Boring, soulless buildings are having a detrimental effect on people’s well-being, claims British designer Thomas Heatherwick, who is known for creating the 2012 Olympic cauldron. Heatherwick is now on a mission to urge architects and developers to construct buildings that evoke joy and inspiration. He is even calling on the public to share photographs of dreary structures in their local areas, as part of his effort to compile a “Boring Building Index” of the worst offenders in Britain. Heatherwick is advocating for a national conversation to address the prevalence of depressing architecture, stating that “interestingness” should be demanded. In his new campaign and book, titled Humanise, he aims to encourage the replacement of bland, grey constructions with designs that create pleasure. Heatherwick commends structures built since 2015, such as the Arches development in London and the John Lewis department store in Leeds, while also acknowledging the aesthetics of historic buildings like the Liberty department store in London and Royal Crescent in Bath. He references research by Colin Ellard, a psychologist and professor at Waterloo University, which highlights the profound impact that building design has on our emotions and overall psychological well-being. Heatherwick asserts that humans require psychologically sustainable environments to thrive. Ruth Dalton, an architect and professor at Northumbria University, supports this notion, emphasizing the life-changing potential of appealing environments and calling on everyone to embrace this understanding and create cities that resonate with humanity. A review conducted by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) confirms that building design affects mood, stress levels, trust, exercise, happiness, and physical and mental health. However, the NEF states that there is no evidence linking specific architectural styles to better or worse outcomes. In 2015, the University of Warwick conducted a study that found a correlation between the scenicness of areas and better health outcomes for residents. Polling for Heatherwick’s campaign revealed that 76% of respondents believed that the appearance of buildings influenced their mental health, 54% stated that walking in areas with boring structures affected how they felt, and 69% believed that more investment was needed to improve the impact of buildings on passersby. In his book, Humanise, Heatherwick outlines seven characteristics of boring buildings: flatness, plainness, straightness, shininess, monotony, anonymity, and seriousness. He argues that these characteristics hinder the play of light and shadows, lack ornamentation and intricate designs, create repetitive and unnatural lines, desensitize the senses with smooth materials, appear monotonous, lack personality, and evoke negative emotions.
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