Archinect - News2024-11-21T17:13:27-05:00https://archinect.com/news/article/150190065/the-effect-of-epidemics-on-architecture-and-design
The effect of epidemics on architecture and design Alexander Walter2020-03-18T18:32:00-04:00>2024-10-25T04:07:38-04:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/07/07a746a3ef83d8852a9d019e5cb5ad45.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Light, air, and hygiene [...] were the best treatment for tuberculosis at the time.
The design and construction of specialized sanatoria coincided with the advent of Modernism. Architectural elements like flat roofs, terraces and balconies, and white- or light-painted rooms spread across Europe. Not unlike the sanatorium, the new architecture was intended to cure the perceived physical, nervous, and moral ailments brought on by crowded cities.</p></em><br /><br /><p>The collective desire to cure and prevent the seemingly unstoppable tuberculosis epidemic through deliberate design choices had given tremendous momentum to a revolutionary movement in our fairly recent architectural past: Modernism. <br></p>
<figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/c4/c4ae0aae8fade804743440124e9d05cd.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/c4/c4ae0aae8fade804743440124e9d05cd.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Staircase inside Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium. Photo courtesy Flickr user <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/moritzbernoully/4888705856/in/photostream/" target="_blank">www.moritzbernoully.com</a>.</figcaption></figure><p>It is too early to say which, or if any, lasting effect the developing <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/1534026/covid-19" target="_blank">COVID-19 health crisis</a> will leave on design and architecture. The cultural, and mainly technological, impact already caused by the sudden global switch to <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/1492832/remote-work" target="_blank">remote working and teaching</a> will likely only be the first sign of irreversible change requiring continuing solutions and adjustments in years to come.<br></p>
<p>Read more on the subject of health-centered design as guiding factors in the evolution of modernist architecture in <a href="https://archinect.com/features/article/150131284/the-staging-of-healthy-living-a-review-of-beatriz-colomina-s-x-ray-architecture" target="_blank">Archinect's review</a> of the book <em>X-Ray Architecture</em> by Beatriz Colomina.<br></p>
https://archinect.com/news/article/134105904/preventing-disease-and-upholding-public-health-through-architecture
Preventing disease and upholding public health through architecture Amelia Taylor-Hochberg2015-08-12T14:12:00-04:00>2015-08-15T16:45:54-04:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/em/ememlnc7ygcp95lh.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Archive (“Architecture for Health in Vulnerable Environments”) proposes “bringing attention to the built environment and how it is a transmission vehicle for the spread and control of a respiratory illness like TB” [...]
Archive is starting small, with an as-yet-uninitiated project on respiratory health and indoor pollutants in Ethiopia and projects on TB awareness in London.</p></em><br /><br /><p>More on the intersection of architecture and public health:</p><ul><li><a title="A story about death and architecture" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/127735218/a-story-about-death-and-architecture" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A story about death and architecture</a></li><li><a title="New Parsons-led collaborative aims to make affordable housing healthier" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/127639133/new-parsons-led-collaborative-aims-to-make-affordable-housing-healthier" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">New Parsons-led collaborative aims to make affordable housing healthier</a></li><li><a title="How concrete floors can prevent child deaths in Bangladesh" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/107191804/how-concrete-floors-can-prevent-child-deaths-in-bangladesh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How concrete floors can prevent child deaths in Bangladesh</a></li><li><a title="5 ways to build health into your architecture, as seen at GW’s new $75 million public health school" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/99881128/5-ways-to-build-health-into-your-architecture-as-seen-at-gw-s-new-75-million-public-health-school" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">5 ways to build health into your architecture, as seen at GW’s new $75 million public health school</a></li></ul>