How Architecture is Responding to the Pandemic

With the uncertainty surrounding the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, we want to reassure our visitors for the AE2020 across the globe.

Atelier Emona 2020 and its executors are constantly and carefully following all instructions and recommendations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MZZ), the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

So far, the precautions accepted by the gouverments and the evolving knowledge of the virus behavior in the warm climate is showing promising signs that we shall be able to enjoy a carefree summer.

Henceforward let us strive to be there for eachother through these challenging times, yet look optimistically forward to the future and support the vision of AE2020, that knowledge and new experiences must and will remain open and accessible for all.

On this note, we would like turn our focus to all the good architecture has done in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak and encourage all the architecture minds to focus on further solutions and helping invovations.

In Wuhan City, China, where the novel coronavirus reportedly originated, a building of 1,000-bed hospital was built in merely six days! The primary reason the facility could be built so quickly was that much of it will consist of prefabricated structures, more than 20 in all, built elsewhere and then installed on the site. More than 4,000 people worked day and night to build the hospital and help save countless lives.

Four existing structures will be transformed into patient treatment centers. Two vacant floors of the North Central Bronx Hospital, also part of the city health system, will offer 120 beds. In the next two weeks, a new, unoccupied nursing home in Brooklyn will add another 600 beds; the Westchester Square Hospital in the Bronx will increase the count by 150 more.

Dr. Michael Katz, president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, the municipal health system, also described how cafeterias or parking lots of hospitals across the city could be turned into ICU wards. Doing so would net an additional 7,000 beds, officials estimate. “That will take us to 8,200-8,300,” said de Blasio, “and then we’re going to keep going rapidly from there.”

As  the world observes closely this pandemic, the need for increased discussions between various stakeholders is expanding  to Architectural and Urban organizations, like the International Union of Architects (UIA), the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), and others alongside big ICT corporations. Discussions on the future of cities, in our current urbanized world, can only have sustainable outcomes if all actors understanding or set to understand, the intricate relationships between the various urban dimensions -including social ones, are present. On this, design professionals are beging to voice out. To learn how you can contribute, please visit their official sites.

Let’s take care of ourselves and others. We’ll break through the situation before long – safely and well.