Subway Tile
Have a seat
Upstate New York saw the construction of the sanitarium industry to house and treat the patients suffering from tuberculosis. At least by Victorian standards, there were large and unadorned buildings and cottages set out in the dry healthy air of the mountains. Sunlight and fresh air were the treatment, so daybeds and chairs that were light enough to be moved out onto open porches or glassed in sunrooms provided comfort. With tilting backs and seats, wide arm rests for belongings or a rest to elevate the feet, these were the forerunners of the Lay Z Boy and of course, the Adirondack chair.
The Pit Stop
Daily deliveries of coal, oil and ice were messier than the FedEx and Instacart deliveries we have today. These items weren’t dropped at the door with no contact, they were brought right into the kitchen or cellar and if the delivery man needed to use the bathroom, a conveniently located place, away from the family baths was safer. Having a sink by the front or back doors allowed hand washing by everyone — a critical part of safe hygiene back then and now.
Porches
Back to upstate New York where the sanitaria porches were used daily and in all kinds of weather — imagine being on the porch in Saranac Lake in deep February? Sleeping porches became a trend that is still seen in older homes. When a turn of the last century home has an odd little room or porch jutting out from the second or third floor, chances are this was a sleeping porch. An unheated room furnished with beds so the sleeper could be out in fresh air throughout the night — it was better than an open window!
Now What?
With coronavirus, it’s too early to tell what design changes we will see coming into public and residential spaces. Is this the end of the open concept floor plan, now that we’ve been working and taking meetings, making calls, homeschooling children, fostering animals?
Will the desire for a home office or “Zoom Room” outweigh walk-in closets or home theaters? Will furniture design for the masses include the Capsule Chair by Kateryna Sokolova for Casala? Shaped like a Tic Tac with sound insulating materials inside and out, you can work out loud in the middle of an office or home without disturbing others or being disturbed by their noise. Perfect for those Zoom meetings.
Current guidelines of masks, distancing and sanitation will create new designs and ways of living in and building our homes. Disease is once again redesigning our lives.
