You give me fever : practical protection for metropolitan neuroses

Abstract

The emergence of Swine Flu in the past six months has once again heightened the world's fears of a coming flu pandemic. Although H1N1 is only slightly more pathogenic than the common seasonal flu, which kills approximately 30,000 Americans each year, its rapid transmission around the globe is nonetheless alarming and once again reveals the deficiencies in the government's detection, prevention and response. Currently few governments are adequately prepared for a possible outbreak. After a century of reliance on antibiotics and vaccines, new and reemerging drug-resistant diseases expose the necessity of domestic biosecurity in addition to the national and international policies. Much like social unrest, wars and illnesses have in the past, the new pandemic crisis will shape architecture and urbanism dramatically. It will require a responsive and adaptable architecture that provides a nuanced relationship between living, working and socializing in a manner that does not forsake community for quarantine.