LUNAR OASIS – Part 1 - Architectural Visions for an Integrated Habitat - Design Studio WS 2021

LUNAR OASIS

Architectural Visions for an Integrated Habitat

Research Unit of Building

Construction and Design 2 - HB2

Institute of Architecture and Design, TU Wien &

Department of Architecture and Design

College of Engineering, Abu Dhabi University

LUNAR OASIS

Architectural Visions for an Integrated Habitat

Design Studio WS 2021

Sustainable Design ARC 540

Research Unit of Building

Construction and Design 2 - HB2

Institute of Architecture and Design

TU Wien

Department of Architecture and Design

College of Engineering

Abu Dhabi University

2022

HB2

LUNAR OASIS

Architectural Visions for an Integrated Habitat Cooperative designstudio between the Design Studio WS 2021 [TU WIEN] and Sustainable Design ARC 540 [ADU]

© 2022

Sandra Haeuplik-Meusburger, Paolo Caratelli (Eds.), and students

TU Wien

Faculty of Architecture and Planning Institute of Architecture and Design Research Unit of Building Construction and Design, Hochbau 2 www.hb2.tuwien. ac.at

Abu Dhabi University

Department of Architecture and Design College of Engineering

www.adu.ac.ae

Editors

Dr. Ing. Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger

Dr. Paolo Caratelli

Editorial Assistance

Laura Farmwald

Alessandra Misuri

Franziska Peters

Coverdesign

Alessandra Misuri

ISBN: 978-3-9519864-2-5

Copyright and Credits

All illustrations are copyright of the respective photographers. The rights of the texts, plans and graphics are held by the authors. All rights reserved.

Images produced during this cooperative designstudio may be used for educational or informational purposes. Please credit the authors / editors.

Project pages are created by the stude nts. Texts and illustrations are minimally edited.

Print

Vica Druck and Abu Dhabi University

Online https://issuu.com/hochbau2

Support

The activities held in Austria have been funded by the Federal Ministry Republic of Austria Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility Innovation and Technology

The activities held in UAE have been funded by Abu Dhabi University, ORSP Research Grant n.19300542

Poster Design Studio, Image: RobsPuzzlePage.com

ABSTRACT

During the Fall semester 21/22, an experimental collaborative design studio has been held between the Institute for Architecture and Design, Hochbau 2 at TU Wien and the Department of Architecture and Design of Abu Dhabi University. Students from the course Sustainable Design at ADU, and the Space Architecture design studio of TU Wien have been coordinated in mixed groups for a project named Lunar Oasis – Architectural Visions for an Integrated Habitat.

Within this collaborative design studio students explored opportunities, limits, and constraints related to the design, construction, operation and implementation of integrated life-support and greenhouse technologies for a habitat in an isolated and extreme environment. The goal was to explore possible solutions in the context of an intercultural and cross-disciplinary design process and transform them into an innovative architectural project.

Within the joint studio, students from 24 diff erent countries worked in 11 mixed teams, each consisting of 4-6 students. In 2022, the projects have been presented at the EXPO Dubai, the Copuos - Unoosa conference in Vienna, and the IAC in Paris.

INTRODUCTION

Since 1972 no human has walked on the Moon. This is about to change within the next few years. The ‘new space age’ with a number of governmental and private entities is targeting for a settlement on the Moon within 2030, as per Artemis’ mission goals. In contrast to the Apollo missions , men and women from all over the world and with a variety of cultural and social backgrounds will become the next Moonwalkers. They will live and work in an extreme and isolated environment for a much longer period. Therefore the architectural design and formulation of the habitat is key for mission success as well as for physical and mental health.

The cross-cultural experimental design course Lunar Oasis - Architectural Visions for an Integrated Lunar Habitat has been initiated between Dr. Sandra Haeuplik-Meusburger and Dr. Paolo Caratelli, both board members of AIAA-SATC (Space Architecture Technical Committee). The idea was joining together the undergraduate Sustainable Design course at Abu Dhabi University, and the postgraduate Space Architecture Design Studio at TU Wien into a multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural design experience, envisioning a collaborative international milieu.

