Housing, Health and Positive Change

Date Posted: 04.18.2016

Mithun Partner Anne Torney was recently interviewed by The Registry’s Q Magazine about interesting developments in architecture, and the potential for design to positively impact people’s lives. Anne’s responses reveal her deep commitment to affordable housing and creating healthy communities for people to live, work and learn.

Cities like San Francisco continue to get more dense. In order to maintain the diversity and welcoming personalities of those cities, we need to stay committed to creating affordable and workforce housing while we have the political will and public support to do so. “The current focus on creating well-designed, well-located housing is one of the most supportive I’ve seen in pressing the issue the past 20 years, so that’s very encouraging,” Anne said, adding “One of the most exciting new developments in real estate is the interest in health, and how the built environment can contribute to better health.”

How can we leverage design to achieve positive change? Mithun’s integrated design teams focus on users, and draw inspiration from the natural environment to create spaces that have the greatest impact on people’s daily lives. “Our ability to expand the possibilities of design solutions is supported by our inspiration: focusing on the needs of the user, a culture of curiosity and discovery, the patterns of nature. It’s also our ethos, ‘Design for Positive Change’,” explained Anne.

In addition to leading the Mithun/Solomon office in San Francisco, Anne is an advocate for housing groups such as San Francisco Housing Action Coalition, SPUR and the ULI Affordable and Workforce Housing Council. She has served as project director on affordable housing and urban infill projects such as Sansome and Broadway Family Housing and Mosaica.

Read the full article here.