After Covid-19, will Irish housing design change for good?

The past weeks have taught us more about our homes than we possibly ever wanted to learn. We may have discovered we love the way the light falls on a particular wall at around 3pm, or that were not so crazy about our bold colour choices in the livingroom. Many are learning that their photogenic and previously beloved open-plan cooking, eating and living rooms are a nightmare when youre all together 24/7. Virginia Woolf was wise when she wrote that everyone needs a room of ones own.

For families, schooling and working together has changed how we view the places we call home, while those living solo will have found out what people with disabilities always knew, as they come to see their own four walls anew, over and over again. Will Covid-19 change how we build? And if it does, what might things look like in the future?

As Nathalie Weadick, director of the Irish Architecture Foundation, puts it, designed space, internal or external, has never been tested like this before. This emergency shows architectures great central responsibility the potential to shape lives for the better.

So what do those who design our houses think about the changes that may come? And what might it all mean for the future of architecture in general?

Architect Emmett Scanlon says that it has never been more important for architects to find a collective shared voice, to advocate, criticise and shape how we move forward.

Architecture is for the public good, he says. It has a role to play in civic society, as health does. This is our greatest challenge: to rip architecture from the body of development, and build a new skeleton around it, to make a healthy, human, lively body, in which all things work together for longer.

Interestingly many of the architects I asked about these issues initially zeroed in on the importance of shared space and public space. Perhaps theres something about being housebound that makes you think of the outside world first. Or maybe limiting your outdoor life to a 2km radius underlines just how mean is the width of many urban pavements, and just how inadequate are so many of the citys green spaces. Or equally it could mean that, as human beings, we are both gregarious and private. Quite simply, to truly thrive, we need the best of both.

Ciarn Ferrie, Ciarn Ferrie ArchitectsThere was a recent report of a man in Toulouse who managed to run a marathon by running up and down his apartment balcony 6,000 times. It would be impossible to break into a run on most apartment balconies here. It is difficult to imagine how an apartment designed to Irelands minimum standards, to accommodate the bare essentials of a home sleeping, washing and eating could accommodate the needs of a couple working from home, with a child being home-schooled. Or how they could provide the necessary breathing space for an older couple who can no longer leave their home.

The housing stock that was built in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, by contrast, has proved much more robust and adaptable to different ways of living. There is some hope that amidst this crisis people are becoming more open to new ways of thinking, different lifestyles, different working arrangements including ones that we cant yet foresee. This will mean a move away from the idea that certain types of housing are for a particular demographic, at a particular stage in life, for example; that apartments are for young professionals who will eventually move onto a real house, and this means a move away from micro apartments.

It also brings into question whether the co-living model can ever be sustainable not just because of the size of the living units, but because of the implications for sharing living space with strangers in a post-pandemic world.cfarchitects.ie

Alice Casey, Taka ArchitectsObviously, everyones relationship to their home is under intense and unavoidable scrutiny at the moment. Im hoping that this situation might make ministers and policy-makers rethink their fairly recent reduction in space and quality standards for apartment design especially.taka.ie

Niall McCullough and Valerie Mulvin,McCullough MulvinThe situation challenges us; it challenges the idea that history is over, it challenges ideas of continual growth. I dont have a huge belief in millenarian concepts of change, that all will be adjusted after this. I think most things will go back to an approximation of where they were, but what might stay is a quality of doubt.

Confinement will undoubtedly sharpen views on space and functionality, how things work, how soundproof walls are, how poor planning and layout inhibit your life. Being asked to maintain distances makes you think of closeness. People will also become very conscious about the extent of private open space available to them in houses and apartments, and make closer judgements about how far public parks and open spaces are from them.

To take an alternative viewpoint, it could also lead people to think harder about leaving crowded cities and going to live in a broadband-friendly countryside; if that project works, it has the capacity to assist in repopulating small towns and villages, but there would have to be a complete revolution in the way those places are thought about. It could also help with one-off houses in the countryside not in building even more bungalows, but in the restoration of some of the many thousands of abandoned houses behind every second hedge.mccullougmulvin.com

Jennifer O'Donnell and Jonathan Janssens, PlattenbaustudioI guess were all resisting the idea of designing for a primarily interior world the thought is terrifying. But, with that said, I would use the old Berliner 'altbau' apartments as an example from the past of good apartment design. Where possible, all rooms were of more or less equal size within an apartment. Sounds wasteful, but it means flexibility, in that one person might choose to designate a room as their bedroom, another might make it their kitchen, a studio or an office.

