Active living architecture

Abstract

RESEARCH QUESTION: How can a single piece of architecture be designed to encourage people to expend calories through physical activity on a daily basis and promote healthier eating, with the aim of shifting them away from lifestyles that lead to obesity?

This thesis project is an architectural response to the global obesity epidemic. Obesity prevalence rates are increasing around the world at such an alarming rate, that a problem which was not a pressing issue two generations ago, is now threatening to be a health issue on a scale the world has never seen before. The consequences of the obesity epidemic are far reaching and devastating. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and premature loss of life are but a few of the possible consequences.

The question for the architectural profession is: Does architecture have a role to play in helping to reduce the prevalence of obesity? Although easy to say that architecture is not responsible for peoples’ increasingly sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy eating, research around the world is beginning to suggest differently. This project is an exploration, based on literature reviews and precedent studies, on how one piece of architecture can be designed to encourage the expenditure of calories through physical activity on a daily basis and promote healthier eating, with the aim of shifting people away from lifestyles that lead to obesity.