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Within this database, we keep examples of (how urban) designers have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and the problems they addressed through (proposed) public space and civic engagement interventions. You can also use the database to get inspired to address and tackle challenges brought out by the COVID-19 pandemic and improve resilience.

We categorized the database by five themes, each containing several unique design strategies. Each example also includes metadata, a description and a reflection on how this particular example relates to resilience.

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Tape Measures
Using bright tape to mark surfaces where people are not supposed to sit

Tape Measures

People from Singapore

Keeping a distance
Augmented Assembly
Designing safe social-distancing spaces through the use of AR

Augmented Assembly

dn&co

Keeping a distance
Pop-up bike lane
Repurposing roads for motorized traffic to give more space to cyclists

Pop-up bike lane

German Institute for Urban Studies (Difu), The Bicycle Academy

Keeping a distance
#StreetsForPeople
Using colorful paint to repurpose road space for pedestrians and cyclists

#StreetsForPeople

Tactical Urbanistas

Keeping a distance
Beachbelt kit
Using a nylon ribbon allow people to demarcate their own safe space

Beachbelt kit

JAJAxD collective

Keeping a distance
StoDistante
Indicating what is a proper distance on a public square, using a grid of squares painted on the floor

StoDistante

Caret Studio

Keeping a distance
Walk Walk Dance
Sticking on the floor signes, elements to visually indicate where to stand (when there is a waiting line).

Walk Walk Dance

Daily Tous Les Jours

Keeping a distance
Community Fridges Across NYC
Offering free food to those hit hardest by the pandemic

Community Fridges Across NYC

City residents

Sustaining activities and services
Place-based social service provision
Offering vital support to homeless people during times of pandemic

Place-based social service provision

Project for Public Spaces

Sustaining activities and services
Open air theatre
A pop-up stage that allows for open-air theatrical performances in dense urban areas

Open air theatre

Marvel

Sustaining activities and services
Alhambra Cross
A pop-up church with open sides that allows a local congregation to worship safely

Alhambra Cross

Colab-19

Sustaining activities and services
Common Ground
Building temporary structures outdoors to enable restaurants to continue their business

Common Ground

Casey Jennings, Ponderosa Drive, A Plus Signs and Creative

Sustaining activities and services
Vegetable market in Kalaw
Reorganizing public space spatially in a particular place

Vegetable market in Kalaw

Kalaw city council

Sustaining activities and services
‘Garage Screen’ pop up cinema
Building quickly temporary structures outdoor to continue group or generally crowded activities safely

‘Garage Screen’ pop up cinema

snkh.

Sustaining activities and services
School/House
Building temporary structures outdoor to continue group or generally crowded activities safely

School/House

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Sustaining activities and services
Drive-in prayer services
Using drive-ins to offer prayer services to worshippers

Drive-in prayer services

Worshippers from Tehran Mosque

Sustaining activities and services
Together Apart
Symbolizing the desire of people to be together, while also needing to stay apart

Together Apart

Behin Ha

Being together
TULIP
Offering a temporary place to meet, hang out, and dine together

TULIP

ADHOC architectes

Being together
Singapore Botanic Gardens
Symbolizing the possible physical and emotional interactions between people

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Foreign Policy

Being together
Parc de la Distance
Offering a place for people to experience safely public outdoor spaces, while connecting with nature

Parc de la Distance

Precht Studio

Being together
Tree-covered coronavirus memorial
Creating a place for commemoration

Tree-covered coronavirus memorial

Angelo Renna

Emotional wellbeing
Breathing Pavilion
Creating a place for people to breath, alone or in sync with one another

Breathing Pavilion

Ekene Ijeoma

Emotional wellbeing
Mobile vaccination centres in shipping containers
Creating a temporary medical space for doctors to treat patients, vaccinate, test

Mobile vaccination centres in shipping containers

Waugh Thistleton Architects

Access to health infrastructure
Prefabricated vaccination pavilions
Creating a temporary medical space for doctors to treat patients, vaccinate, test.

Prefabricated vaccination pavilions

Stefano Boeri Architects

Access to health infrastructure
CURA: Connected Unit for Respiratory Ailments
Creating a temporary medical space for doctors to treat patients, vaccinate, test.

CURA: Connected Unit for Respiratory Ailments

Carlo Ratti Associati

Access to health infrastructure
Dear Heroes
Enabling people to publicly share and receive gratitude and appreciation

Dear Heroes

Algorithm

Emotional wellbeing
A New Now
Sending a message of optimism and empowerment

A New Now

Morag Myerscough

Emotional wellbeing
Nomo Fomo bench
Offering a place for people to connect with others and nature in a safe way

Nomo Fomo bench

Studio Hai

Being together
The Open Café
Offering a temporary place to meet in public space while keeping a safe distance

The Open Café

Humankind and Nadel Roizin Architects

Being together
Urban Sun
Offering a 'clean' (covid-free) space to gather

Urban Sun

Studio Roosegaarde

Being together
Liverpool Without Walls
Redesigning and implementing parklets for local restaurants owners to stay in business during times of pandemic

Liverpool Without Walls

Arup, Meristem Design

Sustaining activities and services
Mediamatic’s Serres Séparées
Placing a series of small greenhouses outdoors, in order to offer a safe and intimate dining experience

Mediamatic’s Serres Séparées

Mediamatic

Sustaining activities and services
Little Tiger Covid Classroom
An affordable and easy-to-build classroom for moving education outdoors

Little Tiger Covid Classroom

Murray Legge Architecture

Sustaining activities and services
Reshaping Football
Reorganizing public space spatially in a particular place

Reshaping Football

Accept & Proceed

Sustaining activities and services
Hyperlocal Micromarkets
Decentralizing open-air markets in order to reduce commute and risk of contamination

