The Pandemic Effect : Ninety Experts on Immunizing the Built Environment

In The Pandemic Effect, 90 leading architects, designers, materials scientists, and health officials reflect on the influence of COVID-19 on buildings and cities—and propose solutions to safeguard the built environment from future pandemics, viruses, and contagious diseases on every scale, from surfaces to society.
 
Safety and sustainability in buildings and cities have taken on new meaning during the COVID -19 pandemic. Buildings became magnifiers of contagion instead of shelters for protection. In this essential resource for both practitioners and students of architecture, interior design, and urban design, 90 of the world''s leading experts investigate a variety of approaches to future-proof architecture and buildings against widespread disease.
 
These inoculation strategies are organized into five chapters: "Histories" offers an overview of past pandemics and prior architectural approaches; "Inside / Outside" addresses the roles of building envelopes and mechanical systems in improving indoor environmental quality; "Interventions" consists of contemporary methods for direct prevention and control; "New Strategies" consists of various architectural analyses and proposals for design changes; and "The Public Realm" considers the urban landscape and related social questions. This broad collection of perspectives explores the transformations underway in the built environment—and offers design strategies to limit the severity of subsequent pandemics.

Leading architects, designers, materials scientists, and health officials reflect on the influence of COVID-19 on buildings and cities—and propose solutions to safeguard the built environment from future pandemics. COVID-19 caused a significant global disruption of human activities with striking consequences for the built environment, causing an abrupt fear as it relates to architecture and building design. Buildings became magnifiers of contagion instead of shelters for protection. Immunizing the built environment against contagion is a monumental task requiring a variety of approaches and disciplinary expertise at multiple scales of inquiry. In this book, 60 of the world’s leading architects, designers, engineers, materials scientists, and public health experts contribute to an expansive overview of inoculation strategies for today’s world. These approaches are organized according to the primary sites of exposure, generally arranged by scale: surface (materials and tactile interfaces), system (mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and lighting assemblies), space (interior and exterior environments), and society (cities, regions, and the general public). This broad collection of perspectives elucidates the transformations underway in the built environment— and offers design strategies to limit the severity of subsequent pandemics. In this way, the book aims to serve both as a multidisciplinary snapshot of COVID-19’s effects and a guidebook for future-proofing architecture against widespread disease.