Scientific progress in understanding how we work sometimes reveals elements that have not been sufficiently taken into account in the past. Thus, too often, the construction of modern cities has favored economic efficiency, giving pride of place to cars, businesses and industry and neglecting other aspects, such as beauty. But more and more, studies are looking into the possibility that this aesthetic austerity could have a real impact on our health, particularly mental health, as explained by the American magazine Wired .
Architecture under the microscope of neuroscience
Everything here starts from the observation that urbanization always seems to be accompanied by an explosion in cases of depression, cancer and diabetes. Although many factors other than beauty can explain this phenomenon, the American author and activist Jane Jacobs and the Danish architect Jan Gehl suggested in the second half of the 20th century that the very way in which cities were designed could have a real impact on its inhabitants.
This basis for reflection gave the idea to several research teams to use new techniques in brain mapping and behavioral study to see what is really happening. Colin Ellard’s urban realities laboratory at the University of Waterloo (Canada), for example, launched the eMOTIONAL Cities project in several American and European cities in order to study the links between architecture and brain functioning. Two studies on the psychological reactions of people to different building facades are also underway and will in particular determine whether certain facades can cause neuroinflammation.
Towards a revolution?
However, some did not wait for the results of this research to try to innovate in this area. This is the case of the Danish architectural firm NORD Architects, in charge of the construction of the Alzheimer village in Dax (Landes). To design their village aimed at making life easier for people in cognitive decline, they were inspired by the shape of bastides, these enclosed medieval towns offering an architecture in which it would be easier to find one’s way.
Still, it will take more than a few studies and individual initiatives to truly initiate change, in the event that real links between architecture and public health are identified. Rokhsana Fiaz, the mayor of Newham, in east London (United Kingdom), has already surprised by making happiness and health two of her main performance indicators of her economic strategy. Beyond that, neuro-architectural discoveries could then be associated with artificial intelligence to facilitate the deployment of urban planning and construction policies integrating public health issues.
Health
