Who: Paty Rios is a global leader in promoting social wellbeing in built environments. She uses tools from architecture, urban design, ethnography and participatory engagement to improve the design of housing and public spaces around the world.
Her work: Paty leads our housing team, with projects such as Happy Homes, the world’s first interdisciplinary research-action initiative to boost sociability and equity through the design of multifamily housing. She is extending this research to other housing typologies such as modular housing. She is also developing metrics to measure social wellbeing performance in housing that can guide policy interventions. Paty has also invented a new method for testing wellbeing effects of large urban parks in Mexico City, and a new participatory engagement model for the University of British Columbia.
Her background: Paty holds a PhD in humanistic studies and offers more than 10 years of experience in architecture. Her interdisciplinary background helps ensure her research is accessible and implementable in practice.
