February 1 2013

Foster + Partners have boldly gone where no architect has gone before with plans to build humanity’s first home on another world, a 3d printed habitable structure on the Moon.

Designed in collaboration with the European Space Agency the Moon base is product of a brainstorming exercise to explore the feasibility using 3d printers sent to the satellite on rockets to transform lunar soil into habitable structures.

The resulting home from home has to contend with a number of other worldly complications ranging from meteorite strikes, gamma radiation, extreme temperature fluctuations and, of course, no atmosphere.

The result is a four person base built around a folded tubular module that can be transported from Earth. An inflatable dome is then erected to provide volume and a stable frame upon which layers of regolith can be added by a robot-operