10 COVID-19 related architecture and design stories of 22020. CURA by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati – Photo by Max Tomasinelli
Coronavirus – While scientists, doctors, and nurses form the first line of defense, architects and designers envisioned and developed solutions and projects to tackle as well as as to reflects and raise awareness on the many implications of the pandemic. From products development and photo-essays to provocative reflections on how our lives will be once it will all be over. Check Archipanic our top 10 COVID-19 related architecture and design stories.
- RELATED STORIES: read more about Coronavirus on Archipanic…
Turning shipping containers into intensive care units
CURA pods by Carlo Ratti Associati – Images by CRA.
Carlo Ratti, founder of CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati and director of MIT Senseable City Lab, has developed CURA – the acronym for Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments – a modular open-source solution that turns shipping containers into intensive care pods that could be as fast to mount as a hospital tent, but as safe as an isolation ward. The pods “can be quickly deployed in cities around the world, promptly responding to the shortage of ICU space in hospitals and the spread of the disease.” Explained Carlo Ratti. Read more…
Narrating self-discovery during lockdown
Image by JPAG Atelier.
The pandemic has forced us to think hard and get creative to convert our homes from anti-pandemic prisons to friendlier, even productive living spaces. For the RELATED STORIES project, JPAG Atelier has created colorful billboards placed outside of Beirut apartments and short videos narrating the physical and emotional change each home has undergone during the pandemic.
Designing safe working spaces
ROOM DIVIDERS by Dutch Invertuals – Photo by Ronald Smits.
Smart working, social distancing and virus-proof measures won’t kill the office space. We have selected 10 stylish solutions allowing to team up and work together without relying on Zoom. From paper soft-walls unfolding like accordions to hued glass panels creating see-through geometries of light and Lapland villages-inspired working pods. Read more…
Integrating PPE into fashion
Photo by Joe Doucet.
New York-based designer Joe Doucet has devised a fashionable face shield inviting brands to integrate Personal Protective Equipment in their collections as an everyday accessory once the pandemic is over. “PPE needs to seamlessly become part of one’s routine. The approach I chose was to build on the use of sunglasses, which feel natural to most, to give a very effective tool – a face shield a greater chance bf being worn by many.” Said Joe Doucet. Read more…
Capturing the impact of Covid-19 on the tourism industry in Spain
Photos by Manuel Alvarez Diestro.
With the BENIDORM EMPTY HOTELS photo essay, Manuel Alvarez Diestro captured how the pandemic transformed the third most visited place in Spain and one of Europe’s top tourist destinations into a ghost town defined by empty and silent architectural grids. “The lack of human presence reveals buildings’ true architectural essence.” Said the filmaker and photographer to Archipanic. Read more…
Turning iconic clubs into art spaces
Photo via IG by @monicakalpakian.
Can the art world and the club scene help each other navigate the choppy waters of the pandemic? Berlin’s clubs shutdown in March and have been closed ever since but this summer, people no longer had to worry about not getting into Berghain, the legendary temple of techno music. The club has reinvented itself as an art gallery featuring sound installations and art projects by Tacita Dean, Olafur Eliasson, Wolfgang Tillmans and more. Read more…
Re-imagining monuments as pandemic memorials
SANSIRO 2.0 – A MONUMENT FOR LIFE’ memorial by Angelo Renna – Image by Angelo Renna.
35.000 cypresses, as many as the victim of COVID-19 in Italy in July, stand in the ‘SANSIRO 2.0 – A A MONUMENT FOR LIFE’ memorial envisioned by Angelo Renna. The proposal repurposes Milan’s iconic stadium as a silent place for contemplation, saving it from demolition. Read more…
Rethinking hand sanitizing rituals
Seaweed Capsule by Terry Hearnshaw.
Forget hand sanitizing pumps and discover disinfecting doorbells, air cleansing bubbles machines and spongy door handles dispensing hand-sanitizing liquid! Food design and architecture studio Bompas & Parr invited creatives, designers, makers and architects to rethink the sanitiser pumps “to encourage use of sanitising alcohol gels in both the public and domestic realms”. We picked 8 out-of-the-box projects. Read more…
Funneling frustrations into an urban installations
SCREAM THE HOUSE DOWN project – Courtesy of Marcus Lyall and Illuminate Productions.
With social distancing in place and tensions continuing to rise, London-based artist Marcus Lyall and not-for-profit arts organisation Illuminate Productions have transformed a soon-to-be-demolished office block in London Bridge into ‘Scream The House Down’, a light-responsive public artwork inviting to “scream responsibly!”
7 new ways we will stay at home once the pandemic is over
Life after COVID-19 according to Sergey Makhno – Illustrations by Nikita Uvarov, courtesy of Sergey Makhno Architects.
Sergey Makhno, founder of Kyiv-based Sergey Makhno Architects, highlights 7 major (and provocative) changes in our life after COVID-19. From the rise of the ‘disinfection zone’ in our home to the evolution of ‘smart working space’ but also the boom of hype-free home gardening and more. Read more…
