A look at the ingenuity of designers in the age of coronavirus
It is not an overstatement to say that COVID-19 has changed the world. Our lives have shifted into a new obscure kind of normal that sounds like a work of science-fiction come to life. The static cities; the quiet roadways; the still airports: the great machine of our lives that we had all grown accustomed to fallen into disarray.
The inevitability of COVID-19 is that it will and has changed the way we look at the mechanisms of our daily lives. We’ve seen how the presence of the virus has revealed the inefficiencies that exist in our health care facilities, our homes, our offices and our public spaces. We’ve witnessed the challenges that came from retaining some semblance of our normal lives whilst maintaining social distancing and keeping the infection rates low.
The silver-lining here is that the presence of a crisis presents a great opportunity for change and innovation. The main driver of design is problem solving and in these chaotic times there are those who’ve met the challenges presented head on and created some inspiring solutions.
Italian architects Carlo Ratti and Italo Rota are the innovative minds who created plug-in intensive care units using shipping containers called CURA. The high demand on the medical industry during the coronavirus crisis has caused shortages of hospital beds and space in isolation wards. CURA answers this problem by being a quick to install expansion of emergency facilities that still maintains standards of safety and protection. Each container is repurposed with biocontainment equipment including an extractor which creates negative indoor air pressure. The project was a collaborative effort between the architects, engineering studio Jacobs and health technology experts.
In a similar effort to provide support to the medical industry, Winsun, leaders in 3D architecture provided 3D printed isolation houses for medical staff and quarantined patients. The 10m2 extrusions can be printed in 24 hours and offer a comfortable dwelling with a bathroom, air conditioning and insulation. The houses were originally intended for the tourism market but have been rolled out to offer relief during the outbreak.
In dealing with the demand on personal protective equipment, Colombian clothes brand Maaji has provided a stylish and sustainable offering using recycled plastic. The designers provide striking masks in bold colours and prints as well as some unique creations such as a hoodie mask and a long jacket with an integrated mask. Making less of a fashion statement and focusing on the practical for his take on the mask, Chinese designer Chin Min created the Maskerchief, a handkerchief that folds into a 6 layer cotton gauze mask when not being used for wiping or covering the nose.
Looking to the alleged source of the virus, bats, Sun Dayong designed a mobile safety device for added protection. The cheekily named ‘Be a bat man’ suit is a foldable wearable shield that surrounds the wearer providing a sterile environment within it as the user navigates public spaces. The shield is made out of carbon fibre and PVC film shaped to resemble batwings and is kept sterile by UV wires inside the shield’s body.
The current crisis has put many nations under lockdown to lower infection rates, making it crucial to protect the home environment after venturing out into public places. The key to this is ensuring that hands, masks and the items that venture out with us are sterilised immediately. Frank Chou tackled both of these problems with the Sterilising Lamp and an innovative hand sanitiser that offers a bit of pragmatic magic.
The Sterilising Lamp is designed to be placed near the entrance of a user’s home to receive the small items that are carried outside. It uses UV light to help sterilise items such as keys, phones and wallets by placing them on a tray and pressing body is then pressed to switch the UV light on. The body then lowers over the tray, rising up again when sterilisation is complete.
Chou worked with Pino Wang to create a time-changing hand sanitiser that encourages the sufficient washing of hands by offering a fun twist. The sanitiser changes from pink to purple to blue as the user rubs their hands for the sufficient time ensuring that hands are thoroughly washed by bringing in a bit of whimsy into an otherwise tedious task.
The world has been vastly changed in the last few months due to the coronavirus pandemic and is likely to continue to change. There are still greater challenges to overcome at varying scales as the virus continues to be a part of lives, evolving our perception of normal. As we navigate through these tough times, it’s encouraging to see the creative minds amongst us responding with brilliant advances that alleviate some of the difficulties that arise.