Six feet. As Covid-19 has torn through the world, that distance has come to define daily life. Six feet is how far we stand from other shoppers or the space we try to maintain while catching up with a friend.
It's painfully clear that our world has been constructed for a reality that no longer exists. Crowded subway cars, packed restaurants, and bustling sidewalks all pose a threat every time someone nearby sneezes, talks, or even just breathes.
Eventually, architects and engineers will reconstruct the world around us to take into account the pandemic — and others that may follow. Temporary plexiglass barriers and markings on the floor may give way to designs that favor privacy and small groupings of people to limit the spread of pathogens.