Alan Dilani

Dr. Dilani is a global authority on interdisciplinary research regarding the interaction between design and health. Dilani is a founder of the International Academy for Design and Health (IADH) and the journal, World Health Design. He has been engaged worldwide in several universities in the field of Design and Health developing a "Salutogenic Design Program", in both medical and design institutions. He holds a Master of Architecture in Environmental Design from the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy and a Ph.D. in Health Facility Design from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. His research center developed at the Karolinska Institute, Medical University, a multidisciplinary research approach, led to a new design theory called “Salutogenic Design” that not only fosters functional efficiency in building infrastructure, but also improves health processes. He has designed all typologies of healthcare facilities and has been served as advisor for several Ministries of Health around the world developing briefing with a vision of Salutogenic approach to healthcare design. He is the author of 16 books and numerous articles in the field of Design and Health. Dr. Dilani has been awarded in 2010 from the American Institute of Architect, Academy of Architecture for Health for his promotion of high-quality design research and in 2017 he received the first Fellowship of Academy for Design and Health in the city hall of Vienna. Alan Dilani – salutogenic champion, Dr. Alan Dilani is Professor of Architecture/Public Health, and Founder of the International Academy for Design & Health Dr. Dilani’s design theory Salutogenic design reflects Aaron Antonovsky’s Salutogenesis health theory, which posits that life’s experiences– understood as more or less comprehensible, manageable and meaningful,– shape one’s sense of coherence which in turn helps each person successfully mobilize resources to cope with life’s stressors and manage life’s tension – leading to health. Dilani asserts that this definition of health and the “theory of health” that underlies it, lead to a coherent design method and approach. He describes how design uninformed by salutogenic theory causes unnecessary stress, while emphasizing the importance of a stress-prevention design approach for built environment and urban design. His Theory of Salutogenic Design is an ecological health promoting design method. He presents not only theory but practice examples that demonstrate the significant role that natural building materials and nature play in salutogenic design, as well as the psychological impact of views and choice and personal growth. Dilani brings to the conversation on urban design his experience of founding a multi-disciplinary international sharing and learning organization. He has brought together scientists, policy makers, industry experts as well as designers and building owners from across the globe to discuss principles and application of ecological and salutogenic design approaches in support of sustainable development in a healthy urban post corona society. By combining a theoretical understanding of ecological and salutogenic design with practical case studies of its successful application in healthcare, education, workplace, and urban settings, he is moving this important, health promoting approach forward.