It is no surprise that architecture is not only about space, but also incorporates the essence of time. It involves the engineering of thoughts and perceptions that eventually shapes the environment that surrounds us. It is the most essential example of how change is an inevitable factor that determines our future on this planet. To understand what the future of architecture holds, it is important to highlight the current factors that contribute the most towards its capacity to emerge in a futuristic world order. It is no surprise that the most striking factor that will shape up the Architectural Heterotopia of tomorrow is the pandemic. As the pandemic spread across the globe and turned the healthcare systems and worldwide economies upside down, it also placed architects and designers in a similar disposition of uncertainty- what would be the consequent outcome of architecture in the foreseeable future?
Understanding the relation between the present and the past
The Architectural Heterotopia being dictated by the current pandemic in ways that could not have been calculated before. It is almost as if the era after the Second World War is being repeated when the Maestro, Le Corbusier, made the Unit d’ Habitation, as a solution for a lack of housing for displaced people. Being a modular, quick, and practical response in an otherwise panic-stricken situation, this case study is like the situation of today where such crisis-driven solutions in terms of architectural spaces need to be derived by architects. What is necessary to reflect on through this classic example is the way an individualized space was designed for the people by the architect that also pertained to their social needs. How is the architecture of the future going to mimic this social need physically?
Envisioning the future in a COVID stricken environment where change is the only constant, the architectural landscape would be something out of a Lego movie. Where every building, new and even old, would have this cubic and strict geometric feel. The very harsh lines of this geometry show the urgency for structures that have been fabricated and constructed rapidly to meet the pressing needs for facilitating the sick and establishing quarantine accommodations and even hospitals. This Architectural Heterotopia, although providing us with a bland visual taste of what the future may hold still speaks a language of pragmatism that will need to be established as time progresses.
Residential Architecture and its evolution during the pandemic
Coming towards the way people would live in their personal quarters, the residential aspect of future architecture will also consent to the new reality of living that COVID-19 has provided. This mode of design will also follow similar guidelines that have been discussed previously based on the elements of pure function. However, residential spaces will be given the flexibility that they need to become ‘self-contained’ spaces that can morph with the ever-changing demands of the user during this crisis. How will these spaces change once the dust settles? Or will the dust even settle at all? From the way things are currently progressing, personal spaces that include residential design, shared spaces must also have the potential to act as spaces of isolation as well.
As the pandemic progresses towards an unknown territory where architects and designers may find themselves at creative cross-roads, it is important to understand that the future of architecture is always going to evolve. Whether the dust of this pandemic settles or not, the distinction between home and work life is something that will shape the architectural vista of the future. What is important to realize is that we must come to terms with the relentless pattern of change that is intertwined with the way architecture will evolve in the years to come.
References
Bos, L. (2021). Now What? How Home Design and Architecture Should Adapt to a Post-Covid world. [Illustration]
Roulette, E. (2020). How the Coronavirus will reshape Architecture. [Illustration]
