Tag: CUBES

Thinking Ahead, Moving Forward

Entrances manned by security guards. Haphazardly placed paper signage for directions. Navigating endless tape to get in and out of buildings. Getting around the city can feel very much like entering a war zone nowadays. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted our everyday lives but our urban landscape too. The sudden need for new screening protocols has led to many makeshift solutions that have upended the design of places and fragmented them into ugly, awkward and even dead spaces.

While once regarded as temporary inconveniences, measures such as screening and social distancing look likely to become a permanent part of our everyday with cities planning to live with Covid-19 as an endemic disease. How they are integrated into our built environment needs to be re-examined lest they permanently remake the city into a fortress.

➜ Read the full column in CUBES #102 — Rethink, Reinvent

Rethinking the City from Home

How can a city adapt towards a more flexible way of living and working? Columnist Justin Zhuang reflects on his own work-from-home experience and shares his observations.

When I first began working from home a decade ago, most of my friends were amazed it actually worked. Or that I actually did work. Fast forward to 2020, and it has become a reality for most. The pandemic has changed how traditional office are used and led many to turn their homes into workspaces. What was meant to be temporary is becoming a new normal as companies rethink their setup to support working from home.

➜ Read the full column in CUBES #101 — Make It Work

Welcome To A Brand’s New World

Our everyday lives are increasingly intertwined with the digital. But are brands succeeding at welcoming customers to their virtual spaces? Some are forging enticing new pathways, writes regular columnist Justin Zhuang

Flame wars, social media envy and fake news are just some examples of how the online world can incite emotions – often by design. Interactions that encourage snap judgements and the ease of them going viral has resulted in highly emotive spaces that are often polarising too. The digital revolution has not only disrupted how we interact as individuals but also with brands. On the one hand, brands can have deeper and more meaningful conversations with their customers. But they also have to be on their toes. A single angry customer rant or a misstep by a brand can be amplified quickly and often disproportionately, if not dealt with correctly.

➜ Read the full column in CUBES #99 — Emotive Spaces