Subjective wellbeing and interior architecture: why and how the design of interior spaces can enable activities contributing to people's subjective wellbeing

Abstract

Can interior and architectural design contribute to people’s subjective wellbeing? And can interior architects be supported to design interior environments that enable people to flourish? This paper elaborates on design for subjective wellbeing in interior architecture, and is organised in three sections. First, a theoretical section demonstrates why it is relevant and highly valuable for interior architects to work on the design of interiors that enable people to work on their subjective wellbeing. Next, starting from Lyubomirsky’s happiness-enhancing strategies (2007) and the characteristics of positive design (Desmet and Pohlmeyer, 2013), we demonstrate how interior architects can be triggered to design for wellbeing. The paper concludes with a reflection on the contribution that interior architecture can have to enable people to ‘be well’ in a diverse range of interior environments. It also stresses the importance to take specifics proper to a discipline into account when aiming to design for subjective wellbeing.