How does design influence your everyday life?
This blog post was originally published in 2021 and edited in January 2024. This blog remains de-monetized and exists for discussion purposes only. External links are provided to view the work of various organizations directly. If you have any comments, please feel free to reach out via the Contact form in the main navigation bar. There is also an option to comment at the end of each article. I value your feedback.
Introduction
How does design influence our everyday life?
There is no one answer to this. How does design influence your everyday life?
What do interior design, which is on a small scale, and urban design, on a vast scale, have in common? It's all about connections and accessibility. Distances, routes, visibility, and sensory awareness can encourage or discourage relationships and movement between places (Sugiyama). For example, frequent breaks from the office chair suit the non-disabled office employee. Many enjoy nature therapy by walking through the park or in the woods. What are those experiences doing for us? Visiting a green space such as an urban park is good for mental and physical health and creates social opportunities. Design cultivates spatial relationships between people and places. Examples of these dichotomies include person to person, person to park, person to kitchen, person to desk, and person to coffee shop. However, there are nuances to consider. We also need to think about the accessibility of buildings, accommodations for disabilities in the workplace, and parity in offering opportunities for wellness. Wellness looks different for everyone.
Organizational Culture
Frequent breaks are essential when working in an office environment (Sugiyama). Working out at the end of the day isn't enough to counteract long periods of sitting. Environmental changes must be made to encourage employees to take more breaks if they would like to. Some things can be changed through the design or renovation of physical space, and some have to be changed through organizational design. There may be a view of the park from an office, but a 30-minute lunch break does not allow enough time to walk there, eat lunch, and walk back. What are the policies and expectations of a workplace, and how do those for or against employees? According to WELL, the quality of an employee's surroundings plays a significant role in their quality of life. Organizational culture must also play a role in helping employees not just survive but thrive (IWBI 1-4).
In seeking comfort in an environment, including the intended user in selecting furniture and equipment is reasonable. (Lawrence 21). A city government could be encouraged to start a city-wide wellness campaign to allocate money to improve office environments throughout the city. It's also essential to consider socioeconomic factors in this discussion.
Who gets access to workplaces with healthier and more innovative designs?
Is it possible to increase wellness for employees working at a sewer treatment plant, a chicken processing plant, or another type of factory and warehouse?
Is wellness at work only available to the middle and upper classes?
Is the middle class even real?
Are increased wellness, comfort, and healthy working conditions even possible in industrial environments?
If not, why do these environments continue to exist? How could we produce things differently?
Where does the money come from to improve indoor spaces? Where could it come from?
Defining Health and Wellness
The World Health Organization, or WHO, defines health as "not merely the absence of disease and infirmity but a state of optimal physical, mental and social well-being" (Lawrence 14). This understanding aligns with the WELL programs' motivation for creating better work environments. Businesses know that having beautiful, comfortable, and healthy workplaces makes economic sense since 92% of employees say an uncomfortable work environment adversely affects their feelings about work (IWBI 1-4). A high percentage of employees, then, seem like they'll be affected positively by WELL improvements to a space. In a future blog post, I'll dive more into the invention of '"comfort" as we understand it in today's society and its origins in racism and colonization. But for now, let's talk more about the contradictions inherent in the current program of the WELL Building Standard.
Class and the WELL Building Standard
Looking at many office spaces on the WELL website, it's noticeable that the ones redesigned using these holistic, wellness-centered principles are where upper-class employees will be working (IWBI Projects).
How does this contribute to societal wellness if the programs serve such a select group?
What about working-class minimum-wage earners?
Does the design field, architects, or the upper-class society care about minimum wage workers?
Imagine if all Walmarts were redesigned according to WELL principles. While this could be an altruistic goal, perhaps the result would be a gentrified building, and therefore a gentrified workplace. This is basically the difference between Walmart and Target. The same products cost more at Target, possibly because the workplace is considered more desirable and attractive to employees and shoppers alike.
Could Walmart employees retain their jobs at a workplace that suddenly becomes more desirable and pleasant to work in? Or would they be forced out?
Many factors influence access to public spaces, including socioeconomic class, race, sexuality, immigration status, disability, mental health status, sexuality, and gender identity. We need designers who realize that for decades, the dominant power structures of the real estate and banking industries have prevented minorities, especially Black and Brown communities, from accessing real estate in desirable areas with clean air and water and other necessities that provide for a high quality of life and overall health.
