CREJ

14 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / June 2020 Despite Likely Design Changes, We are Still Human A s I write this, it’s mid- April. It’s my hope that by the time this goes to publication, we’re in a position to begin re-opening our economy. We’ve all been doing our best to stay home tomitigate the spread of the coro- navirus, and amidst the downtime, many of us are wondering how the world will look when it opens back up. The questions aremany, butmine center aroundhowour cul- ture will – and perhaps more importantly, how it will not or should not – change. Architects and designers are obsessed with people and their culture. We think about them so much because it’s our job to conceptualize the plac- es where life happens. Think about it. Everywhere you gowas designed by one of us. Before you ever got there, someone thought about you – about ways to helpyoudo the things youdo there. By “there,” Imean everywhere – from schools to hospitals, offices, malls, theaters and the places we call home. There’s a lot to think about in each space, which is probably why we end up specializing. Movie theaters have massive sound issues to contend with because movies play in rooms next to one another in a row. Schools must be able to withstand much more wear and tear thana typical building, and optimizing learn- ing environments requires specific considerations like lots of natural light. Offices have to cater to orga- nizational needs, creatingauniqueblendof spaces for both quiet individual and interactive types of work. We craft entire worlds around the activities that happen in specific spaces, each with its own social rules, needs, aspirations and humor – its own culture. When the design team really knows its audience, the result can help people live happier, more productive, efficient andmeaningful lives. I know I’m obsessed with it – with culture, but ulti- mately, with people. I’m always observing. I want to learn how we move through our day. What matters to usmost? Howdowe interact with one another and with the built environment and why? What are we thinking and needing and trying to do? I always want to know. In these turbulent times, people likeme are focused on anticipating how the answers to these questions might have changed as a result of a massive disrup- tion to the way we use and view our built environ- ments. Understanding the repercussions of the pan- demic and the resulting social distancing will be critical to creating or modifying spaces so that they continue towork for us. However, as real and as important as the changes will be, I believe it’s equally important to examine what has not changed – andwhat we genuinelywant to hold on to. For all that’s happening to us and around us, it isn’t us that has fundamentally changed.Wedidn’t sudden- ly grow5 feet taller or shrink in half or add extra arms and legs. In reality, we’re still very much the same, al- beit perhaps more anxious and uncertain. The point is, we’re all still human. And at our core, humans are social animals. To varying degrees, we all seek interaction, validation, comradery, emotional support and release. I’m not encouraging anyone to challenge medical and scien- tific advice, indeed we should all keep our physical distance until the experts say otherwise. However, the distance between us now has revealed just how important our connections to one another are. Being separated fromone another feels unnatural because it is unnatural. We need each other. The biggest challenge ahead for architects and de- signers may be to avoid overcorrection and rigid pre- scriptions for the spaces we design. Before we com- pletely upend our next generation of spaces, let’s take a collective deep breath. We need to work the prob- lem while keeping flexibility top of mind. After all, the next crisis might present a totally different set of challenges. That means wemust remember the basics. The need for a group of professionals to meet in a conference room, for example, isn’t gone, even though itmayget a little larger to spreadpeople out.We’renot likely going to stopusing office suites altogether, even Martin Goldstein Principal Architect, Venture Architecture Bridging the Gap Social distancing is here for now.