when When was the last time you walked down a street with new buildings and felt something positive? Or anything at all?
Modern buildings have become boring—flat, monotonous, shiny, rectangular, monotonous, faceless, featureless, and dull. At best, these structures make us feel nothing. At worst, they can negatively impact our mental health and physical stress. For example, in 1984, Roger Ulrich, a healthcare design researcher, conducted a pioneering study demonstrating that a room facing nature accelerated a person’s recovery from surgery. patient. Today, there is more evidence that bad design can have many negative consequences, with studies showing it can cause emotional stress and even lead to crime and antisocial behavior. festival.
By 2050, 7 out of 10 people worldwide will live in cities. Yet despite the technological advances of the modern world, we continue to create lifeless spaces that do not reflect any genius. Whether you are in downtown Hong Kong, the financial district of Paris or central Toronto, human contact has disappeared from urban design while social isolation has increased and people feel overwhelmed and exhausted.
However, I believe change is coming. In the past, you could get rid of the “less is more” mindset. It is now clear that emotions play an important role when designing urban buildings and spaces.
In 2023, cities will begin to realize the value of emotions. Architects and designers will begin to accept the idea that the aesthetic quality and variety of buildings profoundly affect our emotions and have the power to lift our spirits. attract and connect us.
CEOs, retailers, developers, and architects will start thinking more about how urban planning can engage, engage, and inspire. Boredom will gradually cease to be competitive. Forward-thinking businesses will begin to respond by changing the way they operate new buildings. Examples have begun to emerge—from Leeds, where Acme Studio infuses personality and breathes new life into an abandoned industrial estate, to Burkina Faso, where Kéré Architects created a soulful wellness center in Leo city.
The climate emergency will accelerate this change. Construction is one of the biggest polluters on the planet—38% of CO2 is related to energy2 emissions in 2018 were generated by this sector alone. Every year, an area the size of Washington DC is destroyed in the US. In the UK, the average commercial building is sentenced to demolition before it turns 40 years old. In 2023, we will see growing outrage at the wastefulness of this urban planning approach.
Personal concern for the health of the planet will play a part. This year’s heatwaves have led to calls to make our streets greener. In 2023, the global movement to plant more trees in cities will grow even stronger. Green infrastructure will be understood as critical national infrastructure, like energy and transportation, and we will have one tree for every person in every city in the world.
In 2023, we will finally begin to engage in building the places people love and protecting the planet. This fascination with places around us will become the key to designing streets and buildings filled with detail, invention and three-dimensional space. These new and completely human spaces will be cherished and will serve each resident and visitor for years to come, instead of joining the graveyard of drab construction none of us really. take care of.
