UO is among only eleven architecture schools and schools of public health named as charter members of the AIA Design & Health Research Consortium, which will help fund basic research on how design affects public health. The schools were selected by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) along with the AIA Foundation and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).
“The research teams chosen for this consortium include some of the nation’s leading thinkers about the growing connection between design and public health,” said AIA CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA. “We chose them because their research has the best potential for affecting policy across a wide swath of issues at the intersection of the built environment and public health.”
UO was chosen to research the “built environment microbiome.” Although the microbial communities that inhabit buildings and urban areas are poorly understood and rarely recognized by architects and planners, the design of the built environment has been shown to influence which microorganisms are present and thriving and which are not. Building on a research framework established by the University of Oregon’s Biology and Built Environment Center, the school, in a new partnership with the non-profit Oregon Research Institute, will explore, quantify, and respond to the linkages among building and urban design, microbial communities, and human well-being. It will also research how parks and other green infrastructure may cleanse pollutants from the air and perhaps contribute a beneficial diversity of microbes to our urban air-shed.
Over a three-year period, the AIA and its partners will provide institutional support and capacity building for consortium members to promote collaboration through local and national partnerships; enable the sharing of knowledge through private listserv activity, conference calls, and face-to-face events; and provide a new portal on AIA.org for members to share research activity. Whenever appropriate, the AIA and its partners will promote the activities of the consortium with potential funders.
The AIA has organized its design and health initiative around six evidence-based approaches that architects can influence through design practices and policies at the building and urban scale. These six approaches—environmental quality, natural systems, physical activity, safety, sensory environments, and social connectedness—recognize that the physical environment creates health opportunities and facilitates positive health behaviors.
A complete list of the selected schools and their projects is available on the AIA website.