What can we learn from the pandemic?

A live studio discussion 10 September envisioned what kind of a world we should build after the COVID-19 era. The discussion presented solutions that were created at the Learnings from the Pandemic summer intensive in August. The course was led by Laura Arpiainen, Professor of Health and Wellbeing Architecture at Aalto University.

‘Any emergency brings out great creativity that would not be found otherwise. It is important that we focus on what good the pandemic can bring along’, she stated.

The summer course looked for sustainable design solutions following COVID-19 and gathered multi-disciplinary perspectives to create new interventions, designs, and policy recommendations for pandemics.

Arpiainen wants to see a change in how we perceive the role of architecture and design. In her view, we should be able to examine the decisions and adjustments from the pandemic and make use of them in our everyday lives.

‘It is easy to simply link health architecture to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. During COVID-19 we have witnessed a global realization that health and wellbeing should be applied to all design, construction and planning processes’ Arpiainen stresses.

Communal student village

During the summer course, architecture student Viivi Salminen pondered on what an ideal distance learning environment would be like and whether new types of student communities could be formed as a result of the pandemic. How about, if in the future they wouldn’t even be affiliated with a particular university or campus, as distance learning is possible from anywhere?

‘The pandemic challenges also student housing, so the question is how to make student communities more humane and communal? As a form of temporary housing, they offer opportunities to try something new’, Salminen said.

She envisioned a novel, more communal student village that differs from the existing student villages in that it is based on the concept of a village. The hybrid model combines study spaces and private spaces. There is a clear separation between private and shared spaces and, in addition to shared activities, a wider range of shared services would be available, such as food trucks.

‘Since existing buildings control a lot of their use, we need to think about what our buildings are like’, Salminen reflected. She stressed that it would be important to create spaces, including outdoor spaces, where people can gather together. It is also important to be able to bring one’s own handprint into the community: the residents could plant trees and keep a garden, as well as paint and decorate the premises to be more comfortable.

The trinity of health

‘Finland could be an example of One Health: we already demonstrate informed activities in many ways. For example, we are already at a good level with animal health, environmental health and public health. In the future, there will be an increasing need for cooperation between different disciplines', Valkeisenmäki stated.

‘Basically, it all comes to our relationship with nature and how we understand for example the effects of our lifestyles or consumption habits on nature and other living things. The course made me think we might have a lot to learn from indigenous peoples, who have an inherently balanced relationship with nature and animals’, Valkeisenmäki said.

‘As humans, we cannot isolate ourselves from nature and animals – everything we do always comes back to us.’

The foundations for the changed world are being laid now

He believes that the pandemic is a proper awakening for us humans – it is possible and necessary for us to make our actions and operations more sustainable. It is important to focus on how to repair the damage that has already been caused and build a future that is more resilient to new pandemics and other surprises.

‘Emphasizing efficiency does not solve this issue, but instead, we should challenge our worldview: wouldn’t it be important to take care of resilience and ability to renew our actions, and to improve the state of nature, instead of continuous growth?’ Dufva wondered.

He spoke of ecological reconstruction, which describes the tremendous change in the structures of society that must take place in order to get rid of fossil fuels. But, above all, a change must take place in our thought patterns, including economic patterns.

‘So far, there has been a lot of focus put on how to reduce our footprint, but we should also think about how to improve our handprint’, he outlined.

‘We already have a lot of knowledge and awareness of how it should work, but it hasn’t had a big impact yet. The pandemic has forced and pushed us forward, to work for a more sustainable future.’

‘If we look from the future to the present, that is, what future generations wonder about our current society, this present may look quite strange’, said Mikko Dufva.

Contact information:

Laura Arpiainen, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, [email protected], te. +358 50 465 2065

Viivi Salminen: Etänä kampuksella – Minkälainen olisi ihanteellinen etäopiskeluympäristö?

Iina Valkeisenmäki: Mikä on eläinten ja ihmisten yhteisen terveyden merkitys koronapandemian jälkeisessä maailmassa?

Mikko Dufva: Millaiseksi haluamme muovata koronan jälkeisen maailman?

Yhteystiedot:

Laura Arpiainen, Aalto-yliopiston taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu, [email protected], 050 465 2065