Short Communication] Building Laws and Public Health: An undergraduate elective pedagogy for architecture students sensitising on the role of building practitioners in preventing disease through the built environment.

Abstract

This short communication describes an academic, semester-long, choice-based elective program that was offered to students of senior classes of bachelor of architecture at a renowned college in India. The intent of this communication is to document and share the work with practitioners and the academia. This way it can be replicated and students of architecture and planning be made aware especially as the world had a recent memory of the COVID-19 pandemic, when public health came into a renewed focus. The students who opted for the elective were taught the role of building laws which building practitioners can utilise in preventing disease causing conditions that may occur through the built environment. The basis of instruction was evidence derived from peer-reviewed scientific literature. Various class exercises were performed in order to train the students to develop a sensitivity towards the health of inhabitants while designing the built environment. The course was structured into six exercises which were taught over a semester. This was also followed by small scale research projects that students designed and undertook independently. This short communication is a description of the methodology of the elective. Further may involve replicating the elective and testing the effectiveness of the same with a separate methodology.