The post-pandemic challenge: can indoor spaces become safe again?
And finally, in the challenge of creating new safe built environments, an important role will also be played by interventions based on neuroscience, psychology and behavioral sciences.
“Covid-19 represented a topical moment, marking a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ in the time axis of many disciplines. In space psychology, this has been particularly evident,” Dr Alessandra Micalizzi , psychologist and co-author of the book Psychology of life. Marketing, architecture and neurosciences for the development of new housing models explain to Domus.
Micalizzi illustrated how, during the pandemic, the way we perceive and relate to spaces has changed dramatically. “Some have experienced the domestic space with deep pleasure and well-being, others have seen it as a prison or a box. The Covid-19 has totally changed our perception of familiar spaces. According to the psychologist, our houses have become the symbol of isolation, semi-outdoor spaces such as balconies and terraces have turned into bridges to the outside world and social participation, while public places (at least for some) could still be synonymous with anxiety or fear. .
“This is called the ‘hut syndrome’, a feeling of being closed to the outside world which leads to a more moderate reconquest of spaces and, sometimes, even characterized by fear,†explains Micalizzi. “This attitude depends a lot on the proximity of his experience of the virus. “
Returning to the relationship to the space before Covid will not be easy, but at least it will be possible to familiarize yourself, socialize and gradually regain possession of the external environment by reconstructing old routines (“How to choose to go out and give a delivery instead, â€says the psychologist) and maintaining the precautions introduced during the pandemic, such as social distancing, face masks, hand sanitization, distant greetings, etc.
In any case, what seems certain is that “to regain possession of the external environment, it will be necessary to rewrite new habits and it will be necessary to work as much on the architecture as on the behavior”, concludes Micalizzi.