The following piece was originally published on Arab News here. Matthew Tribe is a Principal at CRTKL.
We have all heard the term “unprecedented” used many times in the last year. The global coronavirus pandemic is truly one of the greatest disruptions of modern life, which has impacted every aspect of our lives in ways we couldn’t possibly have imagined in 2019.
It is for this reason that, perhaps now more than ever, we need to remember the role and purpose of arts and culture in our lives. From a personal perspective, it enriches our lives by providing an opportunity for escapism and tapping into our emotions. But it is also so much more than that.
Arts and culture has a significant role to play in strengthening our economy, health and well-being, and society and education. We call this “placemaking” — the connection between people and places, loosely defined as a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces.
With the travel and tourism sector navigating new realities, changing travel policies and reduced traveler confidence, an estimated $3.4 trillion in global gross domestic product could be lost. As a result, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has unfortunately reduced the culture sector to a trickle. To put this into perspective, many museums around the world are currently closed — and it is estimated that more than 10 percent of them may never reopen. With many cultural organizations relying on a specific number of annual admissions to maintain operations, prolonged closures and reduced visitation present significant challenges.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. As we consider the future of cultural spaces, there is an opportunity to offer visitors a more meaningful experience — safer and sooner than traditional retail and entertainment venues. To drive visitor traffic, an effective response must be informed by evolving visitor expectations.
The Middle East region has an advantage over many other parts of the world in this respect. This is largely due to the rapid implementation of safety guidelines and legislative changes that support the bounce-back of the tourism sector, as well as its comparative modernity and innovativeness in building design. This means that spaces can be more easily adapted to changing environmental requirements. A specific and exciting example of a new cultural space is the recent opening of the Museum of the Future in Dubai — a building designed by an algorithm, with innovation truly at the heart of the concept.
There is an opportunity to offer visitors a more meaningful experience — safer and sooner than traditional retail and entertainment venues
Matthew Tribe
This is where placemaking comes to the fore. It encourages footfall and social interaction, enhances mobility, accessibility and walkability, with cultural, retail and hospitality offerings adapted to align with community requirements. Essentially, if the right foundations are put in place through experienced master planning, people and culture will follow. For example, there is a new wave of giga-projects in the region, which by definition each exceed $10 billion in cost and are hailed as the most ambitious projects on Earth, utilizing technology, sustainability and natural landscapes.
The culture scene will adapt in many ways to encourage people back into its spaces. As agents of change, we see these transformations leading to smaller gatherings indoors or outdoors, which provide a more intimate experience — a less-crowded gallery space will create more special moments for visitors.
Continued social distancing can be addressed by temporary and new construction, redesigns of public spaces and unidirectional circulation, as well as changes to programs and policies. Touch-free experiences can also be achieved through redesigning spaces, creating new visitor policies, using personal protective equipment while inside, and digital applications.
It is also important to ensure clean air throughout spaces. Like any other public space, visitors will expect improved heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, and reduced risks of airborne transmission. This means that cultural spaces need to tell a better story about building systems and cleaning efforts.
Visiting galleries and museums is a physically active experience. However, people also need places to sit, rest, talk and take in the experience. Post-COVID-19 visitor journeys will need to be remapped to consider new optimal occupancies, new visit durations and opportunities for minimal-contact rest areas.
Today’s uncertainties drive debate about the future of our built environment. The fact of the matter is that people will never stop learning, looking for beauty, and searching for better ways to understand themselves. As such, people will naturally return to cultural spaces. Innovation will be the key to success in the sector’s COVID-19 response and how it attracts and retains visitors.
The future of our cultural built environment will be driven by adaptability, flexibility and visitor engagement. Our hope is that, as we recover from the global pandemic and are able to support the bounce-back of the region’s culture scene through re-envisioning spaces, this will drive increased local and tourist confidence, and therefore footfall, by creating safe and inspiring spaces for a future full of arts, culture and education.