Space Architecture and Designing the Future
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| Credit: Rick Guidice/NASA |
One of the things that has always interested me about design history is tracing back the threads that made the modern world what it is today. There is something fascinating about reading the façade of a building and tracing back its features to a long-forgotten art movement, or listening to the story of how curb cuts came to be on the podcast 99% Invisible (https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/curb-cuts/). However, it is easy to get so lost in the historical design decisions that changed everything to realize that choices of a similar magnitude are being made every day. And one area that I believe will change the future is the design of living spaces beyond Earth.
Designing on Earth means designing buildings that fit into the patchwork quilt of the built environment. It means designing within a societal structure that has existed for tens of thousands of years. This can be beautiful- there is something poetic about continuing and contributing to a tradition of creativity and innovation. But it can also mean that designers are forced, to some degree, to either accept or challenge the negative and discriminatory elements of the world they are adding on to. They have to fight relentlessly to create welcoming public spaces or to combat anti-homeless architecture. It begs the question: how would we design if we could start over?
That is where space architecture fascinates me.
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Right now, at this very minute, the projected future of humanity is being planned out in architecture studios and aeronautics centers across the globe. Studios like Bjarke Ingels Group are creating plans for Lunar or Martian living structures that serve both as prototypes for future development and ways to get the public interested in the idea of interplanetary living*. Many believe that the future of humanity is to become a multi-planetary species. I personally believe that by the end of the century, long-term living colonies on the moon and Mars will be existent and slowly expanding. But what will life outside Earth look like, and who will be able to live there? That will be determined by who is contributing to these projects.
Space has always been a place designed for, and by, the people with the most power in society. A massive obstacle to female astronauts going to space was simply the lack of inclusive infrastructure. Most men did not picture a near future where women went to space, so they didn't design bathrooms they could use or suits that would fit them. Even beyond the obvious barriers to inclusion, women who wanted to go to space had to accept the psychological toll of living in a hostile space, one that was not designed for them.
As space infrastructure continues to be planned out, we need to think very carefully about what we are bringing with us beyond Earth. We need to design for community and inclusivity, not for cold, gray, and homogenous spaces. Most importantly, we has to mean everyone. It has to mean marginalized people as well as those wealthy enough to sponsor spaceflights. Because the way that space colonies are built will affect who will be able to go to space for decades to come. Designing for a future where wheel-chair bound people are able to go to space makes that future possible.
Space architects are going to have to fight just as hard as architects on Earth for inclusive architecture. But the reward could be a future where anyone can go to space, and everyone can feel welcome there.
Sources:
https://radiolab.org/episodes/right-stuff
https://big.dk/#projects-mars
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/nasa-moon-women-astronauts
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