Interesting report out from the CDC on what works to fix the most serious health problem in America. 6 of the 24 recommendations have to do with "complete streets". I like how they call for mixed use zoning, but what they're really talking about is better urban design and architecture.
For architecture to remain relevant, it must address the fundamental social issues of our day. What should architects add to the CDC's list?
simplest thing architects can do to fight obesity is don't install fryolators in commercial kitchens.
inside, we could also provide indoor plants, spec no voc materials, increase indoor air changes/use heat recovery systems, locate air inlets away from other pollution sources, spec no-absorbing materials near smokers and other noxious chemicals, reduce use of toxic flame-retardants, spec high efficient furnaces/boilers that don't emit particulates or noxious fumes, and other high performance/IAQ measures...
then we can provide daylighting and good views outside, provide acoustic treatments to reduce noise pollution - this reduces stress (and make car alarms and jackhammers illegal)
integrate stairs such that they aren't just emergency egress/finished with raw concrete blocks, provide resting spots in stairwells greater then a few stories, hide the elevators
outside, we can reduce amount of impervious surfaces to reduce urban flooding and reduce the urban heat island, make sure trees are well cared for and not a hazard, avoid spec'ing only male trees to reduce the amount of pollen, and design for dark skies/reduce light pollution which is interrupting our sleep.
okay, some of these features aren't just about obesity, but general public health/stress reduction - but reducing stress reduces weight...
so if you don't install a fryolator should you also not design bars? or walgreen's or cvs'sss or any where that sells smoke or booze or other heart clogging lung blackening liver rotting devices?
i've never in my long life of being a city commuter on bus, subway, train seen a fat person run for more than like 5 seconds to catch the train, never. fat lazy people will find a way not to have to walk to the train or down the sidewalk, this is america baby.
i want a damn fryolator, a red bull, a beer, and no sleep and no community is going to tell me how to live my life....
that list might as well be the 10 commandments...
you could put bike trails up and down my neighbohood and you still won't find me crushing my nutts with a possiblity of infertility on some stupid schwinnnn....
I believe religious sects are communities that tell people how to live.
if a client wants a CO2 producing machines that runs on left over grease from frying, do the architectural sustainability thing, plant enough trees next to it to act as a CO2 sink.
if there were no communities and technology to begin with people wouldn't be fat and unhealthy anyway....
I believe the social issues related to public health are far more important, and more relevant to the role of the architect, as opposed to the physiological issues mentioned above.
I think TK pretty much hit the nail on the head. Improving IAQ performance and increasing daylighting would do a world of good, for both the physical and mental health of the majority of the population. Reducing heat islands is just common sense, as the more pleasant it is outside the more active seem to be. I know personally it would be great to address lght pollution on my street... Anyone got a B-B gun?
Are male trees really the only ones that are usually spec'd? Why?
Certain varieties of male plants "bloom" more than female trees.
This sounds weird... but male and female plants can carry flowers. In specific species however only the male parts produce pollen.
Two good examples are date palms and marijuana. I picked these two for their extremes in sexual dimorphism.
Date palms have a little gross sex organ that hangs out called an inflorescence. In females, this becomes the fruit branch... and does not develop any flowering structure. In males, this tree penis will be covered in flowers.
Diocedius (sexed plants) tend to reproduce through airborne pollen. So, they tend to produce an unnecessarily high amount of pollen to guarantee reproductive success.
With marijuana that has an obvious and enjoyable differentiation between sexes, it has special properties that ensure its reproduction. Like the production of psychoactive chemicals, strong odors and the like-- either to repel or attract various animals.
So why are female plants not spec'd? Fruiting attracts bugs and animals. It presents several safety and maintenance issues (rotting fruits, mass seed dispersal). And the smells can be off putting to people around them.
Male plants, much like male birds, tend to be more attractive visually and they also produce flowers. Even in some unisex hermaphroditic plants, male flowers tend to be showier then female flowers.