Three sections of the undergraduate Sustainable Design course at Abu Dhabi University, and the Master Design Studio at TU Wien, for a total of 60 students belonging to 24 different nationalities, attended online the Lunar Oasis Design Workshop which lasted from 30th of August

to 22nd of November 2021. The goal was to experience how designing for habitats in space, the most extreme of the environments, could help in addressing energy and resources issues more responsibly also on Earth. In short, the opportunity to design for a lunar habitat could represent a powerful driver for a better understanding the issues affecting our ‘ordinary’ terrestrial environment.

Students were therefore introduced to the architectural design for habitats in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments, such as deserts, polar regions, high altitudes, underwater, and outer space, including habitable spaces for vehicles such as submarines, airplanes, driverless cars, and spacecraft. Challenges and design consideration of individuals and organizations responsible for manned space missions and mission simulators were considered, including planetary settlements, and technology spinoffs for terrestrial austere environments (e.g., remote operational and research facilities, hospitals, prisons, manufacturing, etc.). The aim of the course was to equip students with general insights on the socio-spatial relationship and the important topic of sustainability from environmental and social sciences, engineering, industrial design, and architectural standpoints.

COOPERATIVE DESIGN STUDIO APPROACH

Within the entire design course, the following three principles of Extreme Environment Design were explored and discussed:

This solely engineering approach misses the restorative effects of greenery for optimal cognitive functioning in isolated environments.

First, everything is limited, and you have to do more with less.

Due to transportation constraints, available space is limited. Spaciousness and usability have to be increased by design, rather than by physical volume. We discussed zoning, multipurpose and versatile spaces. Not only physical space, but everything is limited: air, water, food, power, fuel, …even people [1]. Every ‘solution’ must address multiple things; they cannot take up too much room or power, while they must not interfere with the operation of critical systems or human activities.

Second, we have to make either without or substitute for what is not there.

There is no natural atmosphere, no fauna and flora. In order to survive, a lunar habitat requires an integrated life-support system. A greenhouse is necessary for the utilitarian aspect of food production, but also for representing a physical and psychological bond with the terrestrial lifecycle. Currently, those ‘systems’ (the habitat and the greenhouse) are seen as single (almost ready-made) elements and are not architecturally connected.

Third, everything is a valuable resource.

“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting”, Buckminster Fuller said in 1970 [2,3]. For a habitat in an extreme environment ‘circularity’ of the use of all ‘resources’ is an important component, representing an optimal testbed for possible ‘spinoff s’ of sustainable systems and technologies into ‘ordinary’ buildings.

[1] S. Haeuplik-Meusburger, S. Bishop, Space Habitats and Habitability: Designing for Isolated and Confined Environments on Earth and in Space, Springer International Publishing, (2021)

[2] B. Fuller, I seem to be a Verb, Bantam Books, (1970)

[3] B. Fuller, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, (1969, reprinted 2008)

The task for the students was to explore opportunities, limits, and constraints related to the design, construction, operation and implementation of integrated life-support and greenhouse technologies for a habitat in an isolated and extreme Environment. Hence, the expected Learning Outcomes were synthetically framed as follows:

1- Explore and analyse the limits, constraints, and opportunities of extreme environmental conditions in relation to construction, operation and habitability and its consequences for design;

2- Demonstrate an understanding of design challenges in isolated, confined, extreme (ICE) environments such as desert, sea, antarctica, vehicles, and space;

3- Select appropriate design strategies given real-world ICE environments and their limitations;

4- Recognize, discuss and evaluate essential project-related (structure, material, function and design) issues within an intercultural group;

5- Develop a multidisciplinary approach in order to systematize and address multiple issues (technological, environmental, psychological, physiological) into a coherent design synthesis;

6- Design for habitats and analogue simulators in ICE environments, considering design constraints, requirements and standards;

7- Elaborate a coherent design solution within a set of environmental constraints, as well as appropriately present it to a professional audience.

