Vital Circulations - Biomes, Bodies and Buildings

Venue:This event is now taking place online, via Zoom
Date: 6 January 2022
A White Rose Vital Circulations Network Symposium 
Universities of Leeds, York and Sheffield

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/vital-circulations-biomes-bodies-and-buildings-symposium-tickets-198594991967

This one-day symposium explores fresh perspectives on the biotic life of buildings. It will hear contributions about the changing way the built environment has been shaped by differing and competing architectural priorities and infectious disease events/discourses.

The symposium will bring together contributions from the sociology of health and medicine, medical humanities, engineering, design, architecture, and microbiology.

This symposium asks:
What will it mean to rethink architectural spaces as multispecies environments, in a way that takes more account of the microbiological?
How has the built environment evolved in tandem with the evolution of pathogens?
How is it that different disciplines and stakeholders align or not around biotic priorities?
How might we rethink the significance of air, atmosphere, surfaces, materials and layouts to mutually accommodate the microbial and the human?
How might we envisage a future research agenda that learns from the present and the past to rethink the future of building design?

Background:
Architecture has been lastingly configured microbially. Modernist influences have been understood to be steeped in late C19th pre-germ theory miasmic theories of disease. Progressive building design sought to banish torpid airs, stagnant dark corners, elevating buildings away from damp ground.
The resulting emphasis on larger volume, open designs placed a premium on the free movement of sunlight and fresh air. The use of terraces, glazing, ventilation and other features had intentionally transformed healthcare buildings into therapeutic medical instruments.
The advent of antibiotics and vaccination arguably diminished the importance of building design to control infectious diseases. Covid-19 (and antimicrobial resistance) however has radically reinvigorated the place of spatial design and the built environment in creating safer and liveable biotic environments.

Format: The symposium will be organised around short contributions from a wide range of disciplines with lots of opportunities for discussion and debate. The schedule is available from the Eventbrite page.

########################################################################

To unsubscribe from the MEDHEALTHHUMS list, click the following link:
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=MEDHEALTHHUMS&A=1

This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/MEDHEALTHHUMS, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/