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Community Fridges Across NYC

Case Description Vulnerable people were hit hard by the pandemic, facing unemployment and decreased access to emergency food systems. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the implementation of accessible community fridges grew significantly. With the fridges, New Yorkers started to offer free food to whoever was in need of a meal. The fridges are taken care of…

Place-based social service provision

Case Description The Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated the challenges for many homeless people, which was also the case in Downtown Atlanta. Many of the homeless turn to public spaces, such as parks, to carry out their daily activities. Woodruff park is one such place where homeless spend much of their time. In 2016, the ‘Project…

Open air theatre

Case Description In response to the pandemic, architecture firm Marvel designed a temporary open-air theatre, striving to address the challenge of facilitating crowded cultural events during the Covid-19 pandemic in dense urban environments. By relocating theatre performances outdoors, the risk for contamination is reduced. The proposed open-air theatre consists of two towers on the sides…

Alhambra Cross

Case Description Due to Covid-19, many churches had to close their doors, making it difficult to stay engaged with the worshippers, who could not take part their regular gatherings anymore. The designers from Colab-19 architecture addressed this challenge by building a temporary church in a car park area. The cross-shaped church consists of an adjustable…

Common Ground

Case Description Common Ground — a project by Casey Jennings, Ponderosa Drive, A Plus Signs and Creative — aims to to use parts of the street in order to create space for people to gather and for local restaurants to continue their business. By painting a bright blue grid of 8’x8’ squares that allows people…

Vegetable market in Kalaw

Case Description In response to the Covid-19 crisis, the local government of Kalaw city in Myanmar found a solution for local food sellers to keep functioning during the lockdown in less crowded circumstances. A road in the city center was repurposed for an open-air market, dividing the street into sections with painted lines, keeping the…

‘Garage Screen’ pop up cinema

Case Description In order to make film screening safe for filmgoers during the Covid-19 pandemic, the architectural studio SNKH designed and built a pop-up cinema. Located right outside the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, the ‘Garage Screen’ pop-up cinema is a quick and temporary outdoor intervention, which is able to welcome groups while…

School/House

Case Description During the Covid-19 crisis, crowded activities or services became unsafe. The architecture team from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill suggested an alternative solution to indoor school classes. They propose a modular and temporary structure outdoor, which allows for education to take place in safer settings. “One School/House consists of 7 foldable, flat-packed panels, allowing…

Drive-in prayer services

Case Description During the pandemic, mosques in Tehran were closed as part of the effort to stop Covid-19 from spreading. Worshippers came up with an alternative way to gather safely during the holy month of Ramadan. They set up drive-in cinemas as spaces for religious ceremonies, which was unusual as the drive-in industry never really…

Liverpool Without Walls

Case Description Parklets — i.e., sidewalk extensions that serve as pocket parks, outdoor dining terraces, or as other amenities — have been around for many years, but the coronavirus pandemic prompted cities to further embrace these solutions. In the Liverpool Without Walls project, Arup and Meristem Design collaborated with the city council to create modular…

Tools & Other Resources

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.

Webinars

Designing for Neighborhood Resilience #1: From Covid crisis to post-Covid resilience

Designing for Neighborhood Resilience #1: From Covid crisis to post-Covid resilience

Webinar
Designing for Neighborhood Resilience #2: Neighborhood resilience in practice

Designing for Neighborhood Resilience #2: Neighborhood resilience in practice

Webinar
Designing for Neighborhood Resilience #3: Bridging the divide

Designing for Neighborhood Resilience #3: Bridging the divide

Webinar
EDRA | Building Resilient Neighborhoods in the Post-Covid City: Bridging the Social and Ecologial

EDRA | Building Resilient Neighborhoods in the Post-Covid City: Bridging the Social and Ecologial

Webinar
WUF11 | Mapping Resilient Communities: the Role of Public Space

WUF11 | Mapping Resilient Communities: the Role of Public Space

Webinar
Presentation at Shaping Resilient Communities International Conference

Presentation at Shaping Resilient Communities International Conference

Webinar

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