IN-PERSON: Livable Cities – New York
Abstract
Within livable city-measures, many associations between physical factors and subjective wellbeing can be recognized. Examples of these factors include public safety, the organization of leisure within the urban fabric or a sense of community. These factors highlight the importance of the interconnectedness of subjective wellbeing and the physical environment, also referred to as the socio-physical environment, which is the main study subject within the interdisciplinary field of architectural and social sciences. When conducting qualitative research within this interdisciplinary field, there is a need for a methodological framework which facilitates the organized understanding of subjective experiences within different scales of the physical environment. Several theoretical frameworks from architectural design methodology and housing design were reviewed based on their potential for systematically understanding the socio-physical environment. As a result, a 5 layer spatial framework is proposed with the residential context of one’s housing environment as the starting point, which can be used to methodologically study the interaction between physical space and subjective experiences.Initially conceptualized with the goal of academic research, the potential adaptability of the framework towards further uses was discussed in a focus group with architects and spatial planning professionals. In addition to studying the socio-physical environment, the framework allows for further methodological explorations of related concepts such as ‘sense of home’, ‘poetics of space’ or ‘subjective wellbeing’ in the context of housing environments.
After having worked for several years as an architect at BC architects & studies in Brussels, Sander Lambrix joined the HOUSE research project in 2022 as a PhD researcher (Hasselt University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium). The project focuses on the influence of housing environments on the subjective wellbeing of current and future older adults. Within the project, Sander approaches this subject from a phenomenological approach to architectural experience and is especially interested in the combination of research methodologies of architectural and social science.
Mirte Clerix started her doctoral research in 2021 at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at Hasselt University (Belgium). She is doing a joint PhD with the Faculty of psychology and adult educational sciences at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium). Mirte is currently working on the HOUSE project, which focuses on the research question of how housing and the neighborhood influence the subjective wellbeing of future and current older adults. Her research specifically focuses on how collectivity and sharing influence this matter.
Ann Petermans (PhD, Architecture) is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Hasselt University, Belgium. Ann’s research interests pertain to designing for experience in designed environments and research related to design for subjective wellbeing in architecture. Ann chairs the Design Research Society’s Special Interest Group on Design for Wellbeing, Happiness and Health. She is an editorial board member of The Design Journal, and is also co-editor of the Routledge book ‘Design for Wellbeing: an applied approach’ (2020).
An-Sofie Smetcoren (PhD, Adult Educational Sciences) is an assistant professor and postdoctoral researcher in the department of Educational Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She is co-director of the Society and Ageing Research Lab and leads the research line ‘Housing and Living Environment’. Her main research interests focus on how urban environments affect the daily lives of their older residents (e.g. with a focus on the home environment), how processes of social inclusion and exclusion take place in communities and the use of co-creative participatory research approaches.
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Friday 16th June, 2023