Most people do not have the concept of perceiving hidden space.
Under the deliberate and careful cover, few people will notice the things around the interior buildings. Just as oxygen is to human beings, invisible and untouchable, the ghostly virus that runs through it becomes indiscernible and fearful. So does people’s perception of the architectural environment.
They, belong to a part of the architecture and quietly perform their functions. The mechanical and electrical systems(M&E) invisibly and secretly connect the integrated architecture composed of private units into a whole community of destiny.
How would M&E come back to haunt both the indoor public shared space and private space, or even pose a shock to the sense of architecture?
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AIR CONDITIONING
01/24 A study in China revealed that 10 people were infected due to the spread of COVID-19 through the central air conditioner, which drove people to realize the newly-found route of transmission.
02/01 700 out of 3000 passengers got sick on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. People still got sick on the ship after quarantine, indicating that the air conditioning system could play a role.
Numerous research has revealed that AC systems may circulate and spread SARS-CoV-2 particles in enclosed spaces. It is related to how it works. “Air conditioners will take air and re-circulate it through the room, and it’s through that mechanism that these coronavirus droplets can be transmitted”.
Occurring in malls, offices, hotels, hospitals, and even public transport, the problem is that air-conditioning has been almost indispensable in human’s everyday life. Even though the quarantine hotels assigned by the Chinese government were forbidden from turning on AC, transportation like underground is dependent upon it. As a result, people were afraid of the underground and switched to take private cars at the time when returning to work. These have shown a vulnerable relationship between familiar routine-like places and humans without any nostalgia and reliance on public shared space under the pandemic.
Nonetheless, there is a completely opposite way to cope with this: open windows rather than using HVAC systems. Lives without air-conditioning? This reminds me of those architecture planted with the greenery.
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PLUMBING SYSTEM
02/01 The Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen detected the nucleic acid in the faeces of patients.
A case study published by American scholars in the New England Journal of Medicine, also showed that patients’ faeces were positive for coronavirus. This increases the possibility of transmitting the virus from pipeline.
02/11 Four residents living on different floors of a building called Hong Mei House had been infected with the coronavirus. It is said to be caused by the linked toilet discharge pipes.
The same happened in 17 years ago after the outbreak of 2003 SARS. More than 300 infections and 42 deaths at the Amoy Gardens in Hong Kong were attributed by defective plumbing. However, people didn’t plan to overhaul the problem. Christos Lynteris, a medical anthropologist at the University of St Andrews commented that the repetition of a pandemic would raise our attention to change the architecture design.
M&E systems’ characteristics make them a very dangerous route of virus transmission, linking the fate and safety of people in the same environment. It is found that the new coronavirus may spread in the building through air conditioning system and ventilation ducts, or even plumbing system. In other words, if a person is infected, all people in the same environment are at risk of being infected.
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Most people spent 90% of their lives in built environment including buildings and public transport, breathing in shared air. However, the pandemic challenges the traditional form of architecture and the trend of co-working space. How would architecture respond to the post-COVID19 age? What would the city be like in 2021? Would it validate Lynteris’s words?
With the support of above-mentioned thought-provoking cases of mechanical and electrical systems, the blueprint for future development seems to surface.
Maybe some more opening windows and blinds to improve air circulation and natural day light?
Or protective screens to separate the clients in the hospital to alter the traditional public shared space provided? Semi-open waiting room?
What do you think?
REFERENCE
Feder, S. Should you turn off your air-conditioning if someone is sick with coronavirus in your home?Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/turning-off-ac-could-limit-chance-of-infection-experts-say-2020-4
Fell, A. & Davis, U.C. Review examines how building design can influence disease transmission. Retrieved from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-04-disease-transmission.html
Krstic, Z. Can Air Conditioning Spread the Coronavirus? Why Experts Are Concerned About Public Space.Retrieved from https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/a32270116/can-air-conditioning-spread-coronavirus/
亮, 陈. “病毒时代”医院建筑室内设计理念将发生哪些改变?Retrieved fromhttp://jiaju.sina.com.cn/news/s/20200318/6645909246376739554.shtml
Lu J, Gu J, Li K, Xu C, Su W, Lai Z, et al. COVID-19 outbreak associated with air conditioning in restaurant, Guangzhou, China, 2020. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Jul [date cited]. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2607.200764
Regan, H. How can the coronavirus spread through bathroom pipes? Experts are investigating in Hong Kong. Retrieved fromhttps://www.cnn.com/2020/02/12/asia/hong-kong-coronavirus-pipes-intl-hnk/index.html
Wainwright, O. Smart lifts, lonely workers, no towers or tourists: architecture after coronavirus. Retrieved fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/apr/13/smart-lifts-lonely-workers-no-towers-architecture-after-covid-19-coronavirus
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