Welcome to the International Academy for Design and Health
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Click on the image to download the Preliminary Programme for the 2012 World Congress
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The International Academy for Design & Health is a global, interdisciplinary knowledge community dedicated to the stimulation and application of research concerning the interaction between design, health, science & culture.
Providing a highly visible global forum for an ongoing exchange of research findings among scientists, designers and industry, we work in close partnership with our international network of governments, universities and commercial organisations to promote human health, wellbeing and quality of life through environmental design.
The centrepiece of our activities is the 8th Design & Health World Congress & Exhibition, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 27 June-1 July 2012. Click on the image to download the Preliminary Programme or go to our events page for more information.
In 2013, the 9th Design & Health World Congress will be held in Brisbane, Australia. In 2011, the 7th Design & Health World Congress was held in Boston, USA. Click here to download the congress presentations and a slideshow of images from the event.
 The deadline for submissions to this year's prestigious Design & Health International Academy Awards 2012 has been extended to the 20 April, following unprecedented demand.
Recognised as the world's leading advocacy programme recognising professional excellence in the research and practice of designing healthy built environments, the awards ceremony will be held on 30 June in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during the 8th Design & Health World Congress & Exhibition.
Click here for details on how to submit or on the image above to download the Call for Entries.
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 International speakers from Europe, Africa, Asia and North America came together recently to bring a global perspective to Design & Health Australasia 2012, an international symposium held from 28-29 March 2012 in Sydney.
The symposium explored global salutogenic perspectives on the planning, procurement, design and operation of healthy facilities within the context of healthcare infrastructure development in the Australasian region.
Click here to learn more about the event, and see who the speakers and sponsors were.
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| The winning design, Protea Health |
The winners of a new international competition to design a ‘Health Promoting Lifestyle Centre’ for South Africa, have been announced by the International Academy for Design & Health in partnership with the Ministry of Health in South Africa.
Providing an open design brief, the competition, which was the first of its kind in Africa, asked entrants to design a new kind of health centre – one with a preventative, rather than a curative vision.
Focusing mainly on primary care, with an emphasis on health promotion, the design brief called for a friendly and welcoming facility that empowered the community towards self-care. Entrants were required to show an understanding of salutogenic health principles and how the physical environment can be a valuable tool for preventative medicine, as well as demonstrating environmentally-supportive design.
The winning design, Protea Health, submitted in a joint venture by Farrow Partnership Architects, Clark Nexsen and Ngonyama Okpanum & Associates, received a prize of €40,000, while the two highly commended designs, Triple Embrace by Nightingale Associates and Phila Kahle (‘Live Well’) by HLM Architects both received €20,000 each.
For more information on the competition, the international jury and the winning designs, click here
 The 8th Design & Health World Congress will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 27 June-1 July 2012, as the globe's leading event in the field moves to an annual schedule for the first time.
Announced at the same time during the Gala Awards Dinner evening at this year's successful congress in Boston, USA, the 9th Design & Health World Congress will be held in Brisbane, Australia in July 2013.
For more information, click here to download the Call for Papers for the 8th Design & Health World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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 International speakers from Europe and North America joined together recently at Design & Health Africa 2011, an international symposium held from 25-26 October 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa.
The symposium explored global salutogenic perspectives on the planning, procurement, design and operation of healthy facilities within the context of healthcare infrastructure development on the African sub-Saharan continent.
Click here to learn more about the event, see who the speakers and sponsors were, and to download the conference presentations
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Dr Julio Frenk, dean of the
Harvard University School of Public Health |
The increasing costs and impact on human health of the rising incidence of chronic diseases across the Western world needs to be addressed by rethinking the way we design our environments to help people make healthier choices, agreed researchers at the 7th Design & Health World Congress in Boston, USA in July.
Organised by the International Academy for Design & Health in partnership with the American Institute of Architects, Academy of Architecture for Health (AIA-AAH), the event brought together leading researchers and practitioners from 35 different countries to explore how design can support human health, wellbeing and quality of life.
With the cost of healthcare in the USA forecast to rise to 19.5% of GDP by 2017, whilst male life expectancy levels has seen the country drop to 49th in the world, researchers agreed that increasing investment in medical interventions and disease-based approaches to healthcare are not addressing the problem, with more attention needed on environmental issues.
Dr Richard J Jackson, professor and chair of environmental sciences in the School of Public Health, UCLA said: “Even under the most optimistic estimates, of the 30 years of increased life expectancy achieved between the 1890s and 1990s, only 5 years can be attributed to medical care.”
Click here to download the Congress Presentations
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