Space is all around us, the places we live in, we work at, we walk through, … Architecture and the build environment are not just about providing a shelter or creating appreciative art. These disciplines have the power (if not the duty) to help provide health and wellbeing.
Knowing that our behavior is actually a mirror of how we feel on the inside, can we imagine what a world working towards self-acceptance would look like? Hate, judgment, negativity and comparison would slowly disappear. Could Architecture and design play a role in helping society reach these levels of awareness?
« Conscious: the quality or state of being aware, especially of something within ourselves »
Our lives are basically routines, we wake up, take a shower, breakfast, drive kids to school, go to work,... A routine, a habit is created when you act in the same way over and over again. Your behaviors are then recorded in your subconscious mind. You can reproduce these behaviors without having to think about them, they happen automatically. Take for example driving, your subconscious mind is so used by the movements that you don't have to think about « how » you manage to coordinate the manipulations.
Since we know we are confronted to mostly the same architecture every day (same house, same bedroom, same school, same office, …) could we then use the space around us to help us rewire our brains and create new healthy habits?
Human Centered Design is not a new understanding. Neuroscience, Psychology, Cognitive science and Architecture are working together to help improve wellbeing. Adding mindful places to projects and to our environment is, I believe, a key step towards a better tomorrow.
«Our build environment is a reflection, a mirror of how we feel on the inside. We can understand how we think and feel just by looking at our homes, our gardens, our public spaces »
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