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March 12, 2010
Urban architecture for health
New York-based creators are passionate about sustainable design.
ALEXIS PAVLICH
It’s been a busy month. In fact, it’s been a busy three years for Robyne Kassen and Sarah Gluck. The two dynamic young women were commissioned to design a unique 2010 project in Whistler’s Olympic/Paralympic Village – or Athletes’ Village – that has captured the interest of local media. Their distinctive bike racks, bus shelters and benches – which will remain in the new Cheakamus Crossing neighborhood – are a fitting addition to the environment.
Kassen, originally from Vancouver, and Gluck, a native New Yorker, met in 2003 at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture in New York. Similar visions and goals in their fields of architecture and design led to the founding of their New York-based practice Urban Movement Design (UMD). Indeed, Kassen and Gluck are both passionate about health and wellness and engage in various forms of physical and spiritual training. Accordingly, the following question inspires their work: How do we build our world to better our lives and bodies?
In an interview with the Independent, Kassen and Gluck shared their belief that, “Accessibility to physical activity is integral to social and health sustainability.” Their notion of human sustainability is founded on the premise that, “True health and active well-being occurs when it is integrated into our daily lives and patterns, and that innovative and meaningful design happens when driven by human needs.”
These principles underlie the creation of their “urban playground” in Whistler, where universally accessible and “body-attentive” bus shelters, benches and bike racks double as exercise equipment. The bike racks, for example, allow for stretching and strengthening opportunities as well as storage.
Gluck noted, “Unfortunately, due to factors in daily life, most people do not use their bodies to their optimal potential. There are many movement and healing techniques that deal with these issues, such as yoga and pilates, but we believe these concepts can be applied to a day-to-day urban environment and the benefits can reach greater numbers that just those who get to spend 20 minutes or an hour in a gym.”
Kassen and Gluck are not surprised that their first project of this scale was in Whistler – a haven for health and fitness enthusiasts – where sustainability guidelines were already in place. Referring to UMD’s ideology, Gluck said that Whistler “immediately got it.” According to Kassen, “It was a natural fit to build health into the infrastructure.”
The Athletes’ Village is one of 20 projects registered in Canada as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Neighborhood Designation (LEED-ND). UMD’s work fulfils two of the LEED-ND criteria – universal accessibility and innovation – and their designs also meet American Disabilities Act requirements.
Initial stages of the Whistler project required identifying user groups and assessing their needs and movement patterns. Gluck, who has a background in anatomy and biomechanics, said, “When the body can inhabit a certain position comfortably so that it can be maintained for a while, the neuromuscular system begins to re-pattern itself, creating habits of healthful mechanics and greater efficiency.” This observation underlies UMD’s work.
Kassen and Gluck are very happy with the end result and view the experience as “only the seed of what’s to come.... Everything we do is research and a stepping stone.” The women look forward to future opportunities to share their expertise in “body and building” with different communities around the world. They have both spent time in Israel and Gluck, who once lived in Tel Aviv and returns regularly for work purposes, identified Israel as ripe for the ideas of UMD. “Israel already has less subtle designs, such as outdoor exercise equipment on the beaches,” she said.
Much attention has been focused on the legacy that the 2010 Games will leave. Kassen and Gluck are proud of the fact that they contributed to the Olympic and Paralympic landscape in an innovative and meaningful way and that the incoming residents of Cheakamus Crossing will soon benefit as well. According to Kassen, “Accessibility, physical activity and mobility are essential for health and wellness, as well as social interaction, and we are excited that such a broad group of athletes, locals and visitors can enjoy and hopefully benefit from our designs.”
Kassen and Gluck were in Whistler during the Olympics to raise awareness about their work. Both will return to Whistler from New York for the Paralympics. For information on Urban Movement Design, visit urbanmovementdesign.com.
Alexis Pavlich is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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