Fuelled by strong economic activity and growth in consumer spending globally, the architecture and interior design segment has been growing exponentially in the last decade till Covid-19, the Coronavirus-induced pandemic, halted its meteoric rise since the beginning of this year.
The unavailability of a vaccine and the fear of contagion has brought about a paradigm shift in the thought process of businesses, and a change of priorities including, but not limited to remote working, social distancing, space optimization, and low-touch experience especially in spaces where humans gather in large numbers and interact is becoming the new norm.
While some of these changes will die along with the virus or the availability of a vaccine, some behavioural changes by force of habit will keep continuing to reshape how each one of us looks at life spaces.
Thus, altering of the life spaces we interact with right from workplaces to educational institutions, from the hospitality and travel industry to government-led infrastructure projects, from residential to commercial real estate will lead to re-imagining of life spaces from physical to digital physical spaces. That is reconfiguring of spaces with the help of sensors, the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies in exciting new ways.
Given the varied degrees of preparedness, the architects and interior designers along with other project stakeholders will now play a critical role in successfully recognizing, evaluating, and exploring smart disruptions and innovations to revive, automate, and connect life spaces. But to re-think, re-strategize and reboot in the aftermath of this unforeseen global pandemic, there is a need to identify a starting point and decisive steps to stay ahead of the curve.