Designing for Well-Being: A Look at New Transformative Wellness Spaces
Images and story by Zeno Jo, SCD Content Creator
That’s the question that Miriam Salah and her teammates at Siebel Center for Design (SCD) have been trying to answer while working on the Wellness Spaces project.
This new installation, conceived by Dr. Ruby Mendenhall, Dr. Joe Bradley, and SCD Director Rachel Switzky, and crafted at SCD's Moonlight Bay by Miriam Salah, Michael Dalton, Neil Pearse, and UIUC student staff Matias Bonta-Clivio, Zeying Zu, Han Ni, Asia Abumaye, and Jaylon Cox, is now open at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Champaign County. The project is generously funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
Using a research-based process, the team identified seven elements that make people feel good within a space:
- Views of nature
- Natural light
- Temperature
- Colors
- Sounds
- Smells
- Layout
The installation features two rooms: one as an example of a space that does not align with the elements of wellness, while the other incorporates those seven elements to display a more cohesive and intentional space. The team intentionally used items that were found at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in their installation in order to make the display accessible for everyone.