Antivirus-built environment: lessons learned from covid-19 pandemic

Highlights

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  Built environment after the Covid-19 epidemic will never be the same as before.

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  The current global epidemic poses a challenge at all levels in the built environment.

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  The study aims to imagine how the antivirus-built environment looks to stop the virus from spreading.

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  Many architecture and urban approaches may increase the protection of our built environment.

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  There are many questions raised by the current pandemic.

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  We hope to search for answers and learn from this forced experiment to add more security layers to overcome future virus like-attacks.

Abstract

Before developing medications for an epidemic, one solution is to go back to the physical and built environment to reduce its impact. Epidemics have transformed our built environment because of the fear of infection. Consequently, architecture and urbanism after the Covid-19 epidemic will never be the same. Although the current global epidemic poses a challenge at all levels in the built environment, it will take time to develop an antivirus-enabled paradigm to reduce the potential risks or stop the virus from spreading. This study imagines what the antivirus-built environment looks like based on the lessons learned and the importance of designing a healthy and sustainable built environment. Many unanswered questions require further multidisciplinary studies. We aim to search for answers and learn from this forced experiment to add additional security layers to overcome future virus-like attacks.