The contrast to modern housing of course is that, for example, a box room or kids bedroom, planned to the size of a standard bed plus free space beside it, is limited in how its function might change over time. The Berlin altbau apartments typically have rooms of 20-30sq m, allowing practically endless combinations of how they might be used.

The current scenario we find ourselves in also argues against open-plan apartment design. This model was always unacceptable without some form of modulation between the different functions, but thats becoming even clearer now. Its important to consider how to mediate the proximity a person has to different spaces in their home, to ensure a person can retreat to a living space (not a bedroom space) without being in full show of the rest of their family, to be able to sit on the sofa and not see the dirty dishes in the kitchen. These sound like little things, but they make a difference to peoples psychological health.plattenbaustudio.com

Peter Carroll, A2 Architects, with Michael Pike and Grace Keeley of GKMPWe will need to build better, safer and more lovable places to live and work. A number of commentators have been arguing that density and crowding are the same they are not. One can have density without crowding; likewise, one can have crowding without density. We will need to have a conversation on doing density better. We have been designing cities and suburbs to give the car every advantage over public transport, walking and cycling.

Our housing stock will need to make greater allowances for adaptability at home. Working from the kitchen table is fine in the short term, but juggling the demands of a full house in an already confined interior with work and study is testing most households, especially at a time when mental health effects of mass isolation and anxiety are still unmeasured. When your daily commute shrinks to the distance between your bed and your kitchen table, the world can seem pretty small. Amongst us all, illness, anxiety and disrupted routines are focusing attention on the things that matter most in life, whether this is a loved one, a source of income, or even a sunny spot by a window.

In order to recover from this enormous economic shock we will need to embark on a massive public works building programme. The current relaxation of the EU rules about government borrowing and the prospect of extremely low interest rates for the foreseeable future makes this the ideal time to invest in the construction of the housing and infrastructure that we so desperately need.a2.ie; gkmp.ie

Dominic Stevens, JFOC ArchitectsI hope this lets us as a society realise (a) the value of the collective city, of public space, of gathering together to see a play, listen to a band, or go to a sporting spectacle; and (b) the value of quiet introspection, of local walks and non-consumption.

Having lived for years in Leitrim, I now live in an apartment building in Stoneybatter. Im fascinated by how I only meet my neighbours if I slow down and sit in the shared garden that forms part of the entrance sequence. This is an essential component of housing design, this careful ecology of shared space.

I dont believe we are going to see a society that stays two metres from one another. We are going to see a renewed delight in community, in neighbours. And yes, working sometimes from home will help all this, and stop housing from beingdormitories.jfocarchitects.com

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Architects on lockdown: 'We need to build safer and more lovable places to live and work' - The Irish Times

Kehlani delivered a dose of spring air on Thursday For those of us who don't have backyards, with "Everybody Business," a fresh single from the unnamed forthcoming album. The stunning self-directed video gives a golden-hour glimpse into the artist's world during quarantine. From the isolation of her own yard, Kehlani faces the public to reclaim her personal narrative.

"Everybody Business" marks a new chapter, and you can hear it from the jump. This shimmering ballad takes a step out of the dark, intoxicating surreality of 2019's While We Wait mixtape, shedding spacey synth swells for acoustic guitar and crystalline hi hats. The production is breezy, but by no means stripped down every second is filled to the brim with rhythmic momentum and the emotive power of Kehlani's pristine vocals. Lyrically, it's direct and lucid as ever, with her unmatched ease of delivery and a nod to Pharell's "Frontin'" on the hook injecting a carefree vibe to the song's important message.

Opening with a clip of people chatting about Kehlani's personal life and claiming she belongs "to the streets," the video claps back to set the record straight. Serving as director, we get the chance to see this world through her eyes and understand that she belongs only to her damn self. This glance into her perspective consists of selective intimacy and grounded truth-tellingsome shots have us peeking at the singer through leaves, as if we were part of the landscape, or lingering on her face as she crosses her driveway. Just as we are let into some of the most proximal mundane aspects of her existence, Kehlani looks into the camera and reminds us that we don't know her like that.