White-Only Suburbs: The History You Didn't Learn
Redlining and Gatekeeping
Individuals who have been historically and systematically exploited by the White Supremacist society have been banned from renting or buying houses in specific neighborhoods. Suppose designers want to create environments that contribute to healing rather than oppression. In that case, we must include perspectives and expertise from designers and health experts who are Black, Indigenous, Latino/a/x, Asian, Pacific Islanders, and many other diverse practitioners.
Good design cannot be a monolith, and designers can't all be White men over 50 because, as a monolith, they will only design what works for them, makes them comfortable, and what they think is 'good design' according to their life experiences. While specific technical knowledge is needed to become an engineer or an architect, there needs to be more access to this type of education, more support to complete one's education, and less gatekeeping.
Those who have taken a traditional academic path and have cultural clout and prestige do not have a monopoly on the best, most creative, innovative ideas. They have the networking opportunities to develop their ideas, the tools and resources to implement them, and the privilege and financial capital to realize their architectural visions. Many talented people in our society are unsupported by the dominant White Capitalist societal structures.
Who is allowed to become an architect, an engineer, or an urban planner?
How Redlining Prevented Black And Brown Families From Becoming Home Owners
Vulnerable Groups
How are people categorized and stereotyped, and how does that influence design programming? Roderick Lawrence, author of Health and Well-being for Interior Architecture, mentions that we must center vulnerable groups such as those who are "handicapped, homeless, unemployed, street children and single parents."
Lawrence has decided on these categories and that these are some of the vulnerable who should be prioritized in urban design. While these are essential individuals and communities to mention, why does the author leave out BIPOC, undocumented immigrants, and the LGBTQIA+ communities? The author only includes groups deemed vulnerable by mainstream [White, conservative, neoliberal, capitalist] society.
Lawrence's book was published in 2017, only seven years ago. So I think it is fair to say that current discourse around design excludes queer and trans people, particularly Black and Brown Trans Women. We are all navigating the world, including workplaces, homes, and transit, at the intersections of our differing identities. For example, I am White, non-binary, queer, and middle-class. Consider what your class status may be here:
Class Privilege Quiz - Resource Generation
Note: Black Professor, scholar, and activist Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality. Check out her podcast, Intersectionality Matters, here:
Intersectionality Matters Podcast - Kimberlé Crenshaw
When I say design solutions should come from those oppressed by design programming, take discussions of "homelessness" as an example. Many folks without stable housing prefer the terms unhoused and houseless to 'homeless.' Degrees of oppression and violence vary based on our race, gender, and class-based positionality in society. We live within fragile systems. We are all vulnerable living under the oppressive conditions of American culture, which doesn't include a robust social safety net in case of disaster or adverse life circumstances. Those who are unhoused know what they need to be comfortable. But cities, individuals and communities who can’t relate and are apathetic or whatever the case may be - won’t accept their visions, their advice and their requests for their needs to be met.
For many people living within the United States, conditions of regular day-to-day life are already difficult, apart from the possibility of a crisis. This includes wages disproportionate to high rents and high living costs that are hard for most to keep up with. Anyone can fall from the grace of Capitalism. Though some are more likely to suffer than others. The nearest city to where I live, Portland, Maine has some of the highest apartment rental costs in the world relative to local wages. While the rich move in, causing a wood shortage and stealing apartments and homes that locals need, their behavior goes unchecked, and local residents who are not part of the upper class suffer.
I think people should be banned from purchasing second and third homes in Portland, Maine when many people are homeless in the city and lack even a first home. It's for the same reason that I'm boycotting the luxury establishment "Washington Baths."
Why should I support a luxury bathhouse in Portland's gentrified Munjoy Hill area when many residents of Portland's peninsula cannot even take a necessary daily bath or shower to clean themselves?
Designs for Dignity – Empowering Lives Through Design.
The most equitable design work will come from diverse groups of practitioners. The most oppressed groups are underrepresented, and so societal needs for accessible and affirming design are not being met.
Experts and Elitism
What is considered expert knowledge?
What labor do we deem worthy of financial compensation?
