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As C.E.O.s increasingly think of the design of their company's buildings as a way to achieve strategic corporate goals, scientists are demonstrating that highly effective working environments don't happen by accident. Resulting from clearly articulated goals, good building design can significantly enhance the well-being and productivity of workers. Architects can fulfill this objective by creating environments that sustain occupants in the many positive ways evidenced by the winning designs in the 2003 BW/AR Awards program. Dr. Judith H. Heerwagen, an environmental psychologist, suggests that many factors determined by the design of buildings, including exposure to nature and daylight, air quality, temperature, noise, ergonomics, and opportunities for social gathering, relaxation, and exercise affect occupants' performance and well-being. If we consider that, first and foremost, buildings are habitats for people, then businesses, builders, and developers should be inclined to invest in even the more costly staff and client amenities that promise measurable positive payoffs.
Yet, despite this conclusion, when it comes to facility decisions, costs are almost always the predominant consideration, partly because sparse scientific evidence links features of the built environment to organizational success. This situation is changing—not only because of the work of Dr. Heerwagen and others, but also through such agencies as the AIA’s Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, which in July received a $100,000 Latrobe Fellowship from AIA’s fellows to pursue research into how the human brain perceives architecture. Just one more step toward shedding light on how buildings inform our daily lives.
—Jane
Kolleeny
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