An especially poignant shot has Kehlani cornered by screenshots of negative comments that pile up on either side of her. With her back literally against the wall, she pushes the noise away and sighs, "breathe through it all." With the daily news cycle cornering each of us as we shutter in our respective homes, Kehlani's buoyancy and grace can be a lesson to carry us through. "Everybody Business" is a call to return to the things that center us and remind us of the truth: that the self is its own only architect.

Connect with Kehlani: SoundCloud | Instagram |Twitter |Facebook

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Kehlani is her own architect on "Everybody Business" [Video] - EARMILK

Nearly every industry is getting pummeled by the spread of COVID-19, and architecture is no exception. In late March, the American Institute of Architects conducted a survey of 387 architecture firm leaders, and the results suggest a deeply uncertain future for the profession. Two-thirds of the firms that responded said projects had either stopped or slowed down as a result of COVID-19, and a whopping 94% said they anticipate revenue to dip. Respondents expected their losses to only deepen in April.

The damage will be far-reaching, impacting individual practitioners, firms, and the profession at large. Firms are already furloughing workers and slashing pay. Foster + Partners, one of the most prominent architecture firms in the world, announced that its 1,400 workers would take a 20% paycut for three months. In New York, architects working on public projects have been ordered to suspend their design work indefinitely. Many architecture firms are small businesses, Dan Hart, AIAs at-large director, points out. Small businesses have been especially hard hit by the economic fallout from COVID-19.

Firms with public projects underway in international locations are potentially the most at risk, as 47% of them have instituted a no-travel policy indefinitely, according to the survey, making it difficult to visit sites and maintain construction schedules. Firms that focus on residential architecture may be in even hotter water; the survey suggests they have gotten far fewer inquiries for new design contracts.

Twenty-five percent of the firms that responded expect a 15% loss in revenue this month, and that number may only increase as stay-at-home orders continue. If other creative fields are any indication, layoffs could accelerate. The length, intensity, and uncertainty of this crisis will impact both the funding of and the opportunity for construction, Hart says. Gainful employment for architects is positively affected by shortening the impact of the crisis, flattening the infection curves, and introducing more certainty in containing the spread of the virus.

So whats to be done? In the short term, firms can take a few measures to offset the magnitude of their losses. Aside from applying for emergency loans through the governments Payment Protection Program to pay for salaries, insurance, rent, and other operating costs, small firms (less than 500 people on staff) are eligible for loan forgiveness and businesses that are forced to shut down completely can get a payroll tax credit.

Looking ahead, AIA CEO Robert Ivy says its critical for the government to put more provisions in place to protect architecture and construction jobsnot just for the industry, but for society at large. To jump-start the economy and bring architects and the critical design and construction economy back to life, we are strongly advocating for vertical infrastructure, buildings, to be included in any additional stimulus bill,' he writes in an email. The nation needs housing, healthcare, and health-related research facilities (a clear need at this time), and schools. Architecture can and should create facilities that allow us to grow and heal, stimulating the larger economy while creating safer, more healthful places.

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Architects are getting slammed by COVID-19: Survey - Fast Company

Douglas Friedman

Nearly every industry is affected by the shelter-in-place orders right now, but designers and architects, who make their livelihoods largely by going into peoples homes and creating furniture, have been hit particularly hard. All of the major furniture fairs, normally a time to debut new talent and designs, have been cancelled; residential and commercial projects are on hold. However, many have been able to stay engaged by redirecting their talents and transforming their factories to making much-needed hospital equipment. This has ranged from Salone del Mobile working with Chinese furniture companies and designers to donate half a million masks to the Italian Red Cross, to architecture firms like Foster + Partners and RCH Studios fabricating face shields in their workshops.

