Urban Design Utah Webinar: Impacts of COVID-19 on Cities & Architecture

September 14, 2020

12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.

 

Session Description:

Come hear Jenny Roe and Schaeffer Somers – experts with the University of Virginia’s Center for Design & Health – discuss the implications of COVID-19 on cities, neighborhoods, and architecture and hear from local expert, Laura Smith, regarding WELL certification and using its framework for improving health and well-being through design.

 

Speakers:

Jenny Roe, University of Virginia

Laura Smith, CRSA

Schaeffer Somers, University of Virginia

 

Bios:

Jenny Roe

DESHONG PROFESSOR OF DESIGN AND HEALTH

URBAN + ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

 

Dr. Jenny Roe directs the Center for Design & Health in the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia.  She is an applied psychologist who specializes in understanding how access to restorative environments in our cities – including urban nature – create and sustain our health and wellbeing.   She carries out applied research that aims to advance better design for health, wellbeing and social justice with a focus on youth, older people and those most vulnerable in our society.

 

schaeffer somers

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

 

Schaeffer Somers is a registered architect and assistant professor in Architecture and Public Health at the University of Virginia. His focus as an educator is training a new generation of architects, designers, planners, clinicians, and policy makers to consider health and well-being in decisions that shape the built environment. Schaeffer connects population health impacts to the built environment across multiple disciplines and adapts research methods in public health as design tools.

 

laura smith

ARCHITECT, CRSA

CO-CHAIR, URBAN DESIGN UTAH

UTAH AIA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

WELL AP

Laura is an architect and sustainability leader who creates healthy and vibrant spaces for communities. She believes that a sustainable project not only addresses environmental issues but also addresses long-term economic sustainability, social, and economic vitality.

Her work includes civic, commercial, and community-based projects with an emphasis on resiliency, adaptive reuse, and transportation. She manages multi-disciplinary teams towards the common goal of creating spaces that foster healthy experiences for building occupants and the public.

 

 

UDU Impacts of COVID 19 on Cities and Architecture