Architecture for Well-being : From the Maggie's Centres model to a biophilic application in Turin

In the latest centuries, with many fast changes in daily lifestyles, built environments became a significant factor in human health and well-being with approximately 90% of our time spent indoors, despite our physiological and psychological functions being dependent on nature throughout our evolvement. In the largely urbanized environment that we are currently living in there, human beings and natural experiences and relations have become distant. With the negative results of this distance becoming more prominent, more research is done focused on the incorporation of natural aspects in the built environment where natural aspects and human responses are considered the key point. Biophilia is a hypothetical human tendency to interact or be closely associated with other forms of life in nature. There is an increasing amount of research made on the relationship between human beings' state of health, overall well-being, and interaction with nature. This study in the first half of the work aims to further explain the nature and built environment relation, through the definition of ‘Biophilia’, how it can be connected to well-being and healthcare architecture. The second part of the study; will be examined the ideology of Maggies’ Centres, treatment-supportive healing centers focused on cancer patients. Explaining the aim and need for these centers and how they can be implemented. As a result; a conceptual biophilic healing center proposal in Turin, Italy was designed based on the knowledge gathered throughout the research, aiming to articulate the need for healthcare facilities focused on the overall well-being of all occupants that could be achieved by the interaction with natural aspects.