Personally, I'd like to see plants that reproduce through spores be limited as spores can be more dangerous to health than pollen can (ferns, mosses et cetera).
My guess on the male tree thing is that the tree farm or similar keeps the ladies because they bare the seeds. tk?
Otherwise i'm with all of tk's recs that relate to IAQ. Otherwise, I generally support personal liberty, so although I can get behind the aims of holz's list, I'm nervous about how that sorta thing would play out in reality.
Oh, and I'm at the airport right now and sure enough CNN is on the screens...
Given that these goals are so important, how come architects haven't tied in with the public health and medical community as well as planners/policymakers?
tk - hiding elevators takes it a bit too far, in my opinion. I'm an advocate for universal design, and puuting elevators out of the primary way isn't considerate of the many disabled people in this country, in addition to the large elderly/aging population, many of whom have reduced mobility. Though one could argue that the elderly population would be mobile into their later years if your suggestions were implemented...
most of the folks using elevators are just plain lazy fat slobs that need to be kicked in the *ss to take the stairs - therefore we must make stairs hard to find. as for the ada - we should give special gps elevator finders that unlock the doors to the elevator core...
Girl trees are avoided by most municipalities and institutions because folks hate having to clean up the rotting fruit or slipping on acorns. I personally go out of my way to spec girl trees to provide food for birds and critters. I don't mind having more biomass to compost.
tk, no! The stench of rotting flesh that happens in Philly every fall due to the female gingkoes is too horrid to stand!
On the other hand, the Chinese grandmothers harvest a lot of the falling fruit to make soup ( I tried it once, not great), so that's actually kind of cool. OK.
i hadn't thought about the effects of sex and plants and how choose to minimise pests and mess, before. cool to learn about pros and cons in a conversation about obesity.
that cars and buildings are to blame for fat americans i am not so sure of.
we have the same cars and buildings in japan and most people live in suburbs just the same as usa, with big box developments, huge parking lots and all the other stuff we all have been taught to hate...and yet there is not a problem with obesity here. in fact overweight people are still rare.
maybe in usa architecture enables but isn't the actual cause?
anyway am not so comfy with the idea that laziness is the problem. that sounds like name-calling not sincere starting point. TK's list did sound quite intelligent to me though, including all the stuff that is not related to the problem. so much of that stuff we should be doing as matter of course but don't.
taxing soda pop makes the most sense to me. higher gasoline tax too.
Jul 31, 09 7:16 pm ·
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How are architects helping with the most critical public health issue of our generation?
Interesting report out from the CDC on what works to fix the most serious health problem in America. 6 of the 24 recommendations have to do with "complete streets". I like how they call for mixed use zoning, but what they're really talking about is better urban design and architecture.
For architecture to remain relevant, it must address the fundamental social issues of our day. What should architects add to the CDC's list?
http://downtownnewhaven.blogspot.com/2009/07/cdcgov-halt-obesity-epidemic-by.html
the rec'd list looks like a hybrid mike pollan/liz plater-zyberk wish list...
the recs:
Communities should increase availability of healthier food and beverage choices in public service venues.
Communities should improve availability of affordable healthier food and beverage choices in public service venues.
Communities should improve geographic availability of supermarkets in underserved areas.
Communities should provide incentives to food retailers to locate in and/or offer healthier food and beverage choices in underserved areas.
Communities should improve availability of mechanisms for purchasing foods from farms.
Communities should provide incentives for the production, distribution, and procurement of foods from local farms.
Communities should restrict availability of less healthy foods and beverages in public service venues.
Communities should institute smaller portion size options in public service venues.
Communities should limit advertisements of less healthy foods and beverages.
Communities should discourage consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.
Communities should increase support for breastfeeding.
Communities should require physical education in schools.
Communities should increase the amount of physical activity in PE programs in schools.
Communities should increase opportunities for extracurricular physical activity.
Communities should reduce screen time in public service venues.
