Applications of Design for Infection Control in Shelters and Affordable Housing

In todays’s podcast Wilma Noah and Krystal Cedeno Training and Development Specialist of the Native Learning Center sit and talk with Joseph Kunkel Executive Director of MASS Design Group. The novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19 has the potential to be devastating for Indian Country. As COVID-19 starts to become a threat to our communities, our housing, healthcare systems, and other essential spaces, facilities will struggle to meet the needs of its inhabitants, and surges will rely on the quick mobilization of “temporary” spaces. Shelters that are meant as “pop-ups” usually end up being used for much longer than intended, some beyond 20 years. Whether erecting a tent clinic or retrofitting a lobby, decisions we make now will have long term effects on institutions and communities. When the spigots of relief dollars begin flowing to temporary structures invest in spaces that will last for a year, not a month. Architecture has a crucial role during this pandemic.