Hyperlocal Micromarkets

Shift Architecture Urbanism

Sustaining activities and services
Pop-up Wifi-workstation at Somerville Library
Building temporary structures outdoor to safely continue activities that involve groups or crowds

Pop-up Wifi-workstation at Somerville Library

CultureHouse

Sustaining activities and services
Speed-Rail modular kit
Creating flexible and adaptable structures

Speed-Rail modular kit

Hollaender Manufacturing Co. & Fantástica

Sustaining activities and services
GoDriveIn
Organising outdoor spaces to convert activities from indoor to save, outdoor and drive-in activities

GoDriveIn

Grant De Sousa, Tyrone Rubin

Sustaining activities and services
Creator Transfer Chamber
A sealed take-out window for safely transferring meals to delivery customers

Creator Transfer Chamber

Creator Inc

Sustaining activities and services
Personal space in cities
Indicating visually and in real-time a 1.5 meter safe zone around public space users with an interactive floor

Personal space in cities

Handson Design

Keeping a distance
Beatrixpark and Maasboulevard distancing circles
Painting shapes on the grass to visually indicate where people may settle down

Beatrixpark and Maasboulevard distancing circles

Schiedam Municipality and Irado

Keeping a distance
Checkerboard lawn for social distancing
Lawn mowed in a checkerboard pattern to demarcate spaces where people can sit safely

Checkerboard lawn for social distancing

Adriana Kotynska

Keeping a distance
C’entro
Allowing people to demarcate their own space and keep proper distance from one another, using a modular frame of connectable rods

C’entro

SBGA Blengini Ghirardelli

Keeping a distance
Domino’s Park
Painting shapes on the grass to visually indicate where people may settle down

Domino’s Park

James Corner Field Operations

Keeping a distance
physx
An interactive floor that indicates appropriate distance in a dynamic and visual way

physx

Cosimo Scotucci

Keeping a distance
Social Harmony
A playful and responsive floor pattern in the form of a musical notation for indicating proper distance

Social Harmony

NOSIGNER

Keeping a distance
Span boards in the K-neighbourhood
Informing people about social distancing rules with a large informative banner

Span boards in the K-neighbourhood

Hart voor de Kbuurt

Keeping a distance
1.5 Meter Monitor
Connecting a monitor with a camera to give real-time feedback on the minimum physical distance that needs to be respected

1.5 Meter Monitor

Municipality of Amsterdam - Amstelland Safety Region

Keeping a distance
Distancing Tape and Stickers
Using tape and stickers to visually indicate proper distance in waiting lines

Distancing Tape and Stickers

Flow in Motion

Keeping a distance
P A R K S P A C E
Painting shapes on the grass to visually indicate where people may sit or stand

P A R K S P A C E

Austin Foundation for Architectur

Keeping a distance

During the research process, we had the opportunity to explore different perspectives on how to promote resilience in neighbourhoods and cities, which resulted in a variety of resources. Listed below, you will find academic and professional publications, as well as a series of webinars, where we were joined by experts to discuss the topic of designing for neighbourhood resilience while addressing social and ecological issues in an integral way.

Publications

Human/Non-Human Public Spaces: Designing for resilient urban neighborhoods

Human/Non-Human Public Spaces: Designing for resilient urban neighborhoods

Publication
Design Framework for Neighbourhood Resilience: Bridging human and other-than-human perspectives in urban design

Design Framework for Neighbourhood Resilience: Bridging human and other-than-human perspectives in urban design

Publication
Public Spaces and Urban Resilience: state of affairs in Dutch cities and exploring human and non-human perspectives

Public Spaces and Urban Resilience: state of affairs in Dutch cities and exploring human and non-human perspectives

Publication
Designing human / non-human public spaces for neighborhood resilience: Design Exploration 1 – Design charette for a resilient Holendrecht

Designing human / non-human public spaces for neighborhood resilience: Design Exploration 1 – Design charette for a resilient Holendrecht

Publication
Designing human / non-human public spaces for neighborhood resilience: Design Exploration 2 – Participatory program ‘Voor Jou, Voor Mij’ in Osdorp

Designing human / non-human public spaces for neighborhood resilience: Design Exploration 2 – Participatory program ‘Voor Jou, Voor Mij’ in Osdorp

Publication
Designing human / non-human public spaces for neighborhood resilience: Design Exploration 3 – Activating underused spaces for a resilient Diemen

Designing human / non-human public spaces for neighborhood resilience: Design Exploration 3 – Activating underused spaces for a resilient Diemen

Publication
Adaptive Public Spaces: Exploring digital transition for social and environmental benefit

Adaptive Public Spaces: Exploring digital transition for social and environmental benefit

Publication
Covid-19’s impact on public space: trends in Dutch cities as perceived by a Community of Practice

Covid-19’s impact on public space: trends in Dutch cities as perceived by a Community of Practice

Publication
Design Framework for Neighbourhood Resilience: Combining human and other-than-human perspectives into an integrated approach

Design Framework for Neighbourhood Resilience: Combining human and other-than-human perspectives into an integrated approach

Publication
Challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and design responses in public space: Towards strategies for more resilient post-Covid cities

Challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and design responses in public space: Towards strategies for more resilient post-Covid cities

Publication
Covid-19 and its impact on public urban space in the Netherlands: Ongoing trends and looking ahead

Covid-19 and its impact on public urban space in the Netherlands: Ongoing trends and looking ahead

Publication
Generating and disseminating intermediate-level knowledge on multiple levels of abstraction: An exploratory case in media architecture

Generating and disseminating intermediate-level knowledge on multiple levels of abstraction: An exploratory case in media architecture

Publication
MAB20  |   Media Architecture for neighborhood resilience

MAB20 | Media Architecture for neighborhood resilience

Publication