We wonder if designing-in these kinds of health feature could not be a concept that is included in every campus building to be designed in the future? You can purchase this book for $35 or download a PDF for free, both here.

To combat obesity and related illnesses, New York City rolled out a first-of-its-kind guide this year to help designers create buildings and public spaces that encourage exercise.

Called “Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design,” the 135-page document details how to get people walking more by encouraging the use of stairs or by adding parks outside buildings. 

Though the guidelines are only advisory, they could still “really help us become healthier, to make sure that are cities are more livable, beautiful and sustainable,” said New York-based architect George Miller, president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

We missed this article from the Village Voice when it was published in late July. It's a nice survey of the various campus building projects in New York City, with some introspective commentary. 

But will these schools really need all of this space once it comes online? Ten years from now, will we be downloading courses via Facebook apps onto iPads? Could all that classroom space end up being about as useful as the new home once planned for the New York Stock Exchange? In 2002, the Big Board walked away from a $1.1 billion deal with the city, realizing advances in technology meant it no longer needed a physical trading floor.

It’s easy to understand why New York’s universities are optimistic. Last year, NYU saw a record 38,000 applications for freshman admission, four times what it received 20 years ago. Nationwide, college enrollment is predicted to grow 13 percent by 2018, but the U.S. Department of Education cautions that its forecast doesn’t factor in such potentially disruptive forces as the rising cost of college, the changing economic value of a degree, and “the impact of distance learning due to technological changes.”