Every Wednesday, our team connects virtually to participate in a Design Huddle. Each week we have a different theme or topic – from sharing design inspiration, engaging each other in thoughtful discussions or just having some down time to connect and check in.
This week we took some inspiration from CityLab, who recently asked readers to draw maps of their worlds during the COVID-19 pandemic. They charted how their homes, neighborhoods and entire cities had restructured during quarantine life. We had our team take on this prompt and draw up their current worlds. Everyone added their own spin to the project and let us see what quarantine life is like for our Asakura Robinson team. Check out some of the responses below!
“Working From Home (WFH) with two cats, one dog, and a professional field-adjacent partner has turned our house into a mini-amusement park of animals. Our not-quite year-old puppy, Omen, oscillates between rooms and objects of affection, chasing our two cats from their napping perches to reminding us at our workstations that she requires constant attention in one form or another.”
“Working from home has recontextualized the space I live in, I’m making a point now to have designated spaces for binge watching tv, reading books, and eating kitchen experiments. I think i’m still working on how to experience outside beyond walks, but my new hammock set up feels like a step in the right direction.”
– Ucha Abbah, Urban Ecological Planning
“My world in New Orleans is mostly my house and garden (including some very resilient banana trees that I am trying to replace with other plantings instead). Loving the natural features in my neighborhood, like our live oaks and jasmine, when I get out for a walk.”
– Alex Miller, Managing Principal
“This is a map of our neighborhood walks. We make a loop a few blocks long when we really want to stretch our legs and my son likes to grab one of the sour oranges from the tree in the bottom right (though he picks from the ground, not the tree – there is so much fallen fruit!). The north eastern route brings us to the neighborhood nature spot where we watch 30+ turtles swim around (and on top of) each other & every now and then a large water snake or an egret will grace us with their presence, too.”
“Our decision to live in a small, downtown apartment with a small kid was always predicated in part on all of the benefits of the city (and our building) around us. At the beginning of all this we were pretty nervous about our lack of space to spread out, but over time we’ve found a nice equilibrium (and started really using our outdoor space). Small places can work well if they’re well designed!”
“I am utilizing all of the indoor and outdoor spaces of my home during this time!”
– Meghan Skornia, Senior Planner
