{"id":7032,"date":"2026-04-13T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T09:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/?p=7032"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:25:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:25:03","slug":"architects-and-public-health-officials-must-work-together-to-prepare-for-the-next-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/architects-and-public-health-officials-must-work-together-to-prepare-for-the-next-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"“Architects and public health officials must work together to prepare for the next pandemic”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Architects have an important role to play in making societies more resilient to the threat of future health<\/a> crises, write Diego S Silva, Enya Moore and Chris L Smith<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It’s now six years since the world was turned upside down by Covid-19. <\/strong>In February of this year, the World Health Organisation issued a plea<\/a>\u00a0to all governments, partners and stakeholders: “Do not drop the ball on pandemic preparedness and prevention.”<\/p>\n

Make no mistake: architects and designers are key stakeholders in pandemic responses. Their understanding of how built environments are designed, experienced and governed is critical during extended public health emergencies.<\/p>\n

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The architecture of the Covid-19 pandemic responses alternated between places of care and a medium for control<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Keeping people and communities safe in place requires a multi-sectoral, interdisciplinary approach. One thing is clear: architects and public health officials must work together to prepare for the next pandemic. But is pandemic preparedness and prevention on the agenda?<\/p>\n

Historically, emergency responses within the built environment have followed a cycle of reaction, repression and repetition. Each crisis is addressed as if novel; lessons embedded in design and planning practices fade from view, and similar challenges re-emerge in subsequent events.<\/p>\n

Examples include the architectural response to the 21st century sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US, which was enacted as if there hadn’t been a post-war housing crisis 50 years earlier. Or the automotive town industry crises, where architects rallied internationally in a series of projects centred upon industrial transformation, again, with little reference to the industrial transformations of the past.<\/p>\n