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Promoting health through design of the built environment is, and will remain, the reason Cognitive Design exists.

We’re all in a challenging situation and solidarity will help us overcome this hardship. The necessary changes we’re all making to minimize the spread of communicable diseases come with their own challenges. For example, many people will experience new or heightened risk factors for health problems, including social isolation. My family and I are taking purposeful steps to maintain our health. We’re practicing gratitude and talking openly with our loved ones about our experience. We’re eating well and getting an appropriate amount of exercise to support optimal immune function. We’ve reallocated time previously used for packing lunches and commuting, to playing family games and getting outside. While we’re all experiencing emotional highs and lows, we’ve chosen to make the best of the situation and enjoy the most meaningful parts of this lifestyle.

Over the last several years my colleagues and I have worked diligently to better understand the relationship between people and place. 6 weeks ago we published Building Community: Social Isolation and the Built Environment, a white paper that shines a light on how thoughtful design and programs can work together to facilitate social community. As the context in which we live changes, it’s necessary for designers to deeply consider our impact by creating environments that address people’s whole lived experience, our immediate and long-term needs, in ways both seen and unseen. 

I’m thankful for my colleagues. Our network of collaborators, who continue to work together, are thoughtfully serving our clients without interruption.

I’m thankful for our clients. To you and your mission, we remain fully committed. The technology that is integral to our process, that allows us to work with experts and thought leaders from all over the world on every project, has also allowed us to continue serving you as we take appropriate precautions. We’ll continue to have great communication and understand the fluidity of this situation.

I’m thankful for our local community. We’re all indebted to those who are stabilizing our community by providing medical, grocery, and other essential services, thank you. I don’t expect anyone, alone, to be resilient to the uncertainty, illness, and impacts to business we’re experiencing. We’re here for you, let me know how we can help. We remain committed to being good neighbors and will continue our pro-bono practices which include investing in the work of non-profits and publishing our research. 

As I reflect on the situation at hand, I’m thinking about how the recommendations of WHO and CDC, that protect against the acute threat of coronavirus, impact people’s lives over time. I’m strictly adhering to physical distancing* and asking questions about the irreplaceable nature of in-person socialization. I’m thinking about the meaning of this communicable disease, and how that fits within the complex relationship between design of the built environment and healthy social behaviors. I’m thinking about how social support networks provide resilience against the adversities people are experiencing right now – and asking how this backbone of a thriving and equitable society will adapt to a new awareness of an old threat. I’m reflecting on how we, as designers, will continue to incorporate knowledge from outside the design disciplines into our work to promote health for all. 

In solidarity,

Matt

Matthew A. Finn

AIA, NCARB, LEED AP

Founder

770 891 3929

matt@cognitive.design

* I’m not using the term social distancing because we need social community right now.