Assembling in the New Normal : Investigating how to achieve a sustainable balancebetween intimacy and safe distance in public space

In the era of a pandemic, public spaces have been reshaped for better, but also for worse. Humans are social beings. We need interaction with others to thrive, but doing this over a screen over a long period of time has proven we must adapt in new ways. “As society begins to build the “new normal” of emergence from the pandemic, efforts to rebuild and strengthen trust and solidarity are of as much importance as the ongoing distribution of vaccines and vigilance against coronavirus variants,” (The EditorsFebruary, 2022, Unpaginated). The transitional restart for issues relating to public spaces in the post pandemic period has highlighted the challenge of making public spaces not only safe to gather, but also vibrant. There is much room for society to start exploring new systems to create safe spaces for the public that veer away from the stale solutions we have implemented. What would happen if we shy away from digital as a social distancing method and instead explore craft or nature as a way of rethinking the new normal? The EditorsFebruary, et al. “The Key to a Post-Pandemic 'New Normal'? Solidarity.”America Magazine, 17 Feb. 2022, https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2022/02/17/covid- omicron-normal-masks-242404