Infectious diseases always create challenges in social structures, test perceptions and mentalities of years, while they induce radical changes in lifestyle and habitation. History has shown that in every outbreak of a serious infectious disease, before medical research and finding appropriate medication, the solution to control and limit transmission, is to redefine the way of life through interventions in the urban environment. The fear of transmission and the effort to preserve human life brought about a partnership of medicine and architecture, with the aim of creating buildings and cities that operate as tools for prevention and healing. From Lazzaretti, Sanatoriums and the birth of Modernism to the urban reforms of Paris and London, architectural design has managed to make a significant contribution to the treatment of diseases and the creation of a healthier living environment. In 2020 the global community faced the pandemic of the Sars-COv-2, which to date has millions deaths. The universal quarantine that was imposed in many countries of the world confined people in their houses, deserted the public space and therefore changed the concept of habitation and the form of the organized urban landscape.

This paper aims to study the impact of epidemics on architecture and urban planning, by doing a retrospection to the three of the most important diseases that have affected humanity in the past, plague, cholera and tuberculosis leading up to 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic. With the experience of managing similar crises of the past and with the study of today's data, conclusions are drawn about the future of urban habitation in a more sustainable context while at the same time provide a new housing model, which puts the modern man and his needs in the heart of design.