What Built Design Kills Humans the Most?

In this video I investigate and ask questions about if and how many people has (bad) architecture harmed and killed. Instantly after publishing this video to youtube, I realise the more important question is 'how many people has complying 'good' architecture killed... because I'd argue from these statistics, it is a silent killer, and is responsible for thousands of deaths in Australia every year.

*Warning: this video contains potentially distressing information*

The question, ‘how many people has bad architecture harmed or killed’ is almost impossible to answer, especially when seeking international figures as there is no government statistic measuring this. I could find vaguely related articles and videos on bad architecture and town planning which generally preferences vehicles, resulting in depressing cityscapes, or poorly planned construction processes that lead to workers’ deaths. So far there is very little information about fully compliant, finished architecture resulting in injury or casualties.

This video will focus on Australia’s hospitalisations in accidental slips, falls, trips etc from 2000 to 2020 to see if our architecture is getting safer. The casualty rate due to bad housing shows terrifying figures considering building codes from only 40 years ago is killing thousands of Australians a year, right now. That is potentially triple the amount that succumb to the flu. I will tell you how to avoid becoming part of this statistic later in the video. Australia continually updates building and construction standards to maximise the prevention of harm caused by bad design and materials. Even non-architectural designs must comply with the National Construction Codes (NCC) otherwise they cannot be given building approval or sold… supposedly.

This video refers to statistical publications. I would not have been able to make this video without:
Injury in Australia/ Falls - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2020-2021
The Relationships Between Slips, Trips, Falls and the Design and Construction of Buildings, Monash University, 2008

Please let me know if this video has been useful to you in the comment section. I'll happily respond to your questions and take suggestions for future videos.

#Architecture #Construction #Australia