19

DESIGN STATEMENT

THE INVISIBLE FACEMASK

The functioning of a city is reflected in three elements: home, workplace and social places. In that chain of operations, people go from home to work, from work to social places (e.g. bars, clubs, public spaces, ...) and then from social place to home. However, this routine has changed massively due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. People do not go to work anymore but working from home, social places are also closed due to regulation of social distancing requested by the government. As a result of this, the city has lost its inherent functioning as the link between these elements is broken.

However, the need to go to social places is still essential for people. The government can request people to maintain social distancing, but cannot limit people's communication for a long time. The proof is despite the danger in some places people still gather together. It is very difficult to control or accuse people because it is always the legitimate need of daily lives. The compulsion about physical space, living and working from home, and limited crowded activities have caused an issue in the community. Public spaces are being isolated because of the inability to adapt to the context of the pandemic and keep people safe. Therefore, we need to review the on-going issues, and restructure urban facilities and environment, to respond to similar catastrophes and diseases in the future. As the architects of the future, instead of banning we need to propose ways to create safety for people in social places by the architecture itself.

We have chosen to treat the space for public parks because in our opinion public parks are always a top priority in the urban planning program of every city in today's world context. These spaces not only have a positive impact on people's health but also create spaces for play, entertainment as well as meeting and interacting with others.

The team proposed an innovative solution that could be replicated in many different locations. First, we created perpendicular crossings with the size of just enough for one person to limit the travel of two or more people. In order to not create tangent intersections with the remaining directions, we propose not only horizontal spacing but also vertical distance. At the intersection point, we push the altitude up and down alternately to avoid the intersection between two perpendicular lines. This helps people traveling on the route alone will not have any close interaction, but they do not feel lonely because they can completely see other people on other roads. The maximum height at these altitudes is 2.4m. The railing system will be made entirely of natural green trees to avoid the user being able to stand and touch the railing so that viruses can stick on the surface. Traffic lines staggered in a sinusoidal pattern, forming a continuous up and down walking route, limiting disruptive stops, breaking safe distances and stimulating people to enter the lower spaces.

Personal spaces formed along the walkway, these personal spaces presented signs to users that the space should be for only one person. These spaces are interlocked and separated by landcapes but still ensure necessary interactions. This structure turns physical distances into something more beautiful by plants and flowers with the message: “Social distancing in a certain angle is beautiful, positive, not negative like people think. We're physically stretched, but more mentally connected than ever before.

No specific location has been chosen as the pandemic is happening everywhere in the world but we hope this idea is applicable in any locations. The project is adaptable in terms of multidimensional space and time. Regarding the space, the project can be adaptable to the location. We hope even after the pandemic ends, the park will still operate as a normal park.

The campaign is not solely a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team hopes the project will have an encourage impact on how parks, or other public spaces can be adapted in an urban environment, so people can operate like normal if the same situation happens again in the future.