“Nothing inspires cleanliness more than an unexpected guest,” said lifestyle author, Radhika Mundra, long before the arrival of coronavirus and the subsequent cleaning crusade that swept across the world. There is a growing sense that the world has changed, that things will be different after we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, “a new normal” the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, called it in a press briefing yesterday. What does that really mean, in practice? Major events change our society. After a magnitude 7.9 earthquake destroyed 80% of San Francisco in 1906, the city found the motivation, resolve, and technical innovation to become a global pioneer of earthquake-proof architecture. The devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 triggered a wave of improvement for coastal defenses. While 9/11 increased surveillance culture and changed airport security, for good and for bad, around the world. COVID-19 is more global than all those events and the changes it promises to inspire […]