>> Continued from yesterday’s post…
This is an opportunity to rethink the design of the things we use to move, live, work and interact, as well as leverage the power of good design to be a positive and transformative force in society:
Housing: we've heard for years about the lack of "missing middle" housing options in many cities. 40-storeys condos with tiny balconies are not good places to live (just talk to anyone isolating in one of those right now). They're cramped, poorly designed in the name of “efficiency” and way too dense to make for pleasant living environments. Conversely, single-family homes in urban cores make no sense even though they may have at some point in the distant past. This is an opportunity to re-think housing that allows for a greater density needed to accommodate people in urban centers while guaranteeing a high quality of life for its residents. There are many amazing precedents for this and we don't need to re-invent the wheel to come up with effective solutions.
Transportation and infrastructure: empty streets reveal to us just how much of our infrastructure is dedicated to single-passenger cars, that now appears completely useless. Better mobility options and increased density could claim back some of these spaces for other uses like public amenities, parks, housing, etc. Transportation options don't necessarily mean antiquated technologies like streetcars and subways, that respectively belong to the XIXth and XXth centuries, either. The best commuting alternative remains to live close to one's workplace, and if long commutes are absolutely necessary, I’d like to believe there are better options that 1 person per car.
Touch-less environments: for anyone who's ever been into an operating room, it is what the future could look like. Touch-less taps, elbow operated soap dispensers and foot-operated doors. Done thoughtfully, it could change the way we live for the better.
Social spaces: parks, privately-owned public spaces and other publicly accessible amenities that correspond to our need for social connections. Stackt market is one, all-too-rare shining examples of that. We need way more of those.
Reshoring: what does it mean for our supply chain that we can be cut off from many essential goods at the drop of a hat? I think there are tremendous opportunities to make good use of new technologies, especially digital fabrication to bring back manufacturing closer to home.
Marketing and promotion: No more pictures of restaurants empty, please. How do we portray architecture as an innately social discipline that creates buildings for people? The instagrammeable space is dead, at long last, so we can focus on creating spaces that actually promote social interaction instead of quick, flashy and "designs" that look great in pictures but are shit in person.
Workplace: There are a plethora of people coming out with creative and well-researched approaches to what the pandemic-proof workplace could be like. Creative being the operative word is. What are we going to make of all the office space that will inevitably turn up vacant?
>> Come back tomorrow for the last installment of this series!
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