Winston Churchill said, "We shape our buildings; afterwards our buildings shape us"
More than 80 years later neuroscientists and psychologists have found plenty of evidence to back up his statement.
We now know that buildings and cities can can affect our mood and wellbeing.
Social stress activates many brain areas, two specifically correlated with urban living. Research has shown that the amygdala, which processes emotion, was activated only in people who were living in cities. The cingulate cortex, which processes negative emotions and helps regulate the amygdala also responded more strongly in city dwellers.
However architects have frequently paid little attention to the social, psychological and emotional impact their buildings may have on a city's inhabitants. Design and cost can often override considerations of how they may shape behaviours or influence the potential cognitive effects of the urban dwellers.
Our long evolution in earth’s varied habitats and ecosystems, has given us innate sensitivities to choose certain environmental patterns and ways of being in the landscape. We are drawn to safe areas of refuge, combined with access and views open, terrain where we can see opportunities.
We have evolved as a biophilic species - we are drawn to nature and we like to feel a connection to it in our homes, our offices, our communities. We are genetically encoded to link our wellbeing -to sustaining an intimate connection with the natural world.
We know that regular access to nature can reduce crime rates and stress and also that it improves our cognitive faculties. We know that the ability to concentrate and think clearly and effectively is easily depleted. Environmental psychologists Rachel and Stephen Kaplan state that enjoying a natural landscape enhances something they call effortless focus. The more access a city dweller’s has to greenery, light, and open spaces, the better they will solve problems and understand and take in new information.
Even if we think we are not paying any conscious attention to the built environment, or only look at selected parts, we make never ending inter connections that psychologists call primes. A prime is a nonconscious perceived environmental stimulus that can influence a person’s subsequent thoughts, feelings, and responses.
This happens because of activating memories, emotions, and other kinds of cognitive associations. Our built environment consists of numerous primes, and accordingly, a design can be deliberately built to influence the choice of one action over another. A differing visual axis, spatial sequence, or altering the way solids are massed can trigger very different cognitions.
An alternative 'Human Experience Design' is being explored by the Conscious Cities movement Conscious Cities | The Centre for Conscious Design (theccd.org) and Centre for Conscious Design through a series of “live” prototype design projects. The aim is to change the way that places are made to reflect greater sensitivity and understanding of human needs and nature and shape built environments to fully enable human and social wellbeing. It explores the potential for new forms of dedicated “human design” practice with combination of various disciplines, sectors and ways of thinking e.g. design with health and human sciences. “Environmental surfing" is a term to describe designing for the unique characteristics of the building location to minimize the risk of exposure to environmental hazards.
In a time of hyper-connection and communication, loneliness and lacking connection is a serious issue. The severity of this public health issue resulted in the British Government appointing a Minister for loneliness in 2018. This followed a report when over 9 million people in the UK reported always, or most of the time, feeling lonely. Loneliness can increase risks of premature illness and death at levels comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Ongoing research has evidenced that shared spaces such as cafes, parks, and libraries are essential for social connection and led to recommendation of six design pillars for social connection: -
Accessibility - we need to create places that are safe easy to walk to, wheelchair friendly, inclusive
Such as parks libraries and spaces that are easy to reach part of the social fabric
Nature - We are hardwired to be drawn to and restored through nature, a process of biophilia. In particular, urban green space, has been shown to reducing loneliness, increasing sociability, and improving mental health. Infusing nature, greenery, and park space into our neighborhoods are essential to getting people outside and interacting with each other
Activation - Ideal shared spaces are vibrant and have some type of activation. By placing seating, refreshments, and amenities in the path of natural travel and circulation, we can create liveliness through purposeful collisions.
Choice - We all have different needs in our lives based on our tasks or activities. Space can be customised to cater for these needs.
Human Scale & Sense of Place - We evolved in community with others, using our space to keep ourselves and the collective safe, so we are naturally drawn to places that provide a sense of scale. A sense of place helps remind us of who we are and what matters to us and fosters a feeling of belonging. This is embedded with values, culture, and meaning, and a sense of place recognizes that significance. A sense of place is a subject I will explore in more detail in later blogs and podcasts. Values, culture and meaning are each important topics individually and together essential for individuals to embrace their identity and feel as sense of belonging.
I started by quoting Churchill and this blog has predominantly supported his statement. However, I will end on a statement from the anthropologist Margaret Mead who said, “The notion that we are products of our environment is our greatest sin; we are products of our choices.”
I look forward to discussing this claim further.