The implications of the coronavirus for architecture

The global lockdown caused by the coronavirus has brought the shortcomings and social inequality inherent in modern housing into stark relief. This presents architects with an opportunity to learn some important lessons for their future work. Valentin Bourdon, who is currently completing his thesis at EPFL on the collective aspects of housing, offers his thoughts on this issue. The coronavirus crisis, like all other extreme and painful experiences, offers some important lessons. Valentin Bourdon, who studied at the École de Marne-la-Vallée in Paris, is in the last year of his PhD in architecture at EPFL. He considers it obvious that architects have much to learn from the current situation, in which more than one-third of the world's population is forced to spend most of their time inside their homes. Of particular interest to Bourdon is the bearing that architecture and urban planning have on how and where social interactions take place in urban areas.