Vitruvio International journal of Architecture Technology and Sustainability Volume 5 Is 1 VII EDITORIAL There is a book, El amor en tiempos de cólera by the Colombian writer and Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez, which tells the story of those who knew how to live a deep love giving meaning and values to own existences in the age of cholera. Even today, the whole world is lost and the fear of death seems to prevail over every other feeling. For more than two months, the world has put aside many of the issues, let us say common ones, to concentrate just on one: how to solve the Covid-19 pandemic that, unexpectedly, is involuntarily changing our life. It is not something new, more than a hundred years ago the so- called Spanish fever; a name given by the arrival of the disease in Spain, already created a situation of social panic worldwide. It needs to be acknowledged that Spain remained neutral in the First World War, what helped not to censor the reports on the disease and its consequences, unlike what happened in those countries at war to not to undermine the spirits of soldiers. From similar circumstances as regards the form of affection to the human organs, only the brotherhood, which is also love, could palliate a disease that, two years later, disappeared as it had arrived, that is to say, without leaving a trace. On this occasion, there has also been love, one without measure or shame paid by the health system’ workers, without exception, towards the sick and affected by WKLV� HYLO� YLUXV�� )RU� WKH� UHFRUG�� PDJQLÓFHQW� %DQNV\ÏV� painting donated to the hospital of Southampton in which a child is playing with his new hero dressed as a nurse. That love has been recognized and gratefully corresponded every day through applauses and actions that highlight, despite being isolated, some in their protective suits, others in their homes, that we are not alone. As the days go by, we see how revealing this time of ‘cholera’ is. Nature wakes up less threatened, water runs cleaner, seas are less contaminated, the air is fresher, and the blue colour of the sky is announcing an environmental improvement hopefully. Animals are leaving their natural habitat and walk through urban centres, in front of fashionable shop windows, pharmacies and hospitals, and in front of the heroes who never sleep. It seems they feel comfortable, relaxed, what a paradox: they are loose wandering while we are placed on lockdown. Perhaps we deserve it. This situation, on the one hand, devastating and on WKH�RWKHU�UHYHDOLQJ��KDV�RQO\�DIÓUPHG�ZKDW�ZH�DOUHDG\� imagined, but we could not demonstrate without stopping our activity. Now, we know the concept of sustainability, or the acceptable, relies on our decisions and therefore, on our actions. If this time of ‘cholera’ has been useful, it is to demonstrate that human values still prevail in a permanently changing world. The most important thing is to acknowledge that people have been able to manage their daily life alone, reinventing themselves and courageously acquiring a unique degree of personal responsibility. Governments, except for those ruled out by women, just have articulated a message full of improvisations, errors and situations of little or no credibility. We, citizens, have not failed, let us congratulate ourselves..., we have done well. Without doubt, this is a time to learn, but it is also a time to recognize mistakes and to face up effective HQYLURQPHQWDO�VROXWLRQV�DQG�VWUDWHJLHV�ZLWK�D�GHÓQLWH� and renovating air, which in turn will guarantee a much more hopeful future than the moment we are living in. Many concepts will have to change when it comes to designing, for example, architecture. It has become clear that our houses do not respond to conditions of comfort for extended stays. We do not have convertible spaces, but blocked-up ones, which condition any family, social, working or private manoeuvres... Oh, yes! we are familiar with terms such as smart working but where? ..., how? ..., on-line teaching, but where? ..., how? ... From this moment, we have to think that the standard model of housing project does not serve; or rather, it is not useful. Urban infrastructures need redesign as well to leave more space for future social VWDQGDUGV� �H�J�� WUDQVSRUW�� SODQHV�� HWF��� DQG� LQ� WXUQ�� be environmentally less aggressive. It is a full-blown reorganization in many cases, and this is, unfortunately, the price to pay; furlough people and job losses that will change the previous social and commercial model. ,Q�WKH�WHFKQRORJLFDO�ÓHOG�WKDW�FRQFHUQV�DUFKLWHFWXUH�� LW�SHUKDSV�ZLOO�EH�HQRXJK�WR�VHULRXVO\�UHÔHFW�RQ�DQG� https://doi.org/10.4995/vitruvio-ijats.2020.13758 VIII value the professional skills to seek, and therefore QHFHVVDULO\�ÓQG��D�PRGHO�HIIHFWLYHO\�PDQDJHG�WRZDUGV� HQHUJ\�HIÓFLHQF\�DW�D�JOREDO�OHYHO� Therefore, Vitruvio as a publication is committed to upholding the criteria set out above and that the methodology of project intervention is focused on the search for ethical values so that it interacts responsibly with communities, nature and land. In the next issue, we can start analysing how to improve historical centres DW�WKH�OHYHO�RI�URDG�WUDIÓF��LQ�IDYRXU�RI�IUHHLQJ�XS�WKH� space that can be used otherwise, perhaps reinforcing and revitalising squares and buildings by proposing new solutions for enhancing their sustainability. We also pay attention to abandoned religious buildings, ZKLFK� UHSUHVHQW� VLJQLÓFDQW� VSDFHV� RI� DUFKLWHFWXUDO� and heritage richness and may have new functions to preserve them being a future legacy in time. We cannot also forget our modern, rationalist heritage, in this case, from the 1950s where construction techniques were bold in the use of a dominant material, the reinforced concrete. Furthermore, we cannot ignore the digitalization techniques and strategies used in the analysis and data collection in architectural heritage, since with these IRUPV� RI� DSSURDFK� ZH� REWDLQ� WLPHO\� DQG� VXIÓFLHQW� information to survey buildings without harming the physical environment; which is a sustainable approach at this level of intervention. For this journal, it is also enriching to know the techniques that have been used in vernacular construction worldwide. They allow readers to understand how, through the word and the legacy of inhabitants, through educational experiences and outreach activities, architectural technology in rural areas host a wealthy folk heritage that today is valued as a sustainable resource; as much by the use of materials as by the form of being executed. Luis M. Palmero Editor In Chief