The term 'social distance' was once only a vague metaphor to describe the relationship between different social groups. Yet it has acquired a precise meaning as the mandatory minimum distance for face-to-face interactions: 1, 1.5, or 2 metres (or 6 feet), depending on the jurisdiction. But what is the appropriate distance from which to interpret a pandemic? Rather than asserting a diagnosis of the con­tem­porary emergency, the issue Social Distance offers perspectives from archi­tectural history and theory. From the great plague of Venice to cholera in the indus­trializing city, from the human placenta to the 1960s bubble or the office of today, the fifth gta papers provides