We cannot design for holistic health and well-being without dismantling oppressive systems. The political and social conditions necessary to create buildings and spaces that promote wellness barely exist today, let alone as something that all Americans could benefit from. I can scarcely dream of a society where there is no homelessness, where everyone lives in a clean, comfortable, private dwelling, either alone or with their chosen family. And yet it’s a dream I can’t afford to give up on.
I want to live in a world where people feel safe and secure. And are safe and secure. Where things are designed according to each individual’s unique specifications and preferences for specific colors, textures, materials, lighting and more as determined by one's personality, culture, needs, and wants. An oppressive society currently prevents people from living comfortably and safely, and architecture is oppression in the United States. But it doesn't have to be this way indefinitely.
I continue to bring up Lawrence's work because there are some relevant points about why design matters. However, he only sometimes has the critical lens we must take when reading, writing, and working on design projects. I find it important to critique heavily academic Whitewashed existing canons about architecture and design. I have found that taking a self-aware approach is essential when it comes to questioning and disrupting harmful narratives about who gets to live peacefully and comfortably in this society.
What is the value of having a comfortable home to return to at the end of one's work day? Lawrence writes that our homes uniquely nurture and sustain biophysical and neuropsychological health (Lawrence 23). Comfortable homes are places where we can kick back and de-stress. They are places to let go of stress accumulated in the school or workplace. On the other hand, homes in loud environments, with hoarding issues, in polluted neighborhoods, or without access to clean water, plumbing, and other necessities can harm mental and physical health.
What Class and Privilege Taught Me About Home
The people who lack satisfactory housing may also lack access to other quality-of-life factors such as outdoor spaces, healthy foods, healthcare, affordable childcare, and educational or learning opportunities.
Sitting Too Much and The Role of Movement
Sugiyama, one of the contributors to Health and Well-Being For Interior Architecture, discusses the risks of long periods of sitting during the day. Working adults, at least those who do computer work, may spend most of their waking hours sitting at a desk. Behavior Settings from ecological psychology indicate that the attributes of our environments can encourage certain behaviors and discourage others (Sugiyama 41). In connection with this, conversations between epidemiologists, behavioral scientists, and architectural designers are needed to improve health outcomes.
We can be physically active by swimming, jogging, or walking, for example, but also spend a prolonged period sitting in the car or working at home or the office. Long periods of sitting, especially in a static position, is a health risk, regardless of physical activity that is done later to offset this stationary time. Sugiyama suggests that the solution to mitigate the health risks of extended periods of sitting at a computer is to reduce overall working hours/hours sitting at a desk and promote frequent, brief interruptions to sitting time. Some of us work from home and make our own schedules, which allows us agency to spark some of these changes. However, only the privileged have the option not only to work from home, but to work in a comfortable, accessible environment at their home. Where they can maintain all of the necessary tasks of their job just as they could at an office.
What could motivate bosses to change policies, particularly in office environments that will not work towards the WELL standard and where the employees are low-income?
When I worked at a retail store at Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park, we had to stand for four hours at the register or store before we got a 15-minute break before cycling through this same routine all over again. Chairs and sitting were not allowed. I remember one store where an elderly employee had snuck in a barstool and would sit there when no managers were around.
High levels of overall sitting time and unbroken periods of sitting are associated with an increased risk of developing cardio-metabolic and musculoskeletal problems. (I decided to work on this blog post over several days, rather than all at once, to mitigate some of these risks. I am privileged because I do not currently have a full-time job requiring me to sit at a desk). I also do not have to work a physically strenuous job full time either, so I am in a privileged position with some flexibility in my working conditions. I can design my schedule and surroundings to promote personal wellness.
Design Is Complex, Nuanced, and Individual
The approaches and suggestions in Health and Well-Being For Interior Architecture focus on those who are neurotypical. Different opportunities must be created for wellness considering ability and neurodivergent individuals and communities. In addition, companies employing thousands of workers must make changes for a real benefit to the average minimum wage worker and society overall.
Individual, environmental, and social strategies must be combined to make changes that reduce static sitting time (Sugiyama 42). Simply providing information about health risks to the individual isn’t a realistic or comprehensive strategy for yielding improved health outcomes. Physical environment modifications and organizational changes are needed. Moreover, these must acknowledge and account for different accessibility needs (43). While too much sitting is considered problematic for a non-disabled person, for a wheelchair user, the conversation and context for wellness at work would need to be entirely different.
