How to Integrate Ergonomics and Sustainability in Architecture Workshops?

Abstract

The current challenges regarding climate variations and energy consumption rates are pushing designers, architects and engineers to create strategies to improve the efficiency of new systems, as well as those already existent. In this effort to find more solutions, systems are frequently over passing the limits of the human body; affecting its health, comfort, happiness and the positive perception of the built environment. This paper contains the design of a Workshop in “Sustainability + Ergonomics” in architecture teaching. The aim of this Workshop is to encourage undergraduate students to integrate the concepts of Sustainability and Ergonomics in their professional practice. The content of the course is divided in two: 1) learning the natural environmental phenomena and 2) understanding the human body response to environmental factors for buildings´ design, with a group of experts. In order to structure the aims of this Workshop, a review of the courses in Architecture Schools from Latin-American Universities was made, to verify the inclusion of Ergonomics and Sustainability topics. Subsequently, there was a selection of the main objectives in each field of study evaluated and according to this, a theoretical and practical exercise was designed which integrated the findings of the academic review.

Keywords: Ergonomics, Systemic Sustainability, Architecture Workshops, Curriculum

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1001332