NewsPodcast: The Influence of 1918 Pandemic on Design
Architecture in a Post-Pandemic World
“Prisons or Sanctuaries: What the 1918 Pandemic can teach us” is a Podcast produced by Apostrophe and hosted by Peg Fong, a journalist, educator and the Vancouver correspondent for the Economist magazine. It explores how design and architecture in a post-pandemic world changed then and how it might change today.
Peg talks with Uwe Schmidt-Hess about the time after the 1918 pandemic, the context in which the influential Bauhaus in Germany was set up. It was an age for renewal in which younger generations redefined aesthetic styles, creating a movement that changed the way we live.
“Following the pandemic of 1918, there was an urge to look for new solutions to what we used every day inside our homes. Everything from door knobs to bed frames to toilet seats were redesigned towards a cleaner, more hygienic environment.
What will the interiors of houses look like after this pandemic and how and where will we live? Whether it’s a basement suite or a mansion by the beach, our homes are shelters and sanctuaries. But sanctuaries come at a cost. House prices skyrocketed during the pandemic and so did loneliness. It may be scary to go back outside after this pandemic, but green space and third places connect us with each other after months of isolation.”
Photos in the image slider by Johann Hinrichs Photography.