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Jean Liu Designs

Jean Liu, designer and owner of outdoor furniture factory Woodard, discovered early on that she could utilize the sewing machines in her Michigan factory to create non-N95 masks, which helps those who are unable to get N95 masks. Companies in the New York Design Center such as Century Furniture and other Sherrill Furniture Brands immediately jumped in to help increase the production of masks despite the fact that on any normal day these brands would be competitors. Fabric brands Schumacher and Kravet also joined Liu by donating fabric, and Talbots donated 10,000 yards of elastic. With their combined efforts, Liu aims to produce 1,000 masks daily.

Thom Filicia

Thom Filicia, another designer out of the New York Design Center, has been working with one of its Chicago manufacturers to create masks in that region. He has also been boosting spirits with a series of "house calls," Instagram Live interviews with other designers, each day. His living room, has become his personal oasis while coordinating these efforts.

RCH Studios

In Los Angeles, RCH Studios, the firm behind many of LAs public spaces like the Music Center Plaza and Grand Park, are spearheading an initiative with other local architecture firms, including USCs Architecture School to use their model shops and 3-D printers to create face shields and personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals in Los Angeles. Additionally, they have made the designs public so that others can help. Other firms such as Bjarke Ingels Group in New York and Howeler + Yoon in Boston are also 3-D printing face shields to distribute locally.

CW Stockwell and Caitlin Wilson Design

On the west coast, CW Stockwell and Caitlin Wilson Design have also partnered up to create masks. Creativity abounds as donated fabric makes for particularly colorful masks, including the CW Stockwell masks in its iconic Martinique print.

Foster + Partners

In London, the Foster + Partners architecture studio is laser-cutting face shields that can be easily disassembled and sanitized. They've already distributed a batch to health workers in the UK and can make 1,000 shields a day.

New York City Designers

Designers who don't have the facilities to create masks are still helping out: New York City interior design studio General Assembly organized an auction with 40 other designers, including Lindsey Adelman, Calico Wallpaper, Apparatus (whose censer, shown here, is one of the items up for auction), Egg Collective, and Anna Karlin with all proceeds benefiting humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief. The auction is live now, and will close on Sunday, April 12.

Matouk

The Matouk family realized that, as owners of a bedding company, they were uniquely positioned to make masks in Massachusetts, having both large quantities of fabric and elastic, as well as the proper machines. Within a few days of shifting production, they were able to ship a thousand masks to Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC., and have ramped up production to 2,000 face masks daily.

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How Architects and Designers are Helping COVID-19 Relief - TownandCountrymag.com

Often, the architects and developers are the first people who are involved in the beginning stages of modeling the building and creating the model. But while they often start the model, it's the collaboration of all interested parties that makes BIM truly useful. The various construction managers, including electricians, plumbers, and contractors, can bring in their data and estimates to allow the developer to more clearly understand all of the components.

One of the core advantages of BIM is that it essentially acts as a living document for the building. A building is a complex ecosystem; one small change, such as a change in the supplier of lighting fixtures, can have ripple effects throughout the whole project. One of the more costly components of construction is having to go back and adjust the original plan based on changes. Using a collaborative system keeps everyone on the same page, both literally and figuratively.

Once the project is completed, the BIM model also lets building managers and other end users see all of the details of the building. This can be helpful for renovations and improvements as well as for determining ways to implement energy efficiency and smarter ways of managing the building. As technology continues to evolve, managers can look at the building model to determine how to make changes to keep the building up to date.

"Architects and developers use BIM to generate and visualize designs and models for construction projects from start to finish based on all project information within the BIM model," notes Ramadan. "This enables the ultimate client to visualize the built asset pre-construction, input on design, and make any changes before work commences, leading to a better-quality end product and cost-saving efficiencies."

One of the biggest challenges that BIM faces is adoption. There are a variety of different programs, and although there are a few leaders in the field such as Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK), not everyone always uses the same system. There is also a significant cost involved, in terms of both the software itself and the training.

Another concern is keeping data safe. "With any data sets, there is always a cybersecurity risk, and BIM models are no exception," adds Ramadan. "BIM models may contain rich data/information about the operation and performance of a building, which in the case of public buildings (i.e., airports, hospitals) will include highly sensitive data, so it is likely BIM models will be targets for attack, and therefore appropriate security measures and protections will need to evolve."

The potential of BIM may extend beyond usage in a single building. As more governments integrate BIM into public infrastructure, there is greater potential to create smart cities that use BIM to model not just a building but a whole neighborhood.

