Are Our Cities Sparking Enough Joy?

""In Korea, 90 percent of people say buildings affect their mental health-and 97 percent of people say that the housing here is 'boring, soulless, and depressing,'" says London-based architectural designer Thomas Heatherwick, the general director of the fifth Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, which opens to the public on September 26. "We've got a big problem, but also an amazing opportunity to galvanize.""

"Through Seoul and other global cities, Heatherwick's curatorial goal is to "catalyze a public conversation about how to make the outsides of buildings more joyful," one that will push industry and policy to build more human-focused spaces. But creating happiness in cities also requires both spectacular design and a deep understanding of how the intersection of architecture, urban design, and the public realm affects our emotional and physical well-being."

"In June, Paris city officials transformed City Hall's paved plaza into an urban forest. Dubbed a "reverse rose garden" (a term sparked by Dr. Jill Biden's bid to replace the White House's hardscaped garden spaces with lush nature), it now improves passersby experiencse with greenery that also cleans the air. In New York, the High Line's success has inspired, among many other global copycats, QueensWay, a forthcoming linear park in Queens on a disused rail, designed by DLANDstudio, Sasaki, and WXY Architecture + Urban Design."

In Korea, 90 percent of people report that buildings affect their mental health, and 97 percent describe housing as 'boring, soulless, and depressing'. The Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism aims to catalyze a public conversation to make building exteriors more joyful and push industry and policy toward human-focused spaces. City interventions include transforming plazas into urban forests that improve passerby experience and clean the air. Linear parks on disused rails replicate High Line success and expand public space. Creating urban happiness requires spectacular design and understanding how architecture, urban design, and the public realm affect emotional and physical well-being.

Read at Architectural Digest