Haven, Refuge, or Prison: The Concept of Home During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Dak Kopec
5 min readMay 2, 2020

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Pandemics are not new to humanity; neither is the response to isolate. During the Great Plague, people suspected of having the disease were barricaded in their homes. Social distancing and isolation have been consistent factors to prevent and contain the spread of disease. However, the ability to maintain social distancing in an overpopulated world, and to self-isolate when one feels ill, is nearly impossible because most populations within of the United States need to work to pay their bills. In 2018, more than 50% of the US population had less than $1,000 in their savings account (Huddleston, 2019).

The issue is more complicated than the ability to stay home when sick; it is the spread of bacterial or viral infections from person to person. Each time a disease-causing agent infects a new host, there is an increased probability of mutation and the formation of a new strain. Today, there are multiple strains of tuberculosis (TB), some of which are drug-resistant. Similarly, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has more than 60 strains, and recently a new strain was discovered (Weintraub, 2019).

Despite the millions of lives claimed by diseases, such as TB and HIV, COVID-19 has raised multiple alarms. Unlike TB, treatment options are not available for a person that contracts the virus. Also, HIV is hard to acquire because it requires the direct exchange of bodily fluids and specific environmental conditions. Conversely, COVID-19, which is highly contagious, spreads through droplets and can live outside of the body for extended periods. The combination of easy transmission and no treatment options equates to high rates of hospitalizations and deaths.

COVID-19 is only one of the coronaviruses affecting human populations. In 2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was identified in Asia but contained before causing a pandemic (CDC 2017). In 2009, N1H1, a version of SARS, threatened the lives of many throughout the world. Then, in 2012, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) was identified in Saudi Arabia (CDC 2019). SARS and MERS are coronaviruses previously known by scientists. COVID-19 is a new and unknown strain. The rise of these viruses is multifactorial. Overpopulation and habitat destruction followed by economic inequities and the increase in globalization all serve to fuel pandemic conditions.

For the first time in modern civilization, much of the world’s populations were requested to stay at home and limit their contact with others. Requiring one’s home to satisfy each occupants’ work and recreational needs have likely affected their conceptualization of home. Has the home become a refuge to hide from the virus? Has it become a prison with the virus serving as the guard? Or, has the home become a haven where one can go about their life relatively unaffected?

The answer to these questions depends on the person and the affordances their home offers. For the wealthy person who resides in a suburban McMansion complete with a backyard, home office, media room, home gym, and game room, the home is likely a haven. For the person of modest means, the average house, condo, or townhome, likely serves as a refuge where one person can work in the bedroom, others exercise in the living room, and the children complete their online assignments in the kitchen/dining room.

The third group of people may not find their home to be a refuge or haven. These are people who reside in a 300 square foot micro-apartment (not to be confused with a tiny house), live with roommates but share no social bonds, or a family that resides in a small apartment. In these situations, the home may serve as a place of stress rather than a place to relax. The experiences acquired during confinement to one’s home will likely have a profound consequence on how we will view our homes moving forward.

Because there’s no vaccine for this virus, the practice of social distancing and the implications related to economic recovery will come together to continue shaping and defining each person’s concept of home. The ability to work or find entertainment at a local coffee shop will likely be limited. Many of the coffee shops in Boston, for example, are small, and with social distance requirements in place, very few will be allowed to remain inside. Hence, the ability to work and engage in recreational activities will likely remain a function of the home.

Similarly, companies, schools, and government agencies will likely be looking for ways to reduce their budgets while concurrently complying with social distancing regulations. Transitioning the labor market and student body to a remote format will free up hundreds of thousands of dollars in operational and maintenance costs while promoting social distancing. Hence, we are likely to see a decline in physical footprints and a rise in the digital world.

Then, of course, there are the people. Many people have been traumatized by the fear of contracting the virus. This fear will likely contribute to PTSD symptoms and develop into enochlophobia (anxiety of crowds) or agoraphobia (fear of being helpless). Others might enjoy the benefits of remote working and opt to retain this mode of work. Will these people then leave the urban cores for a more rural lifestyle?

Studying the conceptualizations of the home before COVID-19, during COVID-19 lockdown, and post COVID-19 emergence will be interesting. Most of the world’s governments have done a spectacular job of slowing the death toll from the virus, but this success has come at the expense of the economy. Some experts suggest that we may emerge on the other side of this pandemic in a full-scale depression. Even if only a recession, many people will experience complete financial ruin, families may have to cohabitate to stay afloat, and many will evaluate their life’s direction.

The COVID-19 lockdown has demonstrated that most jobs and education can be remote. Early indications suggest that it will be the Architectural and Interior Design professions who are responsible for the designed environment, including our homes, that will see the most dramatic changes. The future implications of this pandemic are unknown. Still, history has taught us that early adapters will prevail, moderate adapters will survive, and those who cannot adapt will be left behind. Kurt Vonnegut coined the phrase, “You can’t fight progress. The best you can do is ignore it until it finally takes your livelihood and self-respect away.” I say that you can’t fight evolution. The best you can do is avoid becoming a casualty.

Centers of Disease Control (Last reviewed: August 2, 2019). Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Retrieved May 1, 2020 from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/index.html

Centers of Disease Control (last reviewed: December 6, 2017). Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Retrieved May 1, 2020 from: https://www.cdc.gov/sars/index.html

Huddleston, C. (15 May 2019). 58% of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings, Survey Finds. Yahoo Finance, retrieved April 30, 2020 from: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/58-americans-less-1-000-090000503.html

Mesel-Lemoine, M., Millet, J., Vidalain, P-O., Law, H., Vabret, A., Lorin, V., Escriou, N., Albert, M.L., Nal, B., and Tangy, F. (2012). A Human Coronavirus Responsible for the Common Cold Massively Kills Dendritic Cells but Not Monocytes. Journal of Virology, 86,114, 7577–7587.

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Dak Kopec

Dak Kopec is an Architectural Psychologist in the School of Architecture at UNLV. He is a two-time award-winning author of several books on health & wellbeing