Design principles apply to both small and large-scale projects because we are talking about the movement of people and what motivates us to connect to each other. To be together. To work together. To relax together. To be present together. Small office spaces and entire neighborhoods or huge apartment buildings alike can be designed to create views and reminders of exciting destinations. Office destinations can include meeting rooms, printers, restrooms, kitchens, and elevators (Sugiyama 44). Destinations visible from an office window could include nearby parks or coffee shops. Some other creative destination ideas I have come up with are gardens, lounge areas, art rooms, LGBTQ+ community spaces, meditation rooms, and other identity-based cultural and community spaces.
Anti-Racism and Equity Work
Practitioners of urban design must work with architects, engineers, developers, and mindful health professionals to create inspired programming for both new and existing buildings (IWBI 1-4). It is time for architecture firms and the design field to consult with and pay Black anti-racism educators and collaborate with Black-owned and Indigenous-owned design collectives, with those groups leading the envisioning, designing, and building processes. There also needs to be a commitment and follow-through to address personal and institutional racism and other forms of oppression as barriers before and during such collaborative processes. Mistakes and shortcomings must be acknowledged, accepted, and not repeated.
How can we create the best possible wellness outcomes within the built environment?
Often, the way to motivate businesses to change is through demonstrating economic advantages. The WELL standard exists partly for business owners and developers—to prove with data how employee retention goes up and healthcare costs go down when spaces are designed according to standards that promote employee wellness. WELL has already demonstrated gains in employee health and morale, which may lead to fewer sick days taken and increased productivity (IWBI 1-4). This could also increase the number of applicants for jobs and the experience level of the applicants, which creates an advantage for a business that uses a WELL-certified space. It is important to note that small businesses may need additional grants and government funding to support WELL practices or other similar non-branded strategies since they may not have a budget or the capital up-front for increasing wellness in their buildings.
Architecture and design programs should include courses on public health, anti-racism, and understanding bias (IWBI 1-4). College and university students are in a position where they are about to take newly learned critical thinking skills into the world. Not everything needs to be sponsored by WELL. However, by creating comfortable and creative physical spaces in colleges and universities and promoting multidisciplinary thinking and living, students may be inspired to create imaginative and dynamic spaces later on, whether through architectural design, organziational design, or other through any other avenue.
My Thoughts On Coffee Shops
Coffee and tea shops are mystical worlds, like portals to another time and place. One cloud of steam from a warm beverage contains many flavors, feelings, and memories. Drinking warm beverages in a soothing environment is often a very soothing experience for me. Wherever I am, I take time for a relaxing cup of tea or coffee, preferably with a view of a busy pedestrian street, to feel like I am part of a lively community. Although, as I write this, it's a bit sad that I have to imagine being part of a vibrant community rather than feeling this day to day.
Coffee shops are a common neighborhood meeting place. They are often visible from high-traffic areas, drawing in spontaneous visitors. They also are a great example of a modern, multipurpose space where colleagues, friends, and family can plan to meet - to read, work, or socialize. They are also a place of employment for many Americans.
How could we reduce the sound of the coffee grinders and smoothie makers to make coffee shops more pleasant workplaces?
How could we create a casual, inviting space free from the financial burden of purchasing something to enter?
Modern spaces are multipurpose spaces.
The Halifax Public Library’s top level could offer a place for meditation, homework, office work, or maybe even lunch, given that they have some outdoor tables.
References:
Bender, Steven W. Tierra y Libertad. Land, Liberty, and Latino Housing. New York and London, New York University Press, 2010.
International Well Building Institute. Well AP Exam: Study Plan, Modules 1-4, wellonline.wellcertified.com, https://wellonline.wellcertified.com/node/51059
International Well Building Institute. Well Projects, 2017. https://wellonline.wellcertified.com/community/projects
Lawrence, Roderick J. “Co-Producing Our Habitat For Health and Well-Being.” Health and Well-being for Interior Architecture. New York, Routledge, 2017.
Sugiyama, Takemi et al. “Designing to Confront the Adverse Health Impacts of Workplace Sitting.” Health and Well-being for Interior Architecture. New York, Routledge, 2017.
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