Program is an Algorithm
The project uses agent-based simulation to study the movement patterns of people in a previous sanatorium facility and designs a new typology based on the findings.
In conventional sanatoriums, such as Hoffmann’s Purkersdorf and Aalto’s Paimio Sanatorium, have architectural programs based on area and adjacency, using circulation to connect different functional rooms. However, the COVID quarantine facility in 2020 presents an alternative approach. Program in here no longer means area and adjacency, program is an algorithm: It is defined by a duration of movement. Those activities are scripted to agents, their movement pattern defines program.
An agent-based simulation reveals three unique points:
- Patients are clustered into phases. The 14-day quarantine journey is divided into sections based on the frequency of care required from doctors. Patients travel from Phase 1 to Phase 3 and then leave the building.
- Instead of patients walking to different function rooms, robots deliver food and amenities to people.
- The COVID facility, on the other hand, serves as a social condenser, bringing different people together. Patients find friends, and merchants discover new opportunities.
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