Identification and Prioritization of Cultural Center Design Solutions During Coronavirus and Post-Coronavirus Eras to Increase Social Interactions

Shamaghdari, Zahra; Sahragard-Monfared, Neda Sadat; Taghdir, Samaneh

doi:10.22034/aaud.2024.414338.2816

Identification and Prioritization of Cultural Center Design Solutions During Coronavirus and Post-Coronavirus Eras to Increase Social Interactions

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Zahra Shamaghdari ¹

Neda Sadat Sahragard-Monfared ²

Samaneh Taghdir ³

¹ M.A. of Educational-Cultural Architecture, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.

² Assistant Professor of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.

³ Assistant Professor of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author).

10.22034/aaud.2024.414338.2816

Abstract

Cultural centers gather people in society and enable them to practice cultural activities by laying the groundwork to establish social interactions. Following the outbreak of Coronavirus in 2019, public centers were shut down and governments were forced to take quarantine measures for the public. As the pandemic began to affect social conditions, cultural centers were no longer used as usual. The goal of this study was to provide solutions to design and prioritize cultural centers to increase and strengthen social interactions during the Coronavirus and post-coronavirus eras. Disregard Coronavirus and post-coronavirus eras, the solutions, which were supposed to both increase social interactions and prevent the spread of the virus, were extracted using the descriptive-analytical method and were then comparatively investigated. Commonalities between these two categories of solutions were identified as common components aimed at increasing social interactions in the post-coronavirus era and dealing with the virus in the Coronavirus era. These solutions were then prioritized using a survey method and a questionnaire tool by considering a sample volume of 100 medical and architectural experts using SPSS software and the Friedman Test. Findings showed that ventilation topped the list of priorities, with garden and greenery spaces, security, view and landscape, using vegetation and natural lighting taking the next priorities, respectively. Also, the solution of resiliency was proposed for the category of social and architectural interaction components that seemed likely to conflict with each other such as mixed land use and spatial integrity. Findings showed that the optimal location of openings facing each other and the building’s appropriate orientation against regional winds, as well as terraces with green spaces and product cultivation spaces, green walls, and 24-hour uses, among others, were among the major solutions that could simultaneously improve several common components and influence sociability during the post-coronavirus era. These solutions, it was found, could also help maintain the main function of cultural spaces, i.e., sociability during the possible outbreak of a pandemic.

Keywords

Cultural Centers

Increased Social Interactions

Post-Coronavirus

Coronavirus

Resiliency

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