can modern architecture save your life?
by kayde schwabacher
architect richard neutra at beard house, 1935 • courtesy california state university, pomona
As the coronavirus spread during 2020, Hollin Hills — with its natural setting and open, airy architecture — turned out to be a pretty good place to quarantine. Kayde Schwabacher explores how epidemics have shaped the development of architecture, and looks at how the coronavirus may affect our homes in the future.
As days of lockdown have turned into months during 2020, one thing has become clear: For sheltering in place, some places are better than others. Our homes have become conference rooms, classrooms, art studios and gyms, the new backdrop of our lives. The health crisis is changing the way we use our houses, and may change the way we design them in the future.
But the open, flexible design of Hollin Hills houses, with their walls of glass that connect us with the outdoors, may already give us health benefits (both physical and mental) and help us not just to get through the pandemic, but to thrive in it.
Health crises have transformed our built environments throughout history. In fact, some of the most important architectural and urban planning revelations have emerged from a focus on the ways physical space can treat and prevent sickness.
In the wakes of the tuberculosis, cholera, and flu pandemics, architects looked towards design to mitigate disease in overcrowded cities and private residences.The bubonic plague, which wiped out over a third of Europe’s population in the 15th century, inspired radical improvements in urban areas.
But it was really in the early 20th Century, during epidemics of cholera, flu and particularly tuberculosis, that architects focused on design as a way to fight disease.
The realization that dust and dirt harbored dangerous germs fueled a shift away from overly adorned ornamentation in favor of modern design. To prevent the lurking bacteria lodged in dark rooms and dusty furniture, canopied beds, deep-set mouldings, and lavish upholstery fell out of style. Alternatively, minimalist furniture, white walls, and bright interiors became design elements representing cleanliness and good health.
Before widespread treatment for tuberculosis, patients were prescribed rest, nature, and fresh air to support their respiratory and immune systems against the deadly disease. In the 1920’s, modernist architect Le Corbusier began lifting his houses off the ground on pilotis to avoid the humid earth and combat tuberculosis, while Richard Neutra, whose father died of the 1918 flu pandemic, emphasized natural air circulation throughout his Southern California buildings to mitigate the threat of disease.
Architect Le Corbusier raised an early house to avoid the humid earth.
Architect Richard Neutra emphasised natural air circulation.
What does all this mean for Hollin Hills? With their open, light-filled interiors, views into woodlands, excellent air circulation, privacy, easy access to parks, indoor-outdoor living spaces and so on, Goodman-designed houses embody the health-promoting aspects of modernist architecture – and provide an environment far more conducive to good health than, say, a two-bedroom apartment in Dupont Circle. As life has become more restricted, access to the outdoors, in particular, has emerged as a way to curtail the spread of the virus and avoid cabin fever.
Private outdoor areas where people can safely gather have almost become a necessity, leading many people to leave cities for the suburbs or the countryside. As we spend days on end at home, we’ve also become increasingly aware of how the spaces we occupy influence not only our physical health, but our mood and well-being.
Design features that maximize natural light, such as skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows, provide valuable sun exposure that can boost moods and increase productivity. We’ve also had to transform the way we live in our homes, turning them into multi-functional spaces where we can work, live, play and study. Backyard lounge chairs have replaced vacation resorts, fitness equipment is the new gym membership, and standing desks have become office cubicles.
From guest rooms becoming classrooms, to dining tables transforming into workstations, the quarantine has heightened the need for adaptable spaces in our homes. With their open-plan layout, Hollin Hills houses would seem ideally suited to that kind of adaptability, and in many ways they are.
Yet, while many people relish the freedom of working in the comfort of their home, others find it difficult to focus, as the boundary between designated work and leisure spaces becomes blurred. And, with multiple family members working and studying together at home, the need for privacy and isolation is growing.
That’s why Hollin Hills architect Christine Kelly predicts a shift toward more private spaces that are conducive to studying and creativity.
“Although most of my clients like an open floor plan,” she says, “I am seeing a trend toward creating smaller, intimate spaces with good insulation and sound-deadening drywall to create space to think, create, work or relax away from the daily noise and hubbub of family life.”
While our homes were a refuge from the outside world before the coronavirus, now more than ever they are sanctuaries offering comfort, safety, and inspiration. Although the experience of lockdown will have a lasting effect on us all, there is comfort in knowing not only that we’re all in this together, but that we’ve been here before and emerged with trailblazing discoveries about our world.
Just as attempts to fight tuberculosis in the early twentieth century resulted in architectural innovations that continue to this day, our fight against COVID-19 will certainly have a lasting impact. How the world will change after the pandemic remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the way we think about and create our living spaces may never be the same.
— Kayde Schwabacher, October 2020
Kayde Schwabacher, a resident of Hollin Hills since birth, studied Media Studies and Architecture at the University of Virginia and now works in advertising.