Wellness – or the will to optimise it – seems ubiquitous these days.

Wellness appears in front of us as an ideal we can seek through innumerable services and products, and as something we need to hold ourselves accountable for.

But as we are increasingly able to assert, thanks to tools such as the WELL Building Standard and research being done in healthcare environments, our wellness is also influenced by our built environment.

So what is the role of the architect or designer in fostering it? How can we define it? How accountable should our industry be for creating the conditions for wellness – both physical and mental? And how is the race for wellness changing the spectrum of sectors in which we work?

This issue we dutifully cast an eye over the healthcare sector and its careful pivot away from sterile monotony toward more restorative, greenery-connected spaces.

Alongside that shift, we also find a decentralisation occurring, with an array of smaller healthcare hubs on the horizon that will enjoy greater connection to the communities around them.

But we also look at how the pursuit of wellness is impacting hospitality, the workplace, and community facilities in direct and indirect ways.

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Are we living well?

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How well are our cities holding up to the pressure of development?

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Is perpetual urban renewal doing harm as well as good?

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Is Singapore well-prepared for meeting the enormous challenges that are coming with its ageing population?

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Do designers and architects take a strong enough stand against what’s unhealthy?

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Read on to uncover our lines of enquiry!

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Wellness was one of four new categories introduced to the INDE.Awards in 2018, and in 2019 we look forward to seeing more of how our region is addressing the pursuit of a healthy state of being.

Entries to the INDE.Awards 2019 will be opening soon for the next chapter in the Indo-Pacific region’s design story. Keep an eye on indeawards.com and indesignlive.sg, and join us once again in the INDEs regional conversation.