"The biggest opportunity with BIM technology is the potential for convergence with the internet of things, the information sharing economy, and smart city initiatives to pave the way for a truly digital economy for buildings and infrastructure," says Ramadan.

An example of this is the work being done by Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Google's parent company, in Toronto. Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet subsidiary, is working on Quayside, a project to create an entirely new neighborhood in Toronto. In January, Sidewalk published plans for a tall-timber building visualized in BIM 360.

Like all aspects of technology, BIM has benefitted from increases in computing power and the ability to integrate large data sets easily. The COVID-19 outbreak has shown how valuable virtual models are in all industries where a site visit isn't advisable. This situation could help spur greater interest and more widespread adoption of building information modeling.

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What is BIM and How Is It Changing the World of CRE? - Motley Fool

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Coronavirus Frontlines is a special series where we are sharing the perspective of experts at the forefront of combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

For years, Americas healthcare industry has operated from an abundance mentality, with hospitals assuming access to virtually unlimited resources. But we are just a month into the United States COVID-19 crisis and hospitals across every corner of America are finding themselves in the midst of a threefold lack of resources of appropriate space, of healthcare workers needed to address the crisis, and the necessary level of personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep frontline staff and patients safe.

A recent study from Harvard University shows that even in a moderate outbreak of coronavirus, 40% of markets around the country will lack necessary beds to adequately treat patients. In cities like New York and New Orleans, healthcare providers are already experiencing these challenges. Governor Andrew Cuomo is currently pushing for hospitals to develop a plan to increase bed inventory by 50 to 100 percent before the virus peaks in mid-April. But time is running out for healthcare organizations that are already finding themselves in the eye of the storm.

Though the outlook feels bleak, the current pandemic is a chance for the healthcare industry to reevaluate deeply held beliefs around patient care and comfort. Most notably, the primacy of private patient rooms and specialized nursing units as across the board solutions. Both healthcare professionals and the general public need to forego the ideal patient experience as a primary focus for the American healthcare system. Instead, it is imperative that they move to an emphasis on patient safety and survival.

It sounds like a paradox in the midst of an infectious outbreak, but augmenting single-patient rooms with prefabricated, open ward-style treatment spaces ensures we can rapidly scale the number of beds in our country. While some hospitals at the forefront of the crisis are beginning to adopt versions of this model, the scale of this crisis requires solutions that are more integrated, faster to build, and easier to deploy across geographies.

One solution is pre-fabricated ICU units: a process that builds the components offsite to allow easy assembly onsite, saving time and money. Developed recently for use in future hospitals on the East Coast, these ICU units can be integrated into unorthodox and temporary treatment areas inside hospitals like cafeterias, clinics, conference centers, and parking structures. It can also be used beyond the hospital in civic spaces like arenas, schools and community centers.

A temporary hospital is under construction in the Argentine Football Club in Lanus, Argentina.

Hospitals can arrange these temporary units in modules of 12 to 18 beds that come pre-fitted with essential ICU functions like regulated gasses, air and data. Grouping beds into larger modules maximizes caregiver sight-lines and allows nurses to oversee a greater number of infected patients in a smaller area, minimizing the staff required to care for patients. These groupings also have the potential to extend the average length of use for some PPE by reducing the need for staff to don and doff protective equipment repeatedly, as they do in typical nursing units each time they enter and exit private patient rooms.

Specialized medical equipment manufacturers have been developing and producing key elements found within the plug and play solution for years as a part of the nations hospital building boom. By marrying the two together the plug and play ICU unit and redirecting existing units intended for construction projects we may be able to help quickly offset some of the stress on todays hospital systems.

Now we must shift that energy to respond to the crisis today. Doing so means that, at least temporarily, we must focus less on the individualized and specialized care model that has been a hallmark of American healthcare, and more on the infrastructure and solutions that will save the most lives.

Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus

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We Need More ICU Beds To Fight COVID-19. These Medical Architects Say That Requires Hospitals To Rethink Individualized Care - Forbes

Acela Architects and Engineers will move into an Allentown property long occupied by the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. PHOTO/SUBMITTED)

A local architect and engineering firm will move into an Allentown property long occupied by the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania.

