The Next Normal: Places & Spaces
The impact of the covid-19 pandemic will be felt for generations in our collective conscience. National governments will have to take a hard look at how economic priorities interplay with the health and wellness of her people. While elected officials focus on policy modernization, the rest of us will be faced with the realities of The Next Normal. To paraphrase futurist Gene Roddenberry, space will be the next frontier.
The Ending of Life as We Know It
The efficacy of remote work and online learning isn’t the subject of this conversation. While efficacy is tangentially relevant, our conversation must hone in on the massive #stayhome shift in behavior for students and the working public.
Suddenly, all of our major institutions became unsafe and irrelevant. This happened almost overnight(give or take a couple weeks based on your state’s leadership.) Place has been the driving focus of human activity for centuries. Now, your place is at home.
Why do kids still have bad teachers if they are learning online?
You’re Not Going Anywhere
I’m going to work.
I’m going to school.
These are both statements that infer a place of activity is the destination. Around the world, companies are actually seeing a boost in productivity because work has been transformed from a place of action to an outcome of actions. Learning is happening without going to school. Let that marinate for a moment.
Because That’s They Way We Re-Imagined It
When you remove place from the equation, a whole universe of beautiful questions emerge:
- Do companies need massive travel & expense budgets? Or, should those funds be reallocated and invested in employees to improve and modernize their new home offices? Would that eliminate workplace harassment?
- Why are we still spending money operating a fixed property that has zero productivity, collaboration, and discovery? Do we need all of this space on our balance sheet?
- Why do kids still have bad teachers if they are learning online? Class size is no longer bound by square footage, so can students get the best teacher in a system? Can she get the best teacher in the nation? (I might have just pinched a nerve for some folks now.)
- Now, a Harvard student and a community college student have a similar learning experience. So, what truly differentiates one higher learning institution from another? Do we need all of these colleges and universities with low 4-year graduation rates? (I know, that was mean.)
- If we have to spend so much time at home, should we opt for the house with the pool, the pool table and game room, the media room, a workshop/studio, the library, the retreat, spa, the hibachi grill, the outdoor living room, or just more acreage? (Now you’re starting to spark your imagination.)
- Do we need to continue to fund public education through taxes, lotteries, and bond referendums when we don’t need these buildings, resources, and the number of full-time employees? (Oh snap!)
- Should you live in an apartment community when all of the community amenities are no longer available and you are still paying full rent? (Ooh, another nerve.)
- Is a place for mom really in a nursing home? Or should we build an apartment in the backyard?
- 40% of undergraduate college students dropout with the significant portion of issues being they don’t have support from home. What if they never left home? Would that improve college completion rates?
- Do we need to plan homes with at least 1000 square feet per occupant?
- Do we need to plan facilities with less square feet?
- Will going to work or school become a virtual/augmented reality immersive experience to create the illusion of connection and lifelike face-to-face interactions?
The Next Normal presents more questions than answers at the moment. Yet, it’s clear that space planning and utilization is the next frontier.
The Dark Side of the Two-Income Trap
Today, it has become increasingly difficult for a single person with one income to afford to live alone regardless of a education level. Often, people have to find a life partner or a roommate to have a space to live.
However, covid-19 has revealed the dark side of relationships when there is not enough space to live safely. There has been a spike in domestic violence and child abuse. The confined spaces of stay at home orders are causing latent relationship issues to surface violently for many households.
Leaving or incarceration are no longer easy alternatives when living spaces can’t be mutually enjoyed during a community lock down. Recent news reports have highlighted how people incarcerated for minor offenses may get a death sentence from the coronavirus.
New Schools of Thought and Tools
In The Next Normal, our personal economy and agency is intertwine with the riddle of space. We all need the resources and skills to choose our own destiny. The global pandemic is forcing us to think different.
The Next Normal will require skills that the coronavirus is now making obsolete. Unfortunately, we don’t know what those skills will be. However, whatever comes next won’t look anything like the last new normal. One thing is certain: we will all be digital natives.
Creatives Are The New Gods
Who will solve these problems? Where will the innovation emerge to meet the next frontier?
The next decade belongs to the artisans — the architecture, engineering, construction professionals. They’ll be joined by game developers and virtual reality designers. The innovation will require cultural anthropologists and interior designers to help us navigate work and learning as an experience — not a place.
Masterplan community developers and city planners are going to have to rethink the grand scope of how to use space in The Next Normal.
Like all of life’s pendulum, you don’t want to swing to an extreme that we suddenly run out of space. We have to find a balance between life before covid-19 and The Next Normal.
Welcome to the next frontier. How has your covid-19 cabin fever shifted your thinking on what happens next for your work or learning?
