Cleo Valentine says “It’s not that people don’t like the design, it’s that they actually experience a reaction which results in low-level stress, and stress can be a driver of many contemporary illnesses”

Bench in park.

Cleo Valentine was interviewed by Alice Fisher, a writer for Financial Times. The article was “Can robots build new towns?” and published on June 13, 2026. She elaborates by saying “Many modern buildings set off a negative psychological response. It’s not that people don’t like the design, it’s that they actually experience a reaction which results in low-level stress, and stress can be a driver of many contemporary illnesses.”

The architect can resolve this by adding a pattern in to the design. This doesn’t have to be an expensive feature. This pattern can be incorporated into the brickwork. This method does not cost a lot of money and is practical to implement.

Other ways of reducing stress can be to walk into a new environment, like a park.

A park is a manmade built environment. Anybody with a mental health or physical health concern should try going into a park. Immerse themselves in nature. The park can positively impact mental and physical health. Looking at green grass, trees, plants and flowers can uplift a mood. It is the beauty of nature that inspires. In fact, everybody should visit the park, not only to relieve stress, but to prevent stress from building up.

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