Build Back Better? Pandemic Lessons for Future Residential Architecture

Previous pandemics have played a major role in the development of modern architecture and urban planning, but what will be the long-term effects of Covid-19 on residential architecture? A series of lockdowns severely influenced our ways of working and living, organizing and using the home, sharing spaces and relating to neighbours and surroundings. During the lockdown, scholars argued that the pandemic was a grey swan causing radical lasting changes (Krastev, 2020), that no turning back to normality was possible (Zizek, 2020) and that the pandemic was not to be seen as a crisis but rather as a condition (Latour, 2021). OECD and other stakeholders claimed that we in the wake of the pandemic must find ways to build back better hence not just return to business as usual to restore economies and livelihoods, but also increase societys sustainability and resilience (OECD, 2020). This article reviews the research literature on housing and residential architecture published during and immediately after the pandemic lockdowns to outline researchers suggestions for enhancing the crisis resilience of housing and residential architecture in the wake of the pandemic. Based on the literature review, we discuss the possible long-term effects of COVID-19 on residential architecture and built environments.