Umeå universitets logga

Everyone deserves a home that promotes well-being and reduces stress. Mental illness among students has tripled in the 21st century and statistics show higher numbers than ever. The problems can often be linked to socioeconomic factors and for many young people, it applies to education. The design of our cities has a great impact on how we feel and how we choose to live our lives and through awareness and knowledge of health-promoting factors, the architect can design more stress-reducing and functional environments.

We need to create a pleasant environment for students to live in using architectural strategies that counteract stress. Building enjoyable apartments incorporating architectural means to reduce stress can help students in their everyday life. Having both private spaces and different scales of public areas creates opportunities to choose where they want to spend their time depending on how much interaction with other people they want. The way we design and manage spaces around apartments, outdoor as well as indoor, can support both the development of interaction between humans and solitary activities. According to studies, offering both active and passive social participation creates security and belonging. Each person takes control over their own presence in social interactions which decreases the risk of social isolation.