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.