Think about designing experiences of well-being, rather than buildings.
Maram Moushmoush, Sustainable Designer and Nature Enthusiast
Maram focuses on health through restorative design, including biophilia. Her examples and images showed a clear connection linking health with design. Maram suggested that designers should be thinking about creating experiences, not just buildings, insisting that design is a healthcare profession. Maram equated cognitive ease with the perception of beauty that leads to well-being. By challenging us to design natural, playful spaces, and to incorporate nature into the city, she challenged us to make spaces that are better tuned to the environment and to our needs.
Equity starts with the labor laws of the country our building materials come from, takes shape through early engagement of diverse stakeholders, and keeps influencing our environment long after the life of the structure ends.
Shawn Hesse, Community Engagement Manager, International Living Future Institute.
Shawn made the case that equity needs to be central to the design of our built environment. He challenged us to always answer important questions like "who are we designing for?" and “what effect does this project have beyond where it is located?” Often, design decisions to not consider all the citizens affected by the outcomes.
Shawn challenged us to be humble by reminding us that once something is constructed is it much more difficult to tear it down. As Robert Moses said, "legislation can be changed. It is very hard to tear down a bridge once it is up," making it difficult to undo inequity built into infrastructure.
With every project and every action, increase your field of Awareness and diminish your field of disturbance.
Craig Johnson, Interpret Green
Craig links ecology, habitat, people, and buildings, showing how together they form an infrastructure - a living system. Craig used his William Craft Community School project to demonstrate how the creation of whole habitats can improve the health and general well-being of not only our buildings and their occupants, but the neighborhoods they are in. He equated the health of the natural environment (bird sightings, for example) with the general health of the community.
He suggested that we need to be building Intentional Communities that try to find "wholeness", to re-imagine relationships with one another and our surroundings, presenting an opportunity for deeper connection and stronger community bonds. Throughout his talk, Craig referenced Christopher Alexander’s quotations, which particularly resonated with attendees, and concluded by noting making something beautiful can be the best strategy to ensure its care.
