Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

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Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad F, Rahbari Manesh K, Alborzi F, Khansari S. Architectural Analysis of Residential Complexes Based on Physical Components Affecting the Inhabitants’ Mental Health: A Case Study. MEJDS 2020; 10 :174-174
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-1548-en.html

Background & Objectives: Dwelling dilemmas include a wide range of mental conditions, such as stress, aggression, covetousness, depression, impatience, and physical complaints. According to the World Health Organization, by 2020, psychiatric disorders along with cardiovascular disease seem to be the most significant cause of illnesses. Mental health is an essential component, i.e., affected by numerous factors, like the environment. According to the environmental psychology principles and the impact of the environment on behavior, the physical components of the residential complexes could greatly affect residents’ mental health. Accordingly, this study aimed at analyzing the residential complexes based on physical components affecting the mental health of inhabitants.
Methods: The present research was practical in terms of purpose, as the results could be used by the experts to design residential complexes. Moreover, this was an analytical–descriptive study concerning the theoretical foundations of the research and investing in the relationship between mental health and indicators affecting it. Data gathering was performed in three steps. Initially, we explored studies available in libraries using the research methods and reviewing the literature and resources. Then, after recognizing the main components, the required concepts were extracted and generated as a research checklist and used in the next step. Accordingly, a perfect route was formed for architectural design issues. Eventually, the analytical investigation of these components was conducted on the field studies by the field observation in three types of residential complexes in the Fourth district of Tehran City, Iran. This research phase was conducted due to the residential complexes’ categories (focused, striped, & scattered) belonging to the seventies and eighties. Furthermore, the relative recognition of their compliance rate was identified with physical components in the form of comparison and percentage of abundance.
Results: The imbalance between the perceptions of requirements for the perimeter environment and the assessment of the ability to respond to them generates stress among individuals. When one fails to meet the requirements of the perimeter environment, or in other words, there is a disparity between the environmental requirements and human capacities, the environment is stressful to the person; i.e., effective on overcoming the psychological imbalance of the individual. When the amount of information in the environment exceeds the capacity of acceptance and human perception, stress is exacerbated. Unrelated spatial patterns in a space, high density of spatial patterns, intense light, heat, and humidity, incapability to properly navigating in an interior space, proximity to provocative sources, and congestion are effective in increasing the extent of stimulation and stress. The literature reveals that the physical components of the residential complex could influence mental health by impacting the resident’s stress and depression status. Accordingly, the physical characteristics of residential complexes affecting the mental health are introduced in 4 main components, including the facade, density, outdoor, and semi–open spaces, and residential units with 20 criteria. Research findings introduce 4 factors of facade, congestion, open and semi–open spaces, as well as residential units with 20 criteria. These essential factors must be considered in the design of residential complexes. These criteria are as follows: volume and surface, decorations and color details, entrance, openings, the size of community and neighborhood, visual diversity, the distance and height of buildings, inside–home view, supervision, organizing public space, environment, green space, the diversity and position of service facilities, space hierarchy, privacy, the possibility to monitor, the fitness of spaces, space color, and space light. According to the obtained results, 8 effective criteria for mental health were not observed in 66% of residential complexes. These characteristics included the following: volume and surface, openings, the community density and neighborhood, visual diversity, the variety of service facilities, the location of service facilities, space hierarchy, and the fitness of spaces. Moreover, 2 out of 20 criteria affecting mental health were not observed in 100% of residential complexes. These characteristics consisted of decorations and color details and the color of spaces. Furthermore, the only criterion, i.e., relatively observed in 100% of residential complexes was the organization of public spaces.
Conclusion: Information obtained from this checklist suggests that 3 residential complexes of Bahar, Pars, and the second phase of Farhangian in the Fourth district of Tehran, as three examples of residential complexes (striped, concentrated, & scattered) were not desirable in terms of physical components affecting the mental health of the inhabitants, compared to the standard status conducted in other countries according to the relevant studies. Thus, the extracted research checklist could be used for architectures as an effective source to improve the residents’ mental health in residential complexes.