CHP+D: Creating Healthy Places Through

Transformational Education and Design

The Creating Healthy Places Guidebook culminates three years of work on researching and developing best practices for making communities healthier. The intent has been to provide new models for integrating health into the design and planning of the built environment, both educationally and professionally. Developed by students and faculty at the University of Colorado Denver’s College of Architecture and Planning, the Guidebook incorporates findings and outcomes from studios and research that began in 2016 under a generous grant from the Colorado Health Foundation.
— “Creating Healthy Places Guidebook”

This grant sought to specifically capitalize on current and potential institutional synergies between the University of Colorado Denver and the surrounding healthcare community. There was an emphasis on developing exemplary collaborative educational practices that included community organizations, academic institutions, practitioners, and private enterprise. In addition, this effort took steps to better connect and positively transform (often isolated) disciplinary practices in health and design. Broadly speaking, the activities supported by this grant sought to achieve three things simultaneously. First, engaging in the transformation of a specific place, namely the Sun Valley neighborhood, provided applied lessons and outcomes. Secondly, educational paradigms were created to realign how design and health professionals (and students) consider the role that a healthy environment must play as a foundational agenda for design and planning. Finally, the grant supported the development of products to disseminate strategically the lessons learned to a wider audience, both across the state of Colorado and nationally.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

PROJECT LEADS:

Michael Jenson, Rocky Piro, Austin Troy

EDITORIAL + DESIGN TEAM:

Jenna McKnight, Managing Editor, NORDEN41 Creative Team, Alyson E. Burkhalter, Camran J. Kazemian, Stephanie Leonard, Nicole Bush, Jennifer Davis-Flynn, and Martha Hutchinson (Designer/Guide Box)

STUDIO INSTRUCTORS:

Anna Bierbauer, Christopher Koziol, Korkut Onaran, Andrew Rutz, Esther Sullivan, Krista Trofka, and Gretchen Wilson