Communities should improve access to outdoor recreational facilities.
Communities should enhance infrastructure supporting bicycling.
Communities should enhance infrastructure supporting walking.
Communities should support locating schools within easy walking distance of residential areas.
Communities should improve access to public transportation.
Communities should zone for mixed use development.
Communities should enhance personal safety in areas where persons are or could be physically active.
Communities should enhance traffic safety in areas where persons are or could be physically active.
Communities should participate in community coalitions or partnerships to address obesity.
as to what architects can do, the easiest one would be to add breastfeeding rooms to programs.
oh, and stop designing rape spaces.
Better bathroom design could help with those points.
Does "reduce screen time in public service venues" mean taking all the CNN-blaring TVs out of airports? Then hell, yes, I'm for it!
simplest thing architects can do to fight obesity is don't install fryolators in commercial kitchens.
inside, we could also provide indoor plants, spec no voc materials, increase indoor air changes/use heat recovery systems, locate air inlets away from other pollution sources, spec no-absorbing materials near smokers and other noxious chemicals, reduce use of toxic flame-retardants, spec high efficient furnaces/boilers that don't emit particulates or noxious fumes, and other high performance/IAQ measures...
then we can provide daylighting and good views outside, provide acoustic treatments to reduce noise pollution - this reduces stress (and make car alarms and jackhammers illegal)
integrate stairs such that they aren't just emergency egress/finished with raw concrete blocks, provide resting spots in stairwells greater then a few stories, hide the elevators
outside, we can reduce amount of impervious surfaces to reduce urban flooding and reduce the urban heat island, make sure trees are well cared for and not a hazard, avoid spec'ing only male trees to reduce the amount of pollen, and design for dark skies/reduce light pollution which is interrupting our sleep.
okay, some of these features aren't just about obesity, but general public health/stress reduction - but reducing stress reduces weight...
so if you don't install a fryolator should you also not design bars? or walgreen's or cvs'sss or any where that sells smoke or booze or other heart clogging lung blackening liver rotting devices?
i've never in my long life of being a city commuter on bus, subway, train seen a fat person run for more than like 5 seconds to catch the train, never. fat lazy people will find a way not to have to walk to the train or down the sidewalk, this is america baby.
i want a damn fryolator, a red bull, a beer, and no sleep and no community is going to tell me how to live my life....
that list might as well be the 10 commandments...
you could put bike trails up and down my neighbohood and you still won't find me crushing my nutts with a possiblity of infertility on some stupid schwinnnn....
I believe religious sects are communities that tell people how to live.
if a client wants a CO2 producing machines that runs on left over grease from frying, do the architectural sustainability thing, plant enough trees next to it to act as a CO2 sink.
if there were no communities and technology to begin with people wouldn't be fat and unhealthy anyway....
Aww, honey, if you're worried about your boys, just ride a Bike E.
Good one, LB. :)
I believe the social issues related to public health are far more important, and more relevant to the role of the architect, as opposed to the physiological issues mentioned above.
I revise that statement; both sets of issues are relavent, however the physiological issues are easier to quantify, and justify economically.
given the 2 hypothetical categories of
architecture and revolution
i think the solutions to these all fall under revolution.
but architecture is war! </sarcasm>
oh yeah.
thanks, lebbeus
I think TK pretty much hit the nail on the head. Improving IAQ performance and increasing daylighting would do a world of good, for both the physical and mental health of the majority of the population. Reducing heat islands is just common sense, as the more pleasant it is outside the more active seem to be. I know personally it would be great to address lght pollution on my street... Anyone got a B-B gun?
Are male trees really the only ones that are usually spec'd? Why?
Certain varieties of male plants "bloom" more than female trees.
This sounds weird... but male and female plants can carry flowers. In specific species however only the male parts produce pollen.
Two good examples are date palms and marijuana. I picked these two for their extremes in sexual dimorphism.
