If history has shown us anything it’s that past pandemics have had a high effect on our lives today. Many fields have been required to step up and show their greatness in times of panic. Architecture and Design are one of the fields that past pandemics have depended on to improve the quality of living so that upcoming time of crisis could be dealt with more smoothly.  

Black Death wiped out at least one third of Europe’s population in the 14th Century. In the 18th Century the world witnessed Yellow Fever. In the 19th Century it saw Smallpox and Cholera outbreaks worldwide. Tuberculosis, typhoid, polio, and the Spanish Flu outbreaks of the 20th Century were devastating.  

Architecture and Design stepped in to save the day for future outbreaks by learning from the past. For instance, Black Death led to the separation of living and social spaces within the home, it is reflected by the building of ceiled rooms and the movement away from the open hall house. Cholera gave us underground plumbing and waste management. Open space, enough windows and easy air circulation, minimalist design and decoration, less indents in furniture, built in closets, are all concepts that stemmed from past pandemics. 

How will Covid 19 be any different in altering future generations lives? 

Today we are faced with a challenge that was not seen in past pandemics. The challenge of speed. What took Covid 19 months to accomplish, took past pandemic’s years to accomplish. International travel is one of the main reasons for this. 

So far Architecture and Design has proven itself to be a very important field in the containment of the virus. Through prefabricated standardized components of buildings already assembled in factories, facilities were able to rise in a matter of days, or weeks. 

Hospitals being built in a matter of weeks, quarantine centers prepared in a matter of days, testing centers popping up in cities, are just a few examples of how this has helped in these challenging times and we are sure to see more in the future. 

How else do you think Architecture and Design has or will help during this current pandemic?