Acela Architects and Engineers, which has a location at 4969 Hamilton St. in Lower Macungie Township, will occupy the building.

Feinberg Real Estate Advisors LLC represented the Girl Scouts in the $610,000 sale of 2619 Moravian Ave., a 7,500-square-foot property in Allentown.

Cindy McDonnell Feinberg, principal of Feinberg Real Estate Advisors in South Whitehall Township, who represented the seller, said the transaction was completed last week.

James Balliet of KW Commercial of South Whitehall Township represented the buyer, HIWT LLC, an investment group that plans to redevelop the property for Acela Architects and Engineers, she said.

The firm plans to move into the new building within the next four weeks and use it for its new corporate headquarters in the Lehigh Valley, said Daniel Witczak, president of Acela Architects and Engineers.

Its a beautiful facility, it gives us a lot of room to grow, Witczak said. Its an easy access on and off highway, its convenient for our clients.

The property on Moravian Avenue was originally developed in 1977 as the headquarters for the Great Valley Girl Scouts and later became a service center with the merger of county-based programs, which led to the creation of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania with headquarters in Miquon, Montgomery County, Feinberg said.

For now, Girls Scout employees are working remotely in different Girl Scouts locations, Feinberg said.

Acela has 18 employees and plans to add three more people at the new location once the pandemic ends, Witczak said.

Weve been set up to work from home from the beginning, he said. Everybody has a laptop and docking station. Thats the way we started our company.

Employees have the ability to work from home and take laptops home as needed.

Acela has been at its Lower Macungie office for three years and has three other locations in Ohio, New York and New Jersey.

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Acela Architects and Engineers to move into former Girl Scouts property - Lehigh Valley Business

From designingface shields and flat-pack intensive care units to 3D-printinghands-free door leversand converting buildings to hospitals, architects and designers are tackling the coronaviruspandemic. Here are five ways they are helping.

Converting buildings to hospitals

The unprecedented number of coronavirus cases is forcing countries around the world to rapidly increase their capacity to treat patients.

To do this, buildings across the world are being converted into intensive care units. In Tehran, Iran Mall, the world's largest shopping centre, is being transformed into a coronavirus hospital, while in New York theCathedral of St. John the Divine is also set to be converted.

With large open spaces, conference centres are an obvious choice for conversion and architecture studio BDP has converted the ExCel Centre in London into a 4,000-bed hospital called NHS Nightingale.

Two giant wards have been created in the exhibition halls, which are divide from a central corridor by areas to put on and take off protective clothing. A staff canteen, diagnosis room and mortuary complete the hospital.

"When the scale of the shortfall in beds across London became clear, the ExCel centre was the obvious choice," BDP's James Hepburn told Dezeen.

"It has huge flat floor hall spaces with flexible MEP infrastructure that can be easily adapted to meet the needs of the temporary hospital."

Designing temporary intensive care units

Architects have also recognised the need to create temporary intensive care units that can be rapidly deployed, following China's rapid construction of a temporary hospitalto treat patients at the start of the pandemic.

In response to the outbreak in the USA, flat-pack startup Jupe has created a range of medical care facilities that are designed to be quickly installed at hospitals to increase bed capacity, or that could be used as stand-alone field hospitals.

"Hospitals can't tackle it all rapidly enough, even once the federal government's aid package kicks in," explained Jupechief medical advisorEsther Choo.

In Italy, architects Carlo Rattiand Italo Rota designed an intensive-care pod within ashipping container.The first prototype is currently under construction at a hospital in Milan.

Designing face shields

In some countries, the pandemic has led to a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect health workers. In response, architects and designers have begun designing and manufacturing it themselves.

In the USA, studios including BIG, KPF and Handel Architects have joined an open-source project to print face shields, while in Spain3D-printing brand Nagami Design has switched its machines frommaking furniture to shields.

British architecture studioFoster + Partnersdecided to design an alternative face shield that can be laser cut. The open-source device can be disassembled and sanitised for reuse.

Researchers at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Cambridge and the University of Queensland, and graduates from Rhode Island School of Designhave all also designed face shields.

