Since interactivity continues to be unified with designed environments, it is important to examine how such interactivity can rise into shaping the behavioral character of a design. With each collaboration between design component and building occupant, interactive architectural environments structure impressions in the memory of their inhabitants.
“Buildings and urban spaces should be designed first and foremost around their occupants,” says Dr Sergio Altomonte, architect and associate professor in the department of architecture and built environment at the Nottingham university. “The importance of architecture as a trigger to physical, physiological and psychological well being is nowadays becoming a topic of significant relevance” added Altomonte.
Natural light, for instance, can help medical patients to recover and school students to perform better. Research has shown that visible light encourages the human body to boost the generation of the hormone melatonin, influencing sleep patterns and digestion. Visible light also helps to prompt the body’s production of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which can lessen the effects of depression.
Hence, as architects and developers of social infrastructure, it becomes our foremost responsibility to look forward to develop designs that enhance public well-being through interactive architecture.
By Deepika, IDEARCH Architects, Jalandhar, Punjab