Interaction between the interior built environment and the human being. An integrative review in relation to perception, health, and well-being

Abstract

Given that human being inhabits approximately 80% of the time within the built environment, it is necessary to understand how this affects them. Therefore, this article analyzes the state of the art on the interaction between the interior built environment and the human being, -their health and well-being- with a holistic view. Considering the perceived and not perceived aspects. And the psychological and biological responses of human beings. Through an integrative review developed at the WOS database, between 1998 and 2018 with the question: What are the parameters that have been studied of the interaction between human beings and the built environment, perceived and not perceived, related to health and well-being? and In what contexts have these issues been scientifically developed from a systemic perspective? With 11,997 titles filtered, 244 articles are analyzed. Among the main results, it is observed that the most studied context is the domestic one, followed by the work and educational context. Air quality is the most intervened parameter, followed by the physical-environmental parameters. And it is observed that matter is occasionally related to human parameters. This article proposes a vision focused on interdisciplinarity, which allows updating knowledge and contributing to evidence-based design methods.

Keywords:

• Built environment
• health
• well-being
• ergonomics
• perception

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), and Elisava Research at Elisava, Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (UVic – UCC), for having made the present work possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 http://decs.bvs.br/E/homepagee.htm

2 http://www.aatespanol.cl

Additional information

Notes on contributors

María José Araya León

María José Araya León - Ph.D. in Architecture, Architect and graduated in Ergonomics (2006) by the University of Santiago de Chile. She also holds a Master in Design for Industrial product development by the Polytechnic of Milan, Italy (2012). Her main research areas are ergonomics and cognitive processes in different built environments and their phenomenological systems. The above contributes to human being well-being, from research in design to their application. In 2006, simultaneously with her professional development as partner architect of the “Factos, Architecture and Design” study. She is currently an academic and researcher in the Technology in Industrial Design and Architecture Degree of the University of Santiago de Chile and Associate Researcher at Elisava Research. The subjects of her main publications are “Perception and emotion in the built environment”, “Aging and domestic environment” and “Forms and spaces for learning”.

Ricardo Guasch

Ricardo Guasch - Ph.D. in Architecture, from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), since 2011. His expertise areas are Interior Design; User-centred Design; Dwelling, Workspace, and Hospitality environments. He has been linked to Elisava since 1994 with the following academic responsibilities: Director of the postgraduate course in “Design of the workplace” and of the Master in Interior Design for Hotels, Bars, and Restaurants. Co-director of the Master in “Interior design” since 2005 and Academic Director of Elisava between 2011 and 2014. Member of the “Decoding Well-being” research line. Director of the Postgraduate course in “Design of the strategic habitat. Mobility and temporality “and Co-Director of the Master’s Degree in Design and Habitat”, from 2010 to 2015. Associate Lecturer at the Department of Architectural Composition, at ETSA Vallès - UPC, since 1993.

Alberto T. Estévez

Alberto Estévez - Ph.D. UPC Architect, 1983, Ph.D. of architecture. of Sciences UPC, 1990, Art Historian UB, 1994 and Art History Ph.D. of Arts UB, 2008. With a professional architecture and design office in Barcelona. He teaches at different universities, in the areas of knowledge of architectural design, architectural theory and art history, until he founded ESARQ, UIC, 1996, where he served as its first Director between 1996-2005. He also founded two lines of research with two master’s degrees and a doctorate. Programs: «Genetic Architectures/Biodigital Architecture» and «History, Architecture, and Design». He has written over a hundred publications and has participated in a large number of exhibitions, congresses and conferences in Europe, America, and Asia. Perhaps most importantly, it has created the world’s first Laboratory of Genetic Architectures UIC, Barcelona, 2000.

Javier Peña

Javier Peña - Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Javier Peña has been the General Director of ELISAVA since 2016, an institution in which he was Head of Studies of the Degree in Industrial Design Engineering between 2010 and 2016, and co-director and professor of the Master in Graphic Production and Packaging between 2004 and 2008. University professor and scientific disseminator since 1998 Founder and Scientific Director of Materfad. Materials Center of Barcelona since 2006, Javier Peña combines his teaching activity with the publication of articles in international journals and as a materials and technology consultant in private sector projects. Javier Peña is passionate about energy, frequency, and vibration as an expression of the universe and the matter contained in it.