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MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2020
Sunlight, fresh air and self-contained neighbourhoods:
COVID-19 will change urban design, say architects
The view from a new linear skypark across the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES/ANN
BANGKOK (THE STRAITS TIMES/
ANN) - A new linear park across
the Chao Phraya River will open in
Bangkok later this month. Built on
an abandoned rail structure, it is
perhaps a itting icon of how urban
landscapes can be adapted for life
in the COVID19 era.
The pandemic triggered lock-
downs that shuttered economic
life but also spurred new thinking
about urban design in Southeast
Asia. Access to sunlight, fresh air
and greenery - elements often sac-
ri iced in the race to pack more
people and activity into precious
real estate - will gain currency, said
regional architects interviewed by
The Straits Times
.
People will gravitate towards
self-contained
neighbourhoods
and seek to reconnect with na-
ture to make up for the isolation
brought on by remote working and
e-commerce, they said.
Thai
landscape
architect
Kotchakorn Voraakhom, whose
irm helped create the new Bang-
kok skypark, said public spaces will
need a rethink as societies adjust to
new physical distancing needs.
"It's not just about trying to add
more public green space, but also
to think about the 'wasted' space
that we actually have in the city, and
what can be done to it so that we
can focus more on public health,"
she said during a recent preview of
the skypark.
Spanning 280m, the new facil-
ity connects two parks on the river
banks of inner Bangkok. It features
sheltered nooks, terraced lookout
points over the water, as well as
local plants specially selected for
their hardy qualities.
Kotchakorn,
who
created
Asia's largest urban rooftop farm
in Thailand's Thammasat Univer-
sity, said even existing parks cre-
ated largely for aesthetic reasons
should be adapted for current
needs, and perhaps have their
choice of plants reviewed to pro-
mote biodiversity.
Ni Nyoman Dessy Anggadewi,
an Indonesia-based architect from
Singapore irm Goy Architects,
expects more interest in self-con-
tained developments that will allow
residents to walk or cycle to work,
or run their errands.
"We will still have big malls… but
I think there will be growth of small-
er-scale working spaces, or small
pockets of green space around the
city," she said. "The urban fabric
may change from these big pat-
terns into smaller 'dots' around
the city."
Similarly, Phnom Penh-based
Hun Chansan from Re-edge Archi-
tecture and Design thinks these
self-sustainable neighbourhoods
are the way to go.
"On an urban scale, cities need
more green parks. On a neighbour-
hood scale, people need pockets
of green spaces," he said. "And on
a building scale, people need out-
door spaces that are adjacent to
what's indoors, to allow fresh air to
low through buildings."
Adjustments can be made even
in densely built-up environments,
architects said.
"During the lockdown… we had
no choice but to live slowly. We rea-
lised that waking up to sunshine and
the sound of nature is much better
than waking to an alarm in a dark
room," said Tran Thi Ngu Ngon from
Vietnamese irm Tropical Space.
Future social distancing or
quarantine needs, she said, can
be met by introducing green walls
in buffer zones like backyards of
each building.
"We can surround a block or
group of buildings with netting of
plants, which can be opened or
closed," she said. "In some cases
we may have to sacri ice some liv-
ing area for the green buffer zone."
But the city as a whole will become
more beautiful, she said.
Future building designs will
likely incorporate more hands-free
technology and seating layouts
where co-workers do not face one
another. Yet overly sterile environ-
ments could also stir a yearning for
connection, said architects.
"The drawback of digitalisation
is the possibility of increased cabin
fever, where people don't feel con-
nected and people feel even more
isolated," said Goy Architects' prin-
cipal architect Goy Zhenru. People
might start to lean more towards
building materials with natural
properties as they put them at ease,
she said.
"People will start to say no, I
want to feel well in the space, that
wellness is more important," she
said. "If I stay in a sterile box, I can
live for a hundred years, but I don't
see the point."
Bolivian schoolteacher gives virtual classes as superhero
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (AP) - Sometimes,
Jorge Manolo Villarroel is Spider-
Man. Sometimes, he's The Flash,
or the Green Lantern.
But he's always a teacher - one
who lives out his childhood dreams
by dressing up as superheroes for
the locked-down students who at-
tend his virtual classes.
His classes have become so
popular that siblings ight for the
laptop screen to learn from this
costumed teacher. They, in turn,
often offer him tech help.
"They arrive to the virtual
classes before me and the irst
surprise is to guess which super-
hero will appear on the screen,"
said Villarroel.
At 33, Villarroel speaks with
the passion of a child. His modest
room is illed with the masks and
costumes of his characters, along
with images of revolutionary Che
Guevara and his parents.
Villarroel, who lives in a poorer
neighbourhood of the Bolivian
capital, teaches art at the San Ig-
nacio Catholic School in a wealth-
ier area. His students range from
nine to 14 years old.
"Hey teacher! You have to an-
chor the image ... Go to the screen
of your cellphone and look for a
small one," a student told Villar-
roel; the teacher, dressed as The
Flash, explained to his youngest
students how to put together a
mosaic of geometric igures using
coloured leaves.
"For years, they have entered
our adult world, now it's time for
us to open up to their world, which
is chat," he said. "When they speak
they can be limited, but in chat they
expand, they become the teachers
and show me applications."
The class begins with a Zumba-
style warm up (Villarroel is also a
Zumba instructor), followed by a
prayer and then superhero music,
to set the proper atmosphere.
Forty- ive students follow the
online classes. Villarroel himself
makes the costumes he wears. "I
had to improvise since with the
quarantine I couldn't get out."
At times, with his glasses, he
looks as much like a disc jockey
in front of a computer as a super-
hero. His tiny dog Coquito sleeps
obliviously on his lap.
"Education stagnated in tradi-
tional molds. After the pandemic
everything will change, including
education," he said.
Many schools, especially pri-
vate ones like Villarroel's, have
been teaching online since March.
But in Bolivia, the poorest coun-
try in South America, the Internet
is slow, expensive and available
only in large cities and towns. In
many poor rural areas, electricity
is only just arriving and television
still relatively new. Some complain
that virtual classes are only avail-
able to those who have the money
to buy a computer or cellphone,
worsening the country's already
large spread between the rich
and poor.
"Even in my private school
there are children who do not have
a good cellphone," Villarroel ac-
knowledged. "But we are in a time
of change."
Art teacher Jorge Manolo Villarroel, wearing a Spider-Man costume,
teaches an online class from his home, amid the new coronavirus
pandemic in La Paz, Bolivia. PHOTO: AP