Connection
Strategic Council update:
Mental health and architecture incubator As the “think tank” for the Institute, the AIA Strategic Council breaks into several workgroups with specific study areas each year. Through this incubator concept, the Council explores embryonic ideas that are emblmatic of the future thinking we strive for as a profession. For 2020, the study areas include: • • • • •
Affordable/Equitable Housing Technology’s Impact on Practice Beyond 2030 Mental Health and Architecture The Rural Agenda
Amy Rosen and Stephen Parker, co-conveners for the Mental Health and Architecture Incubator, provide a look into the Incubator’s goals and research to date. Refinement of topic We aim to address how social stressors weaken the ability of our members and communities to be mentally resilient. Specifically, we intend to examine mental health in relation to our designs and our community engagement processes in order to provide the Institute with a means for creating more equitable communities through the framework of the Big Move. By addressing the leadership role of the AIA and its members as collaborators within communities, we have an opportunity to: • Encourage a broader understanding of the relationship between mental health and the spaces we design. • Educate our community members about the mental health impacts of climate change. • Foster productive dialogue surrounding the mental health benefits of equity, empathy, and inclusivity. • Collaborate with fellow leaders to address the traumarelated impacts of our environments. Our topic of inquiry is specifically aimed at the trauma associated with the increasing changes in our climate and the subsequent rise of solastalgia, the lived experience of
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negatively perceived change to a home environment. Despite the fact that our environment and our mental health are becoming more inextricably linked, there is an apparent lack of actionable solutions related to mental health. In light of the current crisis, our topic remains centered on trauma. However, we hope to make the best of the situation, realizing that the global, local, and individual mental health repercussions arising from COVID-19 are a potential shortterm example of what may arise from the long-term and more devastating effects of climate trauma. In particular, we are examining how the elimination of social isolation, the encouragement of interactive community relationships, and the design of environments that promote equitable access to health care, housing, transportation, and jobs can aid in building communities that promote positive mental health and well-being through architecture and design. Updated project goals & potential impacts Goal: To foster a productive dialogue surrounding the mental health benefits of equity, empathy, and inclusivity through architecture. Objective: Identify how these attributes can be utilized to design environments that enable equitable access to community resources and support, including but not limited to: healthcare, housing, transportation, education, and an interactive community. Given our niched perspective, our goal coming out of Grassroots was to gain a more well-rounded and thorough understanding of the research/knowledge already compiled, as well as the relevance of our profession and the Institute in this conversation. As we progress, we intend to maximize our outreach to allow external subject-matter experts and our rapidly changing global variables to help us define the specific questions we should be asking in the first place, rather than presume readily drawn conclusions.
