UNS — Almost one and a half years passed after the Covid-19 hit Indonesia in 2020. Other than affecting the health and economy sector, the pandemic also affects the future architecture. Responding to this, the Master in Architecture Study Program, Faculty of Engineering (FT) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, held a virtual visiting lecture through the Zoom Cloud Meeting platform.
In the virtual lecture entitled “The Potential of Covid-19 Pandemic Effect on the Future Architecture from Sociological Perspective”, the Master in Architecture Study Program invites a Sociologist from the Universitas Indonesia (UI), Imam B. Prasodjo. The well-known Sociologist delivers his presentation from a sociological point of view. Beginning the presentation, Imam provides an introduction to architecture, which is strongly influenced by the surrounding environment. Architectural production can be understood under the environmental context.
“The expression of an architect is heavily affected by their time period, environment, and the value order in their environment. It is really difficult to understand the meaning of an architectural design without knowing its context,” Imam admits on Monday (21/6/2021).
The Covid-19 pandemics can also be a context that can affect future architectural products. The “stay at home” policy and implementation of strict health protocol also affect the housing design in the future. Considering one of the health policies to keep a safe distance, there is a possibility that in the future, there will be wider public spaces available. This condition can also promote design transformation for meeting rooms from closed spaces into open spaces with better air circulation.
The suggestion to wash hands will affect the design of public spaces. If previously washbasin can only be found in restaurants, nowadays, all public spaces on the various floor provide washbasins. Even further, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic toward the design of public spaces can have the potential to shift policies in a number of sectors. The affected sectors, among others, are tourism, office space, public transport, energy consumption, trading, and retails. This, however, does not limit the possibility of a wider impact.
The effect of Covid-19 on the future architectural design will be more complex because of the technological factors that become the fundamental aspect of the current daily life. According to Imam, the mix between technology and the Covid-19 effect must be handled properly. Hence the future architectural design will consider human well-being and ecosystem well-being.
“This is our next challenge. The environment has changed for architects, not only in terms of technology advancement but also the Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged people to adopt new patterns and ways of interacting. This matter must be discussed properly among the architecture academicians within the study program,” he concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti