"Health also involves the environment in which you move, the city you live in and the house you live in."

For Carlos Naya, director of the School of Architecturethe first step to health begins with the place where you live. "I think we have to overcome the prejudice of dividing things into compartments, because they really have a relationship within the built environment," he says. And that environment, in turn, is what makes it possible to take better care of people's health.

Last academic year, the School of Architecture signed an agreement agreement with the Observatory for Healthy Architecture to promote knowledge and raise awareness, both inside and outside the University, about the impact that spaces have on people's physical and mental health. Through this agreement, both entities are committed to carry out programs, courses, research or activities that have as main goal the training in healthy architecture. 

"However, although it seems something new, both the School and other centers of the University have been researching and teaching teaching for many years around this area", emphasizes Carlos Naya. "César Martín, a professor at the School, taught until a few years ago a subject on architecture and health, which he shared with professors from the School of Architecture. And Ana Sánchez-Ostiz, who is currently part of group SAVIA (Environmental Sustainability, Housing, Industrialization and Architecture), has worked with her team on issues related to air quality and CO2. We must also take into account researchers from other centers, such as Jesús Miguel Santamaría, from the BIOMA Institute, with whom we have also collaborated".

For his part, Santamaría comments that, through research, it is possible to better understand how factors such as the air we breathe, natural light, temperature or noise affect our health and well-being: "This knowledge allows architects to design healthier buildings that are not only functional, but also comfortable for the people who live in them, creating environments that promote both physical and mental health". 

The agreement with the Observatory of Architecture and Health aims to be a catalyst to coordinate all these projects. For Carlos Naya, health is a common point between the School, other Schools of the University and the Clinic, which has led them to the Observatory to take an interest in the academic center. "Here also comes into play the master class that Navidad Canga, from the School of Nursing, gave at the opening ceremony of the 2024-25 academic year, where he made it clear that health is not just about going to the doctor, but about something more. To be sick is to be unhealthy, and you have to think about why. In the end, everything is related to the environment you live in, the house you live in or the city you live in, for example.

Rita Gasalla, president of the OAS, and Carlos Naya, director of the School of Architecture, during the signature of the agreement

By joining forces, what has been achieved are solutions "that not only protect the environment, but also improve our quality of life," says Jesús Miguel Santamaría. In this case, the School of Architecture and the BIOMA Institute have also collaborated with DATAI for the development of digital twins: "These are tools that simulate the energy behavior of buildings and analyze how some factors, such as air quality and thermal comfort, affect the health of those who occupy them".

"The goal is that the buildings take care of us and that we take care of them. In the case of the University, we must take care of the campus so that the campus takes care of us", stresses the School's director . This concept of care not only includes sustainability as one of the principles or properties of architectural projects: "Norman Foster, a British architect, set up a Master's Degree, Healthy Cities, in Madrid. This brings us back to an idea: the design of buildings must ensure the health of the people who live in them".