Necessity really is the mother of invention, and full-blown crisis is especially effective for driving innovation. In March, this very thought led me to begin researching the commercial ramifications of the last great pandemic. Specifically, I wanted to know what products may have been spawned by the influenza pandemic of 1918-1920.
My initial research proved disappointing. I found hand soaps and interesting face masks, but there wasn’t one Bauhaus-inspired sneeze guard, or anything of that ilk.
When I broadened my search, the novelty quotient leapt off the charts. I Googled my way into this wonderful list that proved my suspicion — that invention is born out of crisis — in a most comprehensive and entertaining way.
I learned, for example, that M&M’S were inspired by a candy distributed to soldiers during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. They needed a chocolate that wouldn’t melt in the heat.
Duct tape came from a worker in an ordnance factory during WWII. She wanted to make it easier for soldiers to open boxes of ammunition in the field, so she created a tape that provided a dependable seal that could also be torn open easily.
Gensler is currently working with manufacturers on the design of over 20 products influenced by the current pandemic. Crisis, as it turns out, not only sparks innovation, but it also causes teams to coalesce around a common goal. As a result, the ideas have been coming in fast and furious from around the firm, often driven by the expressed needs of our architecture and interiors clients. The trick is to innovate in a way that not only responds to the immediate situation but that also provides enduring value — not unlike M&M’S and duct tape.
Product design in times of crisis must be especially farseeing in its conception, because while the investment in development (for the manufacturer) and acquisition (for the end user) is concrete and significant, the future is less than certain. The shifting imperatives of a fast-changing landscape — whether driven by medical science or government policy or social norms — can make today’s necessity tomorrow’s close-out. As such, the product should make sense beyond the crisis and be purposeful regardless of circumstance.
One thing most people can agree on is that a “health hangover” will be with us for years to come. Post-vaccine, people’s focus on hygiene will continue to be elevated, so it’s no surprise that many of Gensler’s endeavors are focused on products that will foster a cleaner built environment.