Mixed groups were formed, with TUW master‘s students acting as team leaders, and ADU undergraduate students actively collaborating throughout the research and design development process. In occasion of the Public Day at

IAC2021 in Dubai, a group of students from Abu Dhabi University visited the exhibition and had the opportunity to interact directly with experts and astronauts present there.

The final presentation of projects for course evaluation has been held online on 29th of November 2021, with the presence of esteemed guest critics from all over the world who commented each proposal. To conclude the experience and celebrate this first coordinated design workshop between ADU and TUW, a selection of projects has been presented at the Austrian and Swiss pavilions at Expo2020 in Dubai on 5th of January 2022, and in occasion of the 65th General Assembly of COPUOS-UNOOSA in Vienna on 8th of June 2022.

PRESENTATION AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI

March 2022, seemed an appropriate opportunity for a presentation event, with the physical presence of students, instructors, and guests.

Thanks to the generous availability of the Austrian and Swiss delegations at EXPO 2020 in Dubai, a full day experience at EXPO was arranged on 5th of January 2022, where students would have the opportunity to meet in person and present publicly their projects, at the presence of instructors and invited guests.

Due Covid-related restrictions in terms of maximum capability of people in enclosed spaces, the event was arranged in two-phases, with a welcome tour at the Austrian pavilion, where students had the opportunity to experience firsthand one of the most remarkable pavilions displayed at EXPO 2020, and then a conclusive projects’ presentations at the rooftop terrace of the Swiss pavilion.

The final online presentation of projects on 29th of November 2021, with participation of a rich panel of experts, concluded the experimental teaching and learning experience initiated at Abu Dhabi University with the Technical University of Vienna TU Wien.

However, we as instructors and the students as well, felt the need of more adequate conclusion of this first international collaboration and interuniversity experience, a conclusive event which would include the participation of an enlarged public.

After an entire semester necessarily experienced through distant learning, due geographical and pandemic reasons, the opportunity to meet in person for the first time was set as conclusive goal. In between the many side effects that Covid-19’s pandemic spread globally, the widening in physical proximity has been accompanied, paradoxically, by a tightening in social relations and cultural exchanges, even if virtually mediated. The coincidence with the EXPO 2020 in Dubai, forcibly postponed due the pandemic and opened to the public from 1st of October 2021 until 31st of

The exquisite kindness and availability of Austrian staff lead students and guests in a memorable journey into the pavilion, designed by Querkraft Architekten as a sequence of timeless spaces, a mystic place where different cultures meet spatially and sensorially, and the overarching sustainability concept translates physically into a combination of vernacular forms and reassuring materials.

ped by an ancient wisdom, the passive ventilation induced ect of natural daylight raining from atop the nerations. Hence, the event shifted to the neighbor Swiss tions would have been arranged in the events’ space at

Designed by the architecture fi rm OOS, the Swiss pavilion welcomes its visitors with a giant recessed mirror façade displaying the red-white national flag, which is in real the reflection of an immense walkable red carpet leading to the main entrance.

In fact, “reflections” is the dominant concept here, evoked through the dematerialized surface of the pavilion inducing reflections between nature and artifice, past and future, art and technology, mountain’s breathtaking panoramas and dystopic cityscapes.

The stereometric, apparently impenetrable shape introverts a cinematic ascensional experience, an experiential promenade which starts in the darkness of an early morning mist of a piedmont valley and rise along a trail to reach the mountain top, with the sunlight as a reward.

The presentation at the rooftop of this almost alienlike mirror cube, seemed the perfect conclusion for this educational journey, initiated as an experiment between two distant universities, combining in mixed workgroups students of the most disparate nationalities and cultural backgrounds, challenging on an advanced topic which is constantly developing, and in a time of forced seclusion which will be remembered globally for decades to come.

