Fast forward to the pandemic era, malls will undergo a drastic paradigm shift and one basic fact that needs consideration is to re-think the articulation of malls with regard to social distancing norms. The flow of footfall from entry to exit, alongside the circulation within the mall, will need to be managed to stay in mind the rules to take care of enough distance between fellow mall-goers. Shuttered spaces and therefore the congested areas will need to release and move away, allowing breathing space between activities. Seating layout within the food courts should get re-arrangements done with contact-less delivery of food made essential. Also, however, the fear of viruses spreading through air cooling systems will force the department stores to revamp their arrangement. They could check out a once-through system where the air won’t be allowed to recirculate. A change in the circulation pattern will affect the vehicular movement with parking layouts having to assign more spaces for bike and cycle parking.
As we move forward within the different phases of the pandemic, our focus should be to enhance our own intimate spaces. Residences and housings also will specialize in designs catering to the disaster management issues and making the residences and housings the safe heavens for people eventually within the times of such disaster. While we all are confined to our homes and private spaces, rethinking the green areas and gardens, furnishing our rooftops, inlet of natural light and ventilation into the spaces and wholesome indoor environments along with filtered entrances, will be must, to meet our requirements and wishes, alongside the “new normal”.
Public Spaces, commercials, and offices will transform into different viable models, and work from a distance and residential will get into the cultural mainstream and acceptance across the planet.
Design and material are rethought consistent with the present situation, generating new sorts of living. While notions of modular design, prefabricated elements, flexible partitions, and lightweight structures will keep it up growing, architects will start planning new configurations with social distancing measures in mind. Surfaces are going to be covered with materials that prevent the proliferation of diseases and therefore the design is going to be oriented towards eliminating risks of transmission. Air-conditioning and air purification will need to be considered with high standards of precision and accuracy. With energy efficiency, the finishes and surfaces are going to be anti-microbial. Anything which comes in touch with an individual will need to address these stringent standards.
Thus, with every change, we architects and professionals would be will be imprinting a new social revolution. The pandemic has taught us a lot, and nature has indeed given us a lesson as to how we must pay attention to landscape, greenery and public spaces, which are equivalently important and should be modified to suit our “locked” lifestyle, to move forward. Physical distancing has led to people dig into their own space of mind. Hence, as designers, it becomes crucial for us to reroute human race to remain safe and stay connected at an equivalent time, through transformation of spaces in the Covid world.