September 26, 2024

The language of healing-centered design in the modern age

Eaton-Colles

Over 67% of children encounter at least one traumatic event before age sixteen (SAMHSA). Untreated trauma at any age affects learning and critical thinking abilities, mental health and serious long-term physical conditions. The brain is exposed to chemical changes that are often lifelong, impacting a person’s ability to function fully. How can we design spaces that uplift and support individuals from all walks of life, at every stage?

FUTURE-LEARNING READY

Trauma-Informed Design (TID) requires intersectional solutions, especially as children are coming of age in the Fourth Industrial Revolution — a period characterized by the confluence of physical, digital and biological realms. To further complicate issues, the Fifth Industrial Revolution — tentatively coined the “Cognitive Revolution” looms on the horizon.

As a society, we are still learning the bounds of a world punctuated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the effects this has on communication and connection between humans. For students, increasing speeds of delivering information means more access to content as well as the tools to interpret it. But it may come with a price — too much information requires students to be more engaged in their own learning to ensure that they are focused.

Photo by Benjamin Benschneider [enlarge]

Small spaces outside of the main circulation paths at Van Asselt School in Beacon Hill provide students with opportunities to collaborate in small groups outside of the classroom.

Students who have experienced trauma often operate in survival mode. Whether their reaction manifests as hypervigilance, viewing the world through the lens of survival, or hypovigilance, retreating inward and withdrawing from the world — a traumatized brain is not capable of absorbing or processing new information. In these states, the capacity for learning is disengaged. Trauma causes chemical changes to the brain and though one may find moments of peace and resilience, there is no cure. It can take but a single experience or moment for symptoms to re-manifest themselves.

In today’s rapidly evolving world, we can no longer rely on learning a single thing and depending on that knowledge for our entire lives. We need the skills to engage in lifelong learning, collaboration, adaptation and resilience. In a revolution that is characterized by leaps in AI, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), genetic engineering and quantum computing, resilience and self-awareness are essential in navigating a world where change is the only constant.

HEALING-CENTERED DESIGN

Healing environments begin by incorporating Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) systems that “realize the long-term effects of trauma, recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma, and respond by implementing systems that seek to resist re-traumatization.” (http://www.traumainformedcare.chcs.org) To incorporate TID into a design that supports healing and resilience, it is essential to develop Guiding Principles for each project, drawing from TIC principles: Safety, Trustworthiness and transparency; Peer support and mutual self-help; Collaboration and mutuality; Empowerment voice, and choice; and Cultural, historical, and gender issues.

Photo by Jeff Amram [enlarge]

Harry S. Truman Elementary School in Vancouver, Washington features calming experiential graphics in flexible small group learning spaces.

Guiding Principles are big-picture ideas or goals that frame projects and help prioritize decision-making. Developed in collaboration with stakeholders from the onset of the design process, they serve as a reference point to ensure goals are being met.

Each project’s Guiding Principles will vary, tailored to the specific needs of its users and typology. We build on the principles that guide TIC by adding others relevant to the project, such as Lifelong Learning, Sustainability, and Flexible /Adaptable.

In the design of educational facilities, it is important to engage educators who use Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) to create spaces that support our young vulnerable populations. Yet, as we look ahead, the realization that trauma’s effects are lifelong is paramount. Children with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) grow into adults who are challenged with the same battles. Moreover, adults can experience traumas beyond ACEs. With the launch of Bassetti’s fifth version of their TID Workbook, we expand on our work in schools to explore Guiding Principles, design characteristics and spaces that integrate TID into any project type.

Photo by Michael Cole [enlarge]

The entrance at First United Methodist Church in Seattle’s Uptown neighborhood allows eyes on the street from the administration offices to ensure safety and security.

Photo by Jeff Amram [enlarge]

A nook at Mountlake Terrace Elementary School gives students a quiet, out-of-the-way space of refuge.

In addition, version five of the TID Workbook will take a deeper look at how trauma affects the senses. Sight, sound, touch, taste and smell all play an integral role in how we experience space, with no two people having the same experience. Proprioception, often considered the sixth sense, is as equally affected by our own bodies as it is by our environments. Guiding principles, design characteristics, and spaces need to acknowledge that color, sounds and textures, for example, may not play a role in everyone’s experience of a space. How, then, can Healing-Centered Environments be developed when each person’s experience is unique?

Meant to be an open resource for design professionals, through the encompassing engagement of our senses and acknowledgement of relevant challenges facing our students, we can explore timely addressment of these issues through TID and how its principles can be applied through a wider lens of project type.

Dena Eaton-Colles, a planner & programmer at Bassetti Architects, champions the firm’s Trauma-Informed Design initiative, advancing TID research through white papers, the firm’s TID Workbook, and presentations, including at the 2024 AIA National Conference in Washington, DC.

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