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.