ENABLE SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS

#5 ENABLE SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS :

Loneliness has been alleged to have the same impact on life expectancy as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day… A lack of social contact can also speed up cognitive “ decline, heart disease, depression and suicide. . -[Orange,. et al, 2019] ” With dark facts emerging on the consequences of loneliness, to the extent that in 2018 the UK appointed the world’s first ‘Minister for Loneliness’ [John, 2018], this manifesto proposes that it should be a moral duty for architects to design our environment in a way to facilitate social connections, and enhance people’s interactions in as many different ways as possible. It is therefore vital that the ‘avant-garde psychiatric unit’ promotes social connectedness. With those suffering from poor mental health often already enduring stigmatism and societal detachment, the disparities provoked from physical segregation in relation to urban living can further intensify feelings of social inferiority, hopelessness, low self-esteem and a sense of not belonging- all of which can contribute to worsening mental health disorders. In response, architecture should “facilitate positive, safe, natural interactions amongst people and foster a sense of community, integration and belonging” [Design Council, 2017]. Whether this be derived from flexible public spaces that encourage participatory engagement, or simply adapting and configuring entrances to promote social greetings, it is of the utmost importance to design with social connectivity in mind.

As a society it is very easy to ascribe the increasing prevalence of loneliness purely to the manifestations of our socio-culture, by which our exposure and addiction to new technologies, social media and digital news not only inhibit faceto-face interaction, but contribute to collective anxiety, helplessness and disconnection from the real world. However, such idle blaming and shifting of responsibility from the built environment to technology can cause iatrogenic harm if left unresolved. Unless architects consider the city as an integrated network of pro-social places in which both natural or tailored, new or unexpected social relationships can be formed [See Figure 6], we should be to blame for inadvertently harming the population; the power of the choreography of architectural gestures must be utilised in order to promote wellbeing. It should be noted, however, that architecture alone cannot create or cause connectedness, but can facilitate it through the introduction (from concept stage) of a “holistic and systems-based manner” [Layne, 2007] that is designed to encourage human experience.

Figure 6: Designing cities to counter loneliness [author’s edit]. Shafique, T. (2018).

Loneliness is both a symptom and a cause so it is important when considering the city as an ‘avant-garde psychiatric unit’, that we also consider architecture as reciprocal; can architecture engender connectedness? And vice verse? These two questions form the basis for the design of the ‘avant-garde psychiatric unit’. In response, the following architectural considerations should be explored; placing community values at the centre of all stages of design, from inception to completion; harnessing accessible-to-all transport networks that support social connections, such as group walking or cycling; the integration of both internal and external, flexible ‘conversation starting’ spaces (the incorporation of music, sport, food and art acting as social connectors); the proposal of ‘tech-free’ zones that quiet the constant interruptions and stresses of daily life but enhance the formation of relationships; and ultimately the unification of the city as a working, playing and living environment that cultivates “social connectivity, spontaneity and a richness that fosters empathic co-existence” [Shafique, 2017].