In July 2021, the UIA General Assembly declared 2022 the “UIA Year of Design for Health”. This commitment urges all UIA Member Sections to encourage architects and their clients to use evidence-based design to promote health in buildings and cities.
The UIA will facilitate a series of initiatives to increase awareness of designing for health, including a digital information hub, an international research agenda and support for the creation of resources to help architects around the world conduct research on healthy environments.
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of environments in controlling disease, the value of creating safe and healthy spaces for all people and the necessity of using evidence-based research to support design and related policy-making.
In preparation for the UIA 2022 Year of Design for Health, the UIA launched a logo competition in September 2021 with the winning entry being selected for use in the branding and promotion of this initiative.
The International jury consisting of Wei Yew (Canada), Marion Decroocq (France) and Warren Kerr(Australia), met virtually and, after extensive deliberation, selected the First and Second Prize winners as well as three Honourable Mentions, from among nearly 300 submissions from around the globe.
As the year 2021 draws to a close and we look forward to 2022, Udo Schliemann’s winning logo, an arch sheltering a heart, reminds us of the power of good design to foster well-being. The UIA encourages its member sections to adopt the logo to their communications related to the UIA Year of Design for Health.