Does the pandemic leave a chance for people to consume entertainment?

Over the past year, we have come together socially in varied ways, but our ability to gather as a collective in more significant numbers has entirely stopped! As people turn to the internet to help fill the void, OTT platforms are booming, and theatres and cinema halls are left abandoned, grim and desolate. All other local service sectors such as salons and restaurants are opening up, but entertainment zones remain at the bottom of the list.

The state-wise closure of “non-essential” businesses has put jobs at risk and an increased unemployment rate. The architecture of Institutions, be it for schools or college spaces, will never be the same. Entertainment spaces are social spaces at their crux, and a system that tries to separate people becomes the antithesis of its typology. If one needs to rethink entertainment design, one needs to go way beyond this basic concept. Bearing in mind the collapse and turmoil caused by the disorder in entertainment industries, one can not expect a sweeping upgrade in these spaces at the moment. 

The pandemic accentuated the need for flexible healthcare facilities to address the present and future crises. The demand for climate-responsive and biophilic design will vastly increase to create a comforting experience for patients. Perhaps, technology would be devised that can accommodate social interaction and social distancing within the same realm while remaining confined within their micro-environments. 

Another way to relook entertainment design is to change how we perceive these spaces. Lobbies can be redesigned into porous structures that open up to the outside world, allowing breeze and sunlight to wash the interiors. It ultimately boils down to people’s choices, whether they prefer open, airy spaces or enclosed spaces.

While the world is struggling to release itself from the clasps of the pandemic, people are trying to find newer ways to go out, interact and redeem the lifestyles that they had in the pre-pandemic times. While eradicating the deadly disease stays a far-fetched dream, there will be innovations and ideas galore to restore our entertainment spaces to their lively upstate, bustling with people and energy that once offered us the little joys of life.