Farrow Partnership Architects, led by Senior Partner and Daniels Faculty Alumnus Tye Farrow, recently launched a YouTube channel to showcase some of its projects and its philosophy around health design.

The firm’s first video (above) asks, “What if our health became the basis for judging every public space, every building, every workplace and every home? What if we always asked: how healthy is this place?”

Farrow has designed award-winning projects across Canada and around the world. The Stockholm-based World Congress on Design and Health identified him as a global leader who is making "a significant contribution to health and humanity through the medium of architecture and design." His approach to promoting wellness is evident in projects such as the Credit Valley Hospital and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, both of which have been viewed viewed internationally as setting a new standard for health care design.

“Today we’re surrounded by negative health anxieties and a culture of ailments. In the United states for example, it’s estimated that more than $750 billion is spent annually on unnecessary treatment. If we can get off this medical super highway, we can begin to understand the impact of what we build and our physical environment,” says Farrow in the video “Salutogenic Places: Designed to Thrive.” “Turning this around will require a change from being fixated on negative health and disease, known as pathology, to focus on conditions that cause health known as salutogenesis. Salutogenic places are the opposite of pathogenic places. Its a big term for a simple idea.”

Traditionally, the discussion of health care design in architectural circles has focused on the design of buildings buildings, such as hospitals. Recent trends in design for health care, however, are shifting this dialogue to a broader and deeper conversation about health, and the effective design of the built environment from the level of individual buildings to urban design.

The Daniels Faculty is planning to establish a new Institute for Architecture and Human Health in its new home at One Spadina Crescent. The Institute will draw on the University’s traditional strengths in the health sciences and public policy to develop new ideas for reforming the built environment. It will also research the impact architecture and design have on the quality of patient care, the delivery of health care services, and the creation of more efficient, cost-effective health care facilities. The Institute will also anchor a planned Masters program in Health Design, which, when established, will educate generations of professionals to address health care and wellness through innovations in architecture, landscape, and urban design.

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Did you know? The Daniels Faculty also has a YouTube channel, featuring public lectures and student work. Visit it here.