01 / Epidemic Matrix

- The Epidemic isolation ward

What can architecture respond to a epidemic outbreak? How can a building contribute to healthcare infrastructure?

Year: 2022.6 — 2022.8

Instructor: Mingya Hsu

Site Location: Qingan community, Ningbo, China

The epidemic matrix is a respond to the current coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China. The project takes into consideration that an epidemic outbreak is usually fast and will spread quickly especially in high-density Chinese communities. Under these harsh circumstances, a weak healthcare infrastructure will soon be torn apart turning the epidemic into a deadly catastrophe.

Based on this background, Chinese government usually encourage people to isolate themselves at home. Due to the fact, this project inquires how the traditional Chinese residencial buildings will react rapidly towards the epidemic. By hanging a translusent medical wall, which contains the circulation system, wards and mecial centre, it realizes the circulation division of residents, doctors and patients, as well as becoming a new facade in the urban level. People could know the current situation of Covid-19 in their community by counting the numbers of the wards. At the end of the epidemic, only the structure will remains and it will become the outdoor activity platform for the local residents.

From March 25th to March 31st

From April 1st to April 9th

From April 10th to April 24th

The first four weeks of infection

Since COVID-19 has a strong infection rate, it will affect the surrounding city at a very fast speed if it does not control in time after a city has erupted. As the economic lifeline of China, the Yangtze River Delta has a very high population density and flow speed. Based on the background of the outbreak of Shanghai in March 2022, the picture shows how COVID-19 spread from Shanghai city to the major cities in the Yangtze River Delta, such as Ningbo.