The Pandemic Effect

In The Pandemic Effect, 90 leading architects, designers, materials scientists, and health officials reflect on the influence of COVID-19 on buildings and cities—and propose solutions to safeguard the built environment from future pandemics, viruses, and contagious diseases on every scale, from surfaces to society.

Safety and sustainability in buildings and cities have taken on new meaning during the COVID -19 pandemic. Buildings became magnifiers of contagion instead of shelters for protection. In this essential resource for both practitioners and students of architecture, interior design, and urban design, 90 of the world’s leading experts investigate a variety of approaches to future-proof architecture and buildings against widespread disease.

These inoculation strategies are organized into five chapters: “Histories” offers an overview of past pandemics and prior architectural approaches; “Inside / Outside” addresses the roles of building envelopes and mechanical systems in improving indoor environmental quality; “Interventions” consists of contemporary methods for direct prevention and control; “New Strategies” consists of various architectural analyses and proposals for design changes; and “The Public Realm” considers the urban landscape and related social questions. This broad collection of perspectives explores the transformations underway in the built environment—and offers design strategies to limit the severity of subsequent pandemics.

Blaine Brownell—an architect, educator, researcher, and former Fulbright scholar to Japan—has authored eight books on advanced and sustainable materials for architecture and design. He has written the Mind & Matter column for Architect magazine since 2009, and his work has been published in more than 70 architecture, design, science, and news journals including the New York Times, the London Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Nature. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he is Director of the David R. Ravin School of Architecture at UNC Charlotte..