EVENT: Symposium: International Perspectives on the Future of Architecture and Urbanism in the Post-COVID Age. Online, 29-30 January 2021 (11am-2pm US Eastern Time)
Organizers: Mohammad Gharipour and Caitlin DeClercq, Epidemic Urbanism Initiative
Long before the appearance of COVID-19, the urban fabric of cities across the world had been shaped by prior epidemics. Indeed, the study of historic, global epidemics has illuminated the many ways in which urban life and architecture have changed during times of pestilence. With the outbreak of each epidemic has come new scientific understandings of disease, new modes of governing of social life and interaction, novel efforts to intervene in and prevent infection, the exacerbation of social inequities, and the creation of new occupational and social roles. Each of these outcomes has been enacted and emplaced in the built environment over time and across diverse geographies through the design or re-design of buildings and public spaces, the quarantine or redirection of goods and people, the adoption of new social roles, and the imposition of new urban design policies and practices.
Spanning two days, this symposium, comprised of scholars and practitioners from twenty countries, will confront the impacts of this pandemic on cities and imagine new possibilities for a post-COVID urban landscape through topics including:
- 29 January 2021 (11am-2pm EST) topics: Response and Experience; Ecology and Sustainability; and Education and Pedagogy
- 30 January 2021 (11am-2pm EST) topics: Design and Interventions; Healthcare Design; and Social Justice and Equity
Register for this conference at https://bit.ly/EpidemicUrbanism to join for one or both days. If you have any questions, please contact epidemicurbanism@gmail.com. The deadline for registration is 25 January 2021.
This virtual conference is sponsored by the AIA Design & Health Research Consortium (DHRC). The Epidemic Urbanism Initiative (EUI) was founded by Dr. Mohammad Gharipour and Dr. Caitlin DeClercq in March 2020. This is the fourth international conference hosted by the EUI. All prior conferences and additional conversations are publicly available at the EUI YouTube channel.
The full list of symposium themes, paper topics, presenters, and moderators is available on the conference poster.