Date palms have a little gross sex organ that hangs out called an inflorescence. In females, this becomes the fruit branch... and does not develop any flowering structure. In males, this tree penis will be covered in flowers.
Diocedius (sexed plants) tend to reproduce through airborne pollen. So, they tend to produce an unnecessarily high amount of pollen to guarantee reproductive success.
With marijuana that has an obvious and enjoyable differentiation between sexes, it has special properties that ensure its reproduction. Like the production of psychoactive chemicals, strong odors and the like-- either to repel or attract various animals.
So why are female plants not spec'd? Fruiting attracts bugs and animals. It presents several safety and maintenance issues (rotting fruits, mass seed dispersal). And the smells can be off putting to people around them.
Male plants, much like male birds, tend to be more attractive visually and they also produce flowers. Even in some unisex hermaphroditic plants, male flowers tend to be showier then female flowers.
Personally, I'd like to see plants that reproduce through spores be limited as spores can be more dangerous to health than pollen can (ferns, mosses et cetera).
My guess on the male tree thing is that the tree farm or similar keeps the ladies because they bare the seeds. tk?
Otherwise i'm with all of tk's recs that relate to IAQ. Otherwise, I generally support personal liberty, so although I can get behind the aims of holz's list, I'm nervous about how that sorta thing would play out in reality.
Oh, and I'm at the airport right now and sure enough CNN is on the screens...
...cross posted with Orochi's tree explanation...
I like TK's list.
Given that these goals are so important, how come architects haven't tied in with the public health and medical community as well as planners/policymakers?
tk - hiding elevators takes it a bit too far, in my opinion. I'm an advocate for universal design, and puuting elevators out of the primary way isn't considerate of the many disabled people in this country, in addition to the large elderly/aging population, many of whom have reduced mobility. Though one could argue that the elderly population would be mobile into their later years if your suggestions were implemented...
I am usually a fan of permeable surfaces but they are not without consequence.
I'm not a fan of worms, parasites (skin and intestinal) and fungal infections.
tax the mutha fuck out of sodas, liquor, cigarettes, and trans fats. don't ban, tax.
your can of soda should cost the same as a pack of cigs or gallon of gas. your cigs should cost a tank of gas. your hard liquor, a day's pay.
most of the folks using elevators are just plain lazy fat slobs that need to be kicked in the *ss to take the stairs - therefore we must make stairs hard to find. as for the ada - we should give special gps elevator finders that unlock the doors to the elevator core...
Girl trees are avoided by most municipalities and institutions because folks hate having to clean up the rotting fruit or slipping on acorns. I personally go out of my way to spec girl trees to provide food for birds and critters. I don't mind having more biomass to compost.
tk, no! The stench of rotting flesh that happens in Philly every fall due to the female gingkoes is too horrid to stand!
On the other hand, the Chinese grandmothers harvest a lot of the falling fruit to make soup ( I tried it once, not great), so that's actually kind of cool. OK.
ha ha...the smelly gingko fruit in Philly...it's funny 'cause it's true.
now I'm going out to take a walk Faimount Park...
in Fairmount Park, that is.
I'm not a fan of ginkos either - there are other trees that I'd rather plant for habitat and urban spaces...
i hadn't thought about the effects of sex and plants and how choose to minimise pests and mess, before. cool to learn about pros and cons in a conversation about obesity.
that cars and buildings are to blame for fat americans i am not so sure of.
we have the same cars and buildings in japan and most people live in suburbs just the same as usa, with big box developments, huge parking lots and all the other stuff we all have been taught to hate...and yet there is not a problem with obesity here. in fact overweight people are still rare.
maybe in usa architecture enables but isn't the actual cause?
anyway am not so comfy with the idea that laziness is the problem. that sounds like name-calling not sincere starting point. TK's list did sound quite intelligent to me though, including all the stuff that is not related to the problem. so much of that stuff we should be doing as matter of course but don't.
taxing soda pop makes the most sense to me. higher gasoline tax too.
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