World Architecture Day 2022: Architecture for Well-Being

The theme for World Architecture Day 2022 (3 October 2022) will be Architecture for well-being. The theme is in line with the designation of 2022 as the UIA Year of Design for Health and the Union’s commitment to use evidence-based design to promote health in buildings and cities.

Health, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” and “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition” (WHO, n.d.).

To respond to recent global public health crises including the COVID-19 pandemic and other devastating disasters, the UIA General Assembly in July 2021 declared “2022: UIA Year of Design for Health.” This commitment urges all UIA Member Sections to encourage architects and their clients to use evidence-based design to promote health in buildings and cities, and promotes “Design that protects health, design that develops Better Health, and design that restores health once it is impaired.”

Keeping in mind that the built environment has an impact on the health of the people who experience it, Design for health and well-being should be a fundamental component imbedded in every project, for every practice, and at any scale, which will be emphasised and demonstrated on World Architecture Day.

The UIA will go beyond the role of architecture in making our lives better by protecting, developing and restoring health to examine how architects can better contribute to the physical, emotional, environmental, financial and social wellness of humankind all while having a positive impact on the environment.

Join us on Monday 3 October 2022 at 14:00 (CET) for a webinar on Architecture for Well-being featuring architects and experts from around the world. 

Moderated by Ruzica Bozovic Stamenovic (Serbia), the webinar will include a presentation by Thiago Hérick de Sá, Department of the Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) discussing what well-being is and the role of architects therein. English-French interpretation will be available.

It will feature the following presentations: 

• Architecture in service to society by Pascale Sablan (USA), Adjaye Associates architect and Beyond the Built Environment founder.
• Nicosia City Master Plan by Agni Petridou (Cyprus) and Ali Guralp (Cyprus).
• Healthy Buildings by Jako Nice (South Africa), Studio Konstruk.
• The Healing Landscape In Resilient Built Environment: Kongjian Yu (China), Founder of Turenscape, ecological urbanist, urban planner and landscape architect.
• People-centred urban design by Jan Gehl (Denmark), Gehl

UIA President José Luis Cortés, Secretary General Pei Ing Tan and Public Health Group Director Ray Pentecost will also speak during the event. 

Visit the WAD Tool Kit that has resources and information about World Architecture Day, architecture for well-being and the webinar’s panelists.