Proxemics Pre- and Post- Covid

 Proxemics is defined as the branch of knowledge that deals with the amount of space that people feel is necessary to set between themselves and others. This was something that Covid-19 had a large impact on. Personally, being from a small town, people before the pandemic would walk up and hug you if they knew you or hadn’t seen you in a while. Although a struggle for many people in my town, after the pandemic began and we were released from our houses, waves were more common than a hug. People finally learned to keep their distance and keep out of one’s personal space, which I appreciated more than most in my hometown.

Photo by: Archilecture


Places such as New York City, which is usually crowded so much that it is a struggle to walk on the sidewalk, went from this chaos:

Photo by: viewing.nyc.com


To this new respect for one another’s space:

Photo by: insider.com


Not only were people more aware of the distance between themselves and others, but people started protecting themselves more with masks, something other countries have been doing even before the pandemic. Although that doesn’t necessarily deal directly with proxemics, it still made people mind the “social distancing” that had been encouraged. 


One article titled “Post-Covid City: Proximity Spaces, Sharing Economy and Phygital” shows the change in proximity through a research-based observation. Their findings were similar to what I have already explained but in much more detail. 


Overall, the proxemics pre-Covid to post-Covid have gotten larger. People are no longer comfortable with people being as close to them as before the pandemic. 





Thank you for reading! Come back next week for another take on the world of Architecture and Design :)



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