Overall, we could say without any doubt that the scope of this first collaboration has been reached: participating ADU and TUW students have been introduced to a new advanced aspect of design and fostered to delve and research into, invited to think critically figuring out original alternative approaches out of the box, and encouraged to think about sustainability not as an accrual of abstract principles ready-to-use, but as an ethical approach to the living environment, with the hope for a possible future both on earth as well as in space.

In retrospect, the EXPO itself represented the perfect stage to present the design experiment between ADU and TUW during the Fall semester 2021/2022, in a place which

is collecting an array of contrasting flavors being combined into an extraordinary new taste, hosting a collection of concepts variously listed within the message of connecting people and minds, temporarily concentrated into a transitional space which would evolve into something else at the end or simply given back to its previous ordinary function.

This character of impermanence, constant evolution, further transformation, disaggregation, and reinterpretation maybe is marrying perfectly with the experimental message and quintessence of the habitats which Space Architecture prefigures, necessarily impermanent through time, continuously adapting to a challenging, dynamic, and extreme environment.

PRESENTATION AT COPUOS UNOOSA, VIENNA

Technical Presentation to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPOUS), 65th session, at the UN in Vienna on 8th of June 2022

THE STUDENTS

In total 63 students from 23 countries worked togehter in an international and intercultural environment.

Mahsa Mousa Abdi

Widad Nasir AlAlawiManal Hamdan AlBlooshi

Iman Mohammad Al Hussaini

Hajer Yaseen Al Khuwaiter

Zainab Husam Aburabie

Sara Abdelhamid Abuhelweh

Enaam Mohamed Ahmed Ouda

Rawan Ahmad AlSolh

Ghada Abdelaziz Elkhalil

Baris Dogan

Ibrahim Hussaini Jamo

Ludovica Breitfeld

Mayar Jehad Bani Baker

Sara Abdul Hafiz El Masri

Amna Eisa AlhammadiAishah Rashed AlkaabiMariam Ali AlNuaimi

Margaryta Kaliberda

Karmen Janzekovic

Anna-Maria Just-Kunrath

Edis KujovicAlma Kugic

Merna Ayman Mohamed Hanafy

Haleema Sadia Nabi

Flora Münzer

Milomir Milenkovic

Mahmud SaniMohamed Ahmed Rashad Ahmed Khalil Shabana

Areej Akef Shawahneh

Emonda Shefiku

Ylka Qarri

Khairi Jehad Zrik

Tiana Tasevska

Fatima Mohammed Saeed

Valentina Radic

Shada Zuhair Salloum

Sidorela Lulay

Sara Ayman Laila

Meleksima Akarcay

Fardous Nabil Al Akrabi

Mohammed Hussein Alghazo

Muna Ezzat Al-Harbi

Manal Hassan Alhosani

Ayah I. Alkhatib

Abdulrahman Omar Al-Tekreeti

Dana Khaled Ammoura

Waseem Fadi Assad Assaf

Samiya Badshah Khan

Aseel Thabet Daraghmi

Dima El Bsat

Hiba Fouad Hamsho

Stefan Hristoforov

Abdullah Abdulkader Kanbari

Amira Mouin Mayassi

Rania Adil Mohamed

Nahida Mohammad Shamin

Fatemeh Mohammadsharif Mohammadi

Ayman Hussein Abdalla Saadeldin

Amr Mohamed Taha Abdou Salem

ACADEMIC TEAM

TU Wien, HB2

Dr. Ing. Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger is Senior lecturer at the Institute for Architecture and Design. Her teachings include design courses in space architecture and extreme environment architecture and a regular course on ‘Emerging Fields in Architecture’. Sandra is also director of the Space course at the Science Academy in Lower Austria. She is an architect at space-craft Architektur and expert in habitability design solutions for extreme environments. Over the last 15 years, she has worked and collaborated on several architecture and aerospace design projects. Sandra is Chair of the AIAA Space Architecture Technical Committee, and Co-chair of the IAA History Committee. She is author of several scientific papers and books, her latest is co-authored with Shery Bishop; Space Habitats and Habitability (Springer 2020) .

