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| dc.contributor.author | Miller, Andrew | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-05-13T16:19:41Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-05-13T16:19:41Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-05-13 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10429/2319 | |
| dc.description | Stress is not a new issue in the world. It affects more than half the population on a day-to-day basis. Whether stress is experienced in the workplace, at school, or at home, it can be a continuing burden on the health and well-being of an individual. There have been ways in which society has tried to lessen the effects of stress with different design techniques. But, many of these techniques are based on the program of the space and not space itself. To define stress, it is our body's response to internal and external pressure. Many situations in which someone's life can cause stress, but what is the true foundation of it? Well, defined by Elizabeth Scott PhD in stress management, psychology, and family counseling, it is any type of change that causes emotional, physical, or psychological strain on an individual. Stress is the body's response to anything that requires attention or action. When the body is experiencing stress the first thing it does is release the hormones cortisol and adrenaline steaming from the adrenal glands. This puts the body into the mode of fight or flight. In response, your heart begins to beat faster, muscles tighten, breathing seems to be harder and more rapid, palms begin to sweat and all the senses become sharper. I am sure we've all experienced some of these sensations at some point in our lives, but there are also multiple types of stress as well, they can be categorized as acute, episodic, and chronic. With stress being so prominent when it comes to maintaining good mental health begs the question, what has already been studied about stress and what are the current best practices to alleviate stress? This thesis focuses on analyzing how the built environment can increase, sustain, and alleviate stress through multiple aspects of the design. Including factors such as variation, regeneration, and convenience. Contribute to increasing, sustaining, or alleviating stress. Architectural practice can help with ongoing research of stress making the work place, home, and educational environments more sensitive to its occupants, in hopes of achieving optimal efficiency within a space. According to the American Institute of Stress, stress affects over 50% of the United States population daily. With the average person spending 75% of their life indoors the built environment plays a crucial role in affecting the stress levels of individuals. University campuses contribute too 44.9% of college students say they experience “more than average” levels of stress. One of the biggest concerns of this thesis would be individuals understanding the importance of design to manage stress. Without it being part of the code and potentially more money than an average space, the overall investment may not seem feasible to some employers or schools. Another concern for this thesis would be the percentage of the population that believe stress is evident and will always be an issue no matter what we try to do to stop it. The biggest restriction with this study would be finding a design strategy that will help everyone with their stress levels. Knowing stress is an overly complex issue it will be hard to find a strategy or even multiple strategies that will help everyone. This study focuses on one of the most important things today: mental health. With Covid-19 persisting, the importance of maintaining good mental health has been a point of emphasis. With stress being the most common form of mental illness along with anxiety and depression, it is important to know what the architectural community can do to help destress and overall improve the overall well-being of individuals. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Stress is not a new phenomenon in society; we know it can affect our body, along with how we feel and behave. Over 55% of Americans are said to be stressed each day. Throughout the years, psychologists among other professional fields have conducted a variety of studies relating to stress, producing general tactics on how to combat the effects of stress. These tactics focus primarily on the individual with little to no regard for the built environment. This begs the questions of; what aspects of the built environment can increase, sustain, or alleviate stress? Along with how can we transform under-developed spaces with in the built environment to combat stress? Through methods of discovery including precedent analysis and research, we can begin to understand this theory. Stress is an extremely complicated subject, a subject where there is no universal answer. Through combined research in a variety of different fields including architecture we can begin to mitigate multiple aspects of stress. This research is relevant today more than ever, with the effects of COVID-19 and the ongoing emphasis on maintaining good mental health. Designing spaces that combat stress should be a staple in new and existing construction. | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
| dc.subject | Stress | en_US |
| dc.subject | Built Environment | en_US |
| dc.subject | Stressful Spaces | en_US |
| dc.title | Stress and the Built Environment | en_US |
| dc.title.alternative | Redefining spaces that combat the effects of stress | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
