amenities …

Health Impacts Of Parks And Trail Systems, Lessons Learned From The Overton Park System Fort Worth, Texas, Jacob Schwarz

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses

This thesis explores the health impacts of parks and trail systems on residents by studying the Overton Park System in Fort Worth, Texas. Specifically, this research assesses how park features, amenities, and experiences impact physical activity levels of residents who live nearby. The Overton Park System, as defined in this study, consists of Overton Park, Foster Park, and the trail system that connects them to the Trinity Trail System. Numerous studies have shown the health benefits of daily physical activity over a sedentary lifestyle (Lewis and Hennekens, 2016). Literature illustrates that parks and trail systems offer an array of amenities …

Where Wellness Begins, Chelsea M. Wheeler

Architecture Senior Theses

A public need for improved health has called into question the manner in which one's built environment has the ability to affect a person's health and well-being. Recent studies have revealed a correlation between health and residence, suggesting that the built environment has a significant influence on occupant health and well-being. As a result of such studies, Delos Living, a well-building consulting firm, has proposed a set of deign standards that can be used to promote occupant health. The problem with such methods is that there are processes of certification relying primarily on post-deign evaluations. This thesis seeks to align …

Ambient Intelligence | Cognizant Architecture For The Restless, Anne Judkis

Architecture Senior Theses

In recent decades, technology has proliferated throughout our architectural spaces, from personalized handheld gadgetry to smart systems and appliances. This constant barrage of screens and interfaces that humans interact with for large portions of our day has grown to define our very living conditions, particularly by disrupting our circadian rhythms. It is well documented that lack of sleep can lead to numerous long and short term health problems such as weight gain, irritability, to more sever acute conditions like hallucinations and organ failure. This thesis will address architecture's potential to interact with individuals utilizing smart environments that drive kinetic architecture. …

The Impact Of The Ambient Environment And Building Configuration On Occupant Productivity In Open-Plan Commercial Offices, Mark Mulville, Nicola Callaghan, David Isaac

Articles

Purpose

This paper sets out to understand the impact of the ambient environment on perceived comfort, health, wellbeing and by extension productivity in the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The research combined an occupant survey considering satisfaction with the ambient environment, health and wellbeing and workplace behaviour with the monitoring of ambient environmental conditions.

Findings

The paper demonstrates that the ambient environment can have a significant impact on occupant comfort, health and wellbeing, which in turn has implications for built asset performance. Within the ambient environmental factors considered, a hierarchy may exist with noise being of particular importance. Occupant behaviour within the workplace …

Infant-Female Genital Mutilation (Ifgm) In Cities And The Role Of Women In Perpetuating Fgm: A Probe On Why Fgm Persists In Urban Centers In Nigeria, Blessing Onyima

Blessing Onyima

On The Periphery: A Survey Of Nineteenth-Century Asylums In The United States, Lauren Hoopes

All Theses

State and federal government purpose-built asylums constructed in the 'moral treatment' era of mental healthcare, here defined as 1835 to 1900, mark a period of great change in the nation. Establishment of moral treatment asylums occurred between two very different eras. The eighteenth century, in which mental illness was seen as a punishment from God, precedes the moral treatment asylums. Twentieth-century thinking favored a medical view in which mental illness can be treated or controlled with medical drugs. Asylums built in the nineteenth century relied on 'moral' treatments--treatments that utilized no restraints unless absolutely necessary and used the environment and …

The Relationship Between Parks, Health, Income, And Education In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jessica Sebring Small

Architecture and Planning ETDs

As resources are becoming scarcer, Southwestern cities are looking for ways to expend less water and money, leading to removal of green spaces. This is happening alongside the current health crisis occurring throughout the United States, which is unfortunate since urban green spaces have been found to improve human health. The purpose of this study, focusing on Albuquerque, New Mexico, is to determine: (1) if those benefits appear to exist in a desert city, and (2) how additional variables, such as income and education, compare with parks regarding impact on community health. A GIS analysis was conducted using park, health, …

Sustainable Design In The Healthcare Environment, Shannon M. Griffin

Honors College Theses

From creating an efficient business to helping people heal, there are various and difficult goals in a healthcare project. There are significant issues in healthcare design that can be harmful to the people that inhabit the spaces and to the environment. Through evidence-based research, this paper will outline the latest developments in sustainable design and how they can be implemented to solve the current building-related issues in healthcare facilities. Lastly, the solutions will be put into practice in a Healthcare Design Capstone Project utilizing the elements of sustainable design to achieve the goal of sustaining the health of occupants, the …

Creating Place For A Placeless Generation, Laura Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Making up one quarter of the current United States population, some 80 million Generation Y-ers are changing the ways in which we live, work and play. Dubbed “Millennials” this population is comprised of those individuals born between 1980 and 2000. This generation is the first to have been raised with cell phones, the internet, and reality television. The “Selfie” or “Me Generation” is snubbed for narcissism and an instant gratification attitude. Yet on the whole Millennials have progressive values, are well educated, are conscious of their health and are optimistic about the future despite coming of age during the Great …

Mind, Body And Soul: Performance Landscapes For A Healthy Community, Angelike G. Angelopoulos

Masters Theses

According to the World Health Organization, there have been increases in the adverse physical, mental and social conditions amongst urban populations in recent years. These issues have been attributed to impediments to healthy lifestyles, a lack of physical activity and poor food choices (WHO 29). This can lead to obesity, increasing risk of diabetes, heart disease and other health related problems. Sedentary lifestyles are worsened by modern technologies such as cell phones, computers, and video games.

Urban landscapes have evolved over time to suit the needs of various, and sometimes-competing priorities of growing cities. As a result, the health of …