Dezeen Magazine

Daily coronavirus architecture and design briefing: 1 April

Daily coronavirus architecture and design briefing: 1 April

Daily coronavirus briefing: today's architecture and design coronavirus briefing includes a low-cost ventilator, a hospital in Central Park, Salone del Mobile mask collection and brands including IKEA promoting staying at home.

Engineers in India developing low-cost ventilator

Engineers at Nocca Robotics in the western Indian city of Pune are developing a ventilator that will cost 50,000 rupees (£530), which is around a third of the cost of other ventilators available in the country (via BBC).

IKEA, Guinness, VW and Nike encourage social distancing and staying home

Many brands are altering their logos to promote social distancing and creating adverts to encourage staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic (via Dezeen).

Salone del Mobile coordinates collection of half a million surgical masks

The Salone del Mobile furniture fair has worked with VNU Exhibitions Asia and FederlegnoArredo to collect more that 500,000 surgical masks at the Italian Embassy in Beijing, which will be delivered to the Red Cross to be distributed in Italy (via Salone del Mobile).

Working from home "the new normal" for architects and designers

Coronavirus lockdowns will have a profound impact on how creative businesses work in future, according to architects and designers including Carlo Ratti Associati, BIG, Snøhetta and Pearson Lloyd (via Dezeen).

Some self-employed overlooked by UK government's coronavirus support packages 

Thousands of self-employed people in the UK who pay themselves a salary from their own limited company could miss out on support from the government as they will struggle to be included in either the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme or the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (via Design Week).

Empire State Building lit up like an emergency siren

The New York skyscraper illuminates in flashing red lights at night to honour those working in the medical services during the pandemic. The adaptation to the 102-storey-tall Empire State Building, however, has left some city residents more anxious (via The New Post).

College students recreating closed campuses in Minecraft

Students at colleges including Boston University, UCLA and Northwestern University are recreating their campuses in Minecraft, with University of Pennsylvania holding its graduation inside the game (via The Verge).

Central Park and naval ship form temporary hospitals in New York

A field hospital comprising 68 beds in white tents opened in New York's famed Central Park yesterday. It is part of efforts to support the city's overflowing hospitals amid the pandemic, after a Navy hospital ship was docked on Manhattan's West Side and the Javits Convention Center was also converted into a temporary hospital (via The New York Times).

Postponed Copenhagen Architecture Festival launches open call for digital coronavirus content

The Copenhagen Architecture Festival, which was due to take place 23 April - 3 May, has launched two open calls. The first asks for people to submit their thoughts on how the pandemic will impact the built environment, while the seconds asks people to reflect on  their own homes (via Copenhagen Design Festival Instagram).

Design Museum launches Digital Design Calendar

The Design Museum has launched a new calendar of online content in light of the temporary closure of its landmark building, with activities to start from 1 April 2020 (via the Design Museum).

Keep up with developments by following Dezeen's coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. For news of impacted events, check Dezeen Events Guide's dedicated coronavirus page.