EP 58: Designing Healthier Schools | Dina Sorensen

How can we leverage the built environment to unlock our potential?
What happens when scientists, architects and public health experts
work together? What are movement temptations? And how does planning
for a dinner party unlock our creativity? Dina Sorensen will help
us answer those questions. Dina is an award-winning, nationally
recognized K-12 Education design leader, strategist, speaker, and
author with a notable background for achievement in the design of
innovative, healthy, high-performance schools. Fluent in all
aspects of design, educational philosophy, and research in
practice; she works across disciplines to construct meaningful,
memorable connections between people and place. Trained at Parson’s
School of Design in NYC and Paris, and the University of Virginia,
Dina’s unique background in the arts, architecture, and
interdisciplinary research informs her holistic approach to
promoting health, well-being, engagement, joy, and creativity in
architecture. Her passion for health-promoting design and
collaborative research have pioneered significant contributions to
school architecture and public health resulting in the first health
promotion guidelines for school architecture; the Healthy Eating
Design Guidelines for School Architecture and the Physical Activity
Design Guidelines for School Architecture. Prior to founding
d.studio - an interdisciplinary studio practice in 2020, Dina was
an educational design leader at VMDO Architects, and the K-12
Design Leader at DLR Group in Washington DC. Dina is known for
collaborating with exemplary leaders and entrepreneurs across many
disciplines to harness creativity, insight, and innovation to
advance an uptick in the adoption of healthier, happier schools by
design. Her features in NPR, FastCompany, Time Magazine, and the
recent book by science writer Emily Anthes The Great Indoors – The
Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and
Happiness – continues to inspire the next generation of
changemakers in architecture and design.