Archinect - News

SOM unveils graphene-enhanced space habitat in collaboration with the University of Manchester

2021-10-07T08:30:00-04:00

SOM has entered the interplanetary market as plans for a new space habitat prototype have been unveiled thanks to a collaboration with a team from the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre at the University of Manchester.

Anticipating a future demand for infrastructure in space, SOM aims to develop a 2D scalable model with the potential to be made commercially available in the next five to ten years using robotics that can manufacturer complex shapes using an array of advanced materials like graphene.

Image courtesy SOM

“As architects, our role is to combine and integrate the most innovative technologies, materials, methods and above all the human experience to designing inhabited environments,” SOM senior designer Daniel Inocente said in a statement. “Conducting research using graphene allows us to test lightweight materials and design processes that could improve the efficacy of composite structures for potential applications on Earth and future use in space.”

Manchester has been...

Fred Scharmen joins us on the podcast to discuss his new book "Space Settlements"

2019-08-29T09:00:00-04:00

This week we’re joined by one of our favorite regulars, Fred Scharmen. Fred currently teaches architecture and urban design at Morgan State University's School of Architecture and Planning, and is the Principal and Co-Founder of The Working Group on Adaptive Systems. What brings him on today’s show is his just-released new book Space Settlements. The 400-page paperback contains a visually stunning collection of designs for space colonies from the mid-70’s, including iconic artwork and comparison studies of 20th and 21st century architecture projects. Our conversation talks about his research leading up to this book, the process of writing the book and the fascinating stories discovered along the way.

Painting by Don Davis, courtesy NASA Ames Research Center

Listen to episode 143 of Archinect Sessions, “Space Settlements, with Fred Scharmen”.

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Elon Musk plans to start colonies on Mars in only 5 years

2017-10-02T13:27:00-04:00

Musk's talk — which took place Friday afternoon local Adelaide time — served to update the architecture the billionaire entrepreneur revealed at last year's IAC, in Guadalajara, Mexico. That previous presentation introduced a huge, reusable rocket-spaceship combo called the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), which Musk envisioned helping to establish a million-person city on Mars within the next 50 to 100 years.

SpaceX, aerospace manufacturer and space transport service provider, plans to launch its first Mars cargo missions in 2022 and the first crews in 2024. These first flights are meant to initiate the construction of a permanent, sustainable city on Mars.

NASA launches competition for structures built in situ using Martian resources

2015-10-14T16:45:00-04:00

Living off the land is different when the land is 140 million miles away, so NASA is looking for innovative ideas to use in situ (in place) Martian resources to help establish a human presence on the Red Planet.

After NASA announced strong evidence of the presence of liquid water on Mars, efforts to bring Earthlings to the red planet seems to be picking up steam. Elon Musk is talking about nuking its poles and design competitions, like the 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge, are increasingly looking at extraterrestrial design, garnering responses by such luminary architectural forces as Foster + Partners.

Now, NASA has launched a competition calling for innovative Martian structures to be built in situ with locally-available resources.

Mars is 141 million miles away, which means even an extra carry-on will cost you. So any type trip to the planet will greatly benefit from using local materials to set up camp. NASA estimates that for every kilogram of native materials used, you save 11 kg of propellant and spacecraft mass needed for launching to Low Earth Orbit.

According to the competition website: "One could use surface-based materials such as regolith or basalt to produce structural elements tha...

Foster + Partners works with European Space Agency to 3D print structures on the moon

2013-01-31T13:07:00-05:00

Foster + Partners is part of a consortium set up by the ESA to explore the possibilities of 3D printing to construct lunar habitations. Addressing the challenges of transporting materials to the moon, the study is investigating the use of lunar soil, known as regolith, as building matter.

The practice has designed a lunar base to house four people, which can offer protection from meteorites, gamma radiation and high temperature fluctuations. The base is first unfolded from a tubular module that can be transported by space rocket. An inflatable dome then extends from one end of this cylinder to provide a support structure for construction. Layers of regolith are then built up over the dome by a robot-operated 3D printer to create a protective shell.

To ensure strength while keeping the amount of binding “ink” to a minimum, the shell is made up of a hollow closed cellular structure similar to foam. The geometry of the structure was designed by Foster + Partners in collaboration with consortium partners – it is groundbreaking in demonstrating the potential of 3D printing to create structures that are close to natural biological systems.

Simulated lunar soil has been used to create a 1.5 tonne mockup and 3D printing tests have been undertaken at a smaller sca...