Courtney Priday considers how Covid-19 might change our architectural landscape
As we shut ourselves away from the outside world, we have become aware of the functionality of our homes and workspaces in an interestingly new way. The influential Design Research Unit is currently examining the potential architectural landscape in a post-coronavirus world, with a keen focus on the containment of future epidemics.
This could ultimately result in lower, diminished city skylines; the push towards wider spaces will make taller buildings less economically viable for property developers.
The trendy co-working office design of the moment might have to give up its favourability in light of the new challenge we face. The Design Research Unit suggests that buildings are more likely to be designed with a focus on ventilation and windows, lower desk density and wider spaces, and reduced limits for contained spaces such as lifts. This could ultimately result in lower, diminished city skylines; the push towards wider spaces will make taller buildings less economically viable for property developers. The Design Research Unit has created models which display an attention to how individuals could navigate office spaces contactlessly by controlling services such as, lifts, blinds and coffee machines, through a mobile phone app.
At a time when we are already facing the real and imminent danger of the climate crisis, forging homes and lifestyles based on self-sufficiency is also high on the list of priorities.
Home design might also evolve as a result of the pandemic. Contact with other residents in shared areas of apartment buildings is unavoidable. Despite the focus on developing apartment complexes in cities as of late, the house might become the preferred option again. Open-plan layouts have dominated interior design in recent years but a reversion to survivalist bunker style divisions could come back into favour to limit the spread of dirt into the inner spaces of the home. At a time when we are already facing the real and imminent danger of the climate crisis, forging homes and lifestyles based on self-sufficiency is also high on the list of priorities. This has been amplified during lockdown as our reliance on such a sheer number of workers who provide basic resources has been starkly revealed. The need for all of these resources places more pressure on the workforce and the planet, so the more that our homes are designed with self-sufficient solutions in mind – such as renewable energy and space to grow some of our own produce – the more we can help.
Whilst it is uncertain just how much change will follow the Coronavirus outbreak it is unlikely the mechanisms that have increased its spread will be quickly forgotten or ignored.
At the start of the year, it might have seemed like things would carry on as they were for quite some time but the sudden development of this global crisis has caused sudden and dramatic shifts. Whilst it is uncertain just how much change will follow the Coronavirus outbreak it is unlikely that the mechanisms that have increased its spread will be quickly forgotten or ignored. The architectural landscape might be just one of the aspects of life which will be radically reassessed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