Abu Dhabi University | UAE

Dr. Paolo Caratelli is Associate Professor at the College of Engineering, Department of Architecture and Design since 2011. Licensed Architect in Italy (OAPPC, Florence Chapter), researcher on architectural and urban sustainability, and investigator about social and cultural changes in architectural design. He published in several international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. His teaching and research activity is focusing on design and technology integration into habitats in isolated confined extreme (ICE) environments, investigation of complex habitation systems as techno-theoretical resource for buildings in ordinary environments, and psycho-physiological effects of confinement in ICE environments. He is Board Member of AIAA Space Architecture Technical Committee, and Scientific Committee Member of SPSD.

Rowdha Begam Mohamed Hanifa is Architect graduated with honors at Abu Dhabi University in 2018. She collaborated with Abu Dhabi University as Teaching and Research Assistant and is currently completing her Master in Urban Planning and Design at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. She is actively collaborating with Abu Dhabi University on research and design projects for habitats in extreme environments, and integration of bioregenerative life support systems in orbital and planetary facilities. Rowdha is an Associate Member of AIAA and Board Member of the Space Architecture Technical Committee.

Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger

Studio Director

Paolo Caratelli

Studio Director

Rowdha Begam Mohamed Hanifa Teaching Assistant

Olga Bannova Guest Critic

Dr. Olga Bannova is a Research Professor at the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering, Director of the world’s only Master of Science in Space Architecture program and Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture. Olga conducts research and design studies of orbital and surface habitats and settlements, including inflatable structures, special design influences and requirements for different gravity conditions in space, and habitat concepts for extreme environments on Earth. She is author of the books “Space Architecture Education for Engineers and Architects” (2016) and “Space Architecture: Human Habitats beyond the Planet Earth” (2021)that received the Social Sciences Book Award of the International Academy of Astronautics in 2021.

Sheryl Bishop Guest Critic

Dr. Sheryl L. Bishop, PhD is a Social Psychologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston School of Nursing. As an internationally recognized behavioral researcher in extreme environments, Dr. Bishop has investigated human performance and group dynamics involving deep cavers, mountain climbers, desert survival groups, polar expeditioners, Antarctic winter-over groups and various simulations of isolated, confined environments for space. With over 60 publications and 50 scholarly presentations in both the medical and psychological fields, she is frequently sought out as a content expert by various media and contributed to multiple documentaries on space and extreme environments. Her latest book is co-authored with Sandra HäuplikMeusburger; Space Habitats and Habitability (Springer 2020).

Daniel Inocente is currently a Senior Space Architect with Blue Origins Advanced Development Program working on LEO and Lunar Space Architecture. He is an experienced Design Architect, Space Architect and has worked with SOM, Gehry Partners, HKS, Gehry Technologies, and NASA JPL in the past. Daniel works on international projects across sectors including skyscrapers, transportation, aviation, government, culture, science, education, and research. His project experience includes Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Battersea Development, Tour Charenton, NEOM Bay Airport, Jiuzhou Bay Zhuhai Tower, and the Guiyang World Trade Center. Daniel has played a vital role in initiating, building, and fostering Space Architecture partnerships with teams across government, industry, and academia including ESA, Lockheed Martin, and MIT, among others.

