Healing Places - Prototypes.

Healing Places is a cross-disciplinary project that aims to create in Rotterdam West prototypes of sensory and therapeutic spaces in the city to improve the population’s physical and mental health.

Omschrijving

This project aims to design and build 5 prototypes of healing spaces in the public spaces of Delfshaven that will respond to the population health’s issue, help them reconnecting with their bodies, get more physically active, focused, relaxed, prevent some health problems. The project will be organized as such:
- September 2017 – January 2018: a field research
- January – June 2018: open call and preparation of the workshop with a team of experts
- July 2018: two-week workshop.Those architectural prototypes will form a route in the neighborhood and the population will be able to test them during a 5 day exhibition.
Budget: 32 600€
Support: the local partners are POST-OFFICE (platform for architectural innovation in Rotterdam), Made in 4 Havens and Panoptic Architecten in Delfshaven. Netty van Veelen (GGD), Jetze van der Ham (area manager of Delsfhaven) and Michael Meijer (lecturer at Ruimtelijke Ordening & Planologie at Hogeschool Rotterdam) are willing to facilitate the project.

Sociale relevantie

1) Prototyping will generate new tools to tackle health issues and build healthy and attractive environments in Rotterdam.
2) Raise awareness on health issues and the impact of space on the body and mind among the local population
3) Prototypes in public spaces will benefit everyone. We could reach different age groups, physical conditions, low income population who don’t have access to healthy environment, cannot afford to go to the gym, spa or a meditative retreat in the nature.

Innovatie

This project is an opportunity to bring together different fields of expertise and integrate researches in medical science, new technologies and user’s experiences in public within spatial design. The prototypes could be based on sensors, tactile or active design, use colors, shapes, materials to influence user’s physiology, perception and behaviors.
For each prototype, we will collect information about user’s reactions which could serve as a basis for clinical evaluation and design improvement.