4 ms·

Note that many of the positive reviews are from pre-covid times and the two that coincide with the pandemic note how ill suited it is to such conditions.

by kpmcc 5y ago

hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
I agree, but I'd also challenge that we shouldn't be designing our permanent, 100+ year structures around pandemics.
- graeme 5y ago
  Well….designing a building to be good for pandemics also means making it be good for respiratory viruses in general. You do, in fact, want to have 100 year water systems that would work in a cholera epidemic. Designing buildings for good airflow will probably not go out of style either.
- ciabattabread 5y ago
  The reason old NYC buildings have radiators that are so hot, you need to open a window to let in the winter air, is because they were purposely designed that way. Because of the 1918 flu pandemic.[0] Also, there are a bunch of things that we consider normal that were born of crisis: [1] [0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/the-curious-history-of-steam-heat-and-pandemics https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/the-curio... [1] https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/war-famine-pestilence-and-design/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/war-famine-pestilence...
- yardie 5y ago
  I'll wait for the medical profession to tell me the cure for a major ailment is a windowless, tightly enclosed space with limited circulation.
  - celtain 5y ago
    Has the medical profession told you that your current housing situation cures a major ailment?
    - salawat 5y ago
      Yes. Homelessness. It's a bit of a barely worth saying, but it's there.
  - m4rtink 5y ago
    It can help against radiation sickness (with thick enough walls providing shielding) or possibly agains drowning or vacuum exposure (if sufficiently pressure tight). ;-)
- tsimionescu 5y ago
  I view it as exactly the other way around: if you're building barracks in any normal year, sure, don't care about pandemics. But for any long-lived building, thinking how it will work in various disaster scenarios is crucial, as your design will affect the life or death of thousands living there, even if it's "just" for one-two years. And given everything we know about the recurrence of pandemics, it's virtually certain that at least another one will come around within 100 years.

Note that many of the positive reviews are from pre-covid times and the two that coincide with the pandemic note how ill suited it is to such conditions.

by kpmcc 5y ago

Note that many of the positive reviews are from pre-covid times and the two that coincide with the pandemic note how ill suited it is to such conditions.

hn_throwaway_99 5y ago

I agree, but I'd also challenge that we shouldn't be designing our permanent, 100+ year structures around pandemics.

graeme 5y ago
Well….designing a building to be good for pandemics also means making it be good for respiratory viruses in general. You do, in fact, want to have 100 year water systems that would work in a cholera epidemic. Designing buildings for good airflow will probably not go out of style either.
ciabattabread 5y ago
The reason old NYC buildings have radiators that are so hot, you need to open a window to let in the winter air, is because they were purposely designed that way. Because of the 1918 flu pandemic.[0] Also, there are a bunch of things that we consider normal that were born of crisis: [1] [0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/the-curious-history-of-steam-heat-and-pandemics https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/the-curio... [1] https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/war-famine-pestilence-and-design/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/war-famine-pestilence...
yardie 5y ago
I'll wait for the medical profession to tell me the cure for a major ailment is a windowless, tightly enclosed space with limited circulation.
- celtain 5y ago
  Has the medical profession told you that your current housing situation cures a major ailment?
  - salawat 5y ago
    Yes. Homelessness. It's a bit of a barely worth saying, but it's there.
- m4rtink 5y ago
  It can help against radiation sickness (with thick enough walls providing shielding) or possibly agains drowning or vacuum exposure (if sufficiently pressure tight). ;-)
tsimionescu 5y ago
I view it as exactly the other way around: if you're building barracks in any normal year, sure, don't care about pandemics. But for any long-lived building, thinking how it will work in various disaster scenarios is crucial, as your design will affect the life or death of thousands living there, even if it's "just" for one-two years. And given everything we know about the recurrence of pandemics, it's virtually certain that at least another one will come around within 100 years.