Hasta La Ideas

Daily coronavirus briefing: today’s architecture and design coronavirus briefing includes hacks for hands-free door opening, the Serpentine Pavilion postponement and the widths of New York’s sidewalks.

Widths of New York’s sidewalks mapped to demonstrate difficulty of social distancing

Urban planner Meli Harvey has created an interactive map (shown above) that tells users the widths of all of New York‘s sidewalks, or pavements, to show whether it is possible to effectively social distance on them (via Sidewalkwidths.nyc).

Five handle hacks for hands-free door opening

To lessen the threat of spreading the coronavirus, designers are creating door-handle adapters that remove the need for direct contact. Here are five of the most interesting door-handle hacks (via Dezeen).

Ron Arad launches “Smile for our NHS” fundraiser with masks featuring famous artists

Celebrities including Stephen Fry, David Baddiel and Elizabeth Hurley have modelled face masks designed by Ron Arad that will be sold to raise money for the UK’s National Health Service (via Dezeen).

Dyson says its ventilator not needed by UK government

James Dyson has told employees at Dyson that the ventilator his company has developed at the cost of £20 million is not needed by the UK government as demand has not risen to expected levels (via BBC).

Artists display messages for key workers on Times Square billboards

Times Square Arts has coordinated a program to place 22 works of art, chosen by New York design museum Poster House and Print Magazine, on billboards in Times Square and other locations in the city (via AdWeek).

Serpentine Pavilion 2020 postponed until next year due to coronavirus

The opening of this year’s Serpentine Pavilion, designed by South African architecture studio Counterspace, has been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic (via Dezeen).

Coronavirus has “blown apart the myth of Silicon Valley innovation” says MIT Technology Review

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the USA’s lack of technology innovation, with America’s tech firms responding weakly to the virus, says David Rotman writing in the MIT Technology Review (via MIT Technology Review).

Antony Gormley shares seven-day Instagram diary of life in lockdown

British sculptor Antony Gormley is among a handful of artists who have collaborated with White Cube gallery to document their life and work in lockdown via Instagram, in a bid to stay connected during the coronavirus pandemic (via Dezeen).

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.

The post Daily coronavirus architecture and design briefing: 27 April appeared first on Dezeen.