Herd Immunity Screen Building, Austin Design Project, Texas Property, USA Interior Architecture Images
Herd Immunity Screen in Austin
Jun 14, 2021
Herd Immunity Screen
Design: Forsite Studio
Location: Austin, Texas, USA

Forsite Studio has completed an installation based on the concept of herd immunity. Conceived as a filigreed mask, the screen is part of a larger curtain wall system for a new wellness center in Austin, TX. The geometry of the Herd Immunity Screen is generated by an algorithm with inputs based on epidemiologists? estimates for a COVID-19 herd immunity threshold.

Much like the physical restrictions of COVID-19 infected lungs, solid infill panels limit light and air flow through the screen while completely open panels, reflecting healthy lungs, allow unimpeded light and air flow. The pattern is intended to be an inconspicuous marker reflecting the pandemic era during which it was designed, not unlike a secret codex carved by an ancient stonemason.
Herd immunity is a natural form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population has be-come immune to an infection. During a pandemic, members of a population are either: susceptible, contagious or immune. When those susceptible are shielded by those immune from those contagious there aren?t enough new infections to perpetuate the process, and, over time, the contagion shrinks to zero.

Initiated at the height of the pandemic, the project endeavors to respo...