Dr. Christophe Lasseur is Head of MELiSSA project at ESA. PhD in bioengineering from University of Compiegne, he joined first MATRA space Branch (today Airbus), where he worked on the control of higher plant chamber for space missions.He became the project manager of the echograph Anthrorack that flew with success on NASA Shuttle D2 mission. In 1990, he joined ESA for a research fellow position devoted to the precursor of the MELiSSA pilot plant. In 1992, he became MELiSSA project manager, and in 1998 the coordinator of ESA R&D in the life support domain. From 2000 to 2010, he chaired, with NASA HQ, the International Life Support working Group, which involved NASA, JAXA, CSA, RSA, and ESA. He acts as well as European representative to the ISS Medical board for microbiology, and is adviser for several European Union activities. Since 2012 he chairs Life Support Sessions of COSPAR.

Dr. Cesare Lobascio graduated in Nuclear Engineering at Politecnico di Torino and then obtained a MS in Environmental Engineering at the University of California in Berkeley in 1993. He has worked for >30 years at Thales Alenia Space in Italy, in the fields of Space Environment and Life Support Systems, covering a wide range of technical and management roles. He has been involved in the International Space Station project, on scientific satellites and human and robotic space exploration studies for the Moon and Mars. He is Senior Expert in “Life Support & Habitability”, teaches at the Space Exploration Master, authored more than 70 papers, book chapters and 2 patents. As the Innovation Leader for Space Exploration and Science, within the Innovation Cluster, he coaches teams of innovation fellows through incubation of innovative ideas, ventures and start-ups.

Christophe Lasseur Lecturer

Cesare Lobascio Lecturer

Daniel Inocente Guest Critic

Piero Messina is a senior policy, strategy and management support officer in the ESA Director General’s Cabinet. Among his duties he is in charge of relations with some Member States and has been working on several strategic cross-cutting projects such as space resources, the Moon Village vision as well as on the future of Europe’s role on space exploration. Piero has been working at the European Space Agency for over 30 years in several positions and in different ESA Centres in Germany, the Netherlands and Paris. Before he was, for several years, chief of staff / advisor to successive ESA Directors of human spaceflight and space exploration. Previously he was part of the managing team of the Aurora European Exploration Programme and the Secretary of its Board of participating Member States.

Gerhard Schwehm Guest Critic

Dr. Gerhard Schwehm studied Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. He was a project scientist and study scientist for numerous ESA missions. He accompanied the Rosetta and SMART 1 project as a mission manager. As a co-investigator he is involved in many dust experiments at the MPI for nuclear physics. He was a member of the Interagency Space Debris Working Group, external member of the NASA Planetary Protection Sub-Group and the ESA Planetary Protection Working Group. He is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and the IAU named the Asteroid Schwehm after him.

Piero Messina Lecturer

Madhu Thangavelu Guest Critic

Conductor, ASTE527

Graduate Space Concept Synthesis Studio, Astronautical Engineering Department

Viterbi School of Engineering & USC School of Architecture

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-1191

James Wise Guest Critic

Dr. James A. Wise is retired after a 40 year career in academia, private business and a US government national laboratory. After receiving his Bachelor’s and Ph.D. in Experimental+Mathematical Psychology at the UW, he focused his career on working with designers, architects and engineers of complex technical systems and environments in order to better fit them to users and organizations. He has been a university professor, research scientist, and consultant to government agencies and major corporations. He has over 140 publications, with international research awards in Industrial Design & Architecture. He is a Board Member of the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design, and President of Sustainable TriCities. He also remains active with international research groups developing fractal design enhancements for medical wards, and improving habitability design for planned lunar and Mars bases.

LUNAR OASIS

Architectural Visions for an Integrated Habitat Cooperative designstudio between the Design Studio

WS 2021 [TU WIEN] and Sustainable Design ARC 540 [ADU]

© 2022

Sandra Haeuplik-Meusburger, Paolo Caratelli (Eds.), and students

TU Wien

Faculty of Architecture and Planning

Institute of Architecture and Design

Research Unit of Building Construction and Design, Hochbau 2

www.hb2.tuwien. ac.at

Abu Dhabi University

Department of Architecture and Design

College of Engineering

www.adu.ac.ae