MIT has developeda disposable face shield that is made from a single piece of plastic, which can be mass-produced and shipped flat. Pieces of plastic and be folded into a three-dimensional structure when needed.

The RISD graduatescreated a simple shield that combines a curved piece of plastic with a headstrap, while the University of Cambridge and the University of Queensland's design can be created with no specialist materials or tools.

Making face masks

Face masks are another item of PPE that have seen a massive increase in demand during the pandemic. In response to shortages, numerous designs and fashion brands have converted their factories to mask production.

Prada, COS and Louis Vuitton are among the leadingbrands that have retooled to manufacture surgical face masks, while Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga have begun production of cotton face masks.

Hacking equipment

Architects and designers have been using their 3D-printers to quickly create items that alter equipment to solve problems raised by the pandemic.

To make wearing face masks less painful formedical staff treating patients, Chinese 3D-printer manufacturer Creality is printing a device that holds the strings away from the wearer's ears.

Architectural designers Ivo Tedbury and Freddie Hong have created a3D-printeddoor-handle extension that users can loop their arm through so they can open doors without using their hands.

In Italy, additive manufacturing start-up Isinnova reverse engineeredand 3D-printed a crucial valve for a oxygen mask, which is used as part of a ventilator machine, following a shortage.

"The valve has very thin holes and tubes, smaller than 0.8 millimetres it's not easy to print the pieces," said Isinnova CEO Cristian Fracass."Plus you have to respect not [contaminating] the product really it should be produced in a clinical way."

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Five ways architects and designers are helping fight coronavirus - Dezeen

By: Sebastian Morris 7:00 am on April 5, 2020

New renderings offer a look at a seven-story residential building in the University Heights section of The Bronx. The development is located at the corner of West Fordham Road and Loring Place North, and is expected to debut as 140 West Fordham Road, with 2332 Loring Place listed as the secondary address.

Designed by Marin Architects, the structure features an understated masonry faade comprised of gray, brown, and red brick. Within, the building will support 54 rental units averaging approximately 776 square feet apiece.The project team has not released any updates regarding amenity spaces. Additional confirmed components will include a rear yard and enclosed parking area for 27 vehicles.

In total, the building will span 52,465 square feet and will replace a single-story bar and an associated parking lot.

Rendering of 140 West Fordham Road Marin Architects / Stagg Group

Rendering of 140 West Fordham Road Marin Architects / Stagg Group

Jay Martino of the Stagg Group is listed as owner on associated applications for the development. Demolition permits have not been filed with the citys Department of Buildings and it is uncertain when the project will be completed.

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Marin Architects Reveals Residential Building at 140 West Fordham Road in University Heights, The Bronx - New York YIMBY

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LA Mayor Eric Garcetti is helping to expand the nascent #OperationPPE effort. Photo courtesy of USC Architecture Operation PPE.

The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles (AIA |LA) chapter has been asked by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to aid the city in its efforts to expand the growing #OperationPPE initiative that has taken root in the city.

Initiated by a team led by University of Southern California (USC) Associate Professor Alvin Huang, #OperationPPE brings together resources and expertise from throughout the USC ecosystem (including its medical and engineering schools) with the productive capabilities of local architecture firms, universities, and other 3D-printing facilities. The effort, which includes contributions from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and Cal Poly LA Metro architecture programs, has been working around the clock over the last week to manufacture makeshift Personal Protective Equipment for area hospital workers who are on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a daily press briefing last week, Mayor Garcetti expressed his support for #OperationPPE, stating that the city was working with local universities, design schools, and architecture firms to utilize their materials and expertise in the race to produce much-needed protective equipment.

An email sent out by AIA|LA staff over the weekend reads, Mayor Eric Garcettis Officeis ramping up production of pseudo N95 masks and safety shields for area hospitals. The message adds that AIA|LA has been asked by Mayor Garcetti to have potential contributors fill out a survey describing their printing capabilities. See here for the survey.

The message continues: The Mayors program will begin once production for Keck has completed and it will use the same designs as approved by Keck and NIH. But time is critical.PPEs are urgently needed by area hospitals to take care of the people of Los Angeles.

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LA Mayor calls on architects to expand 3D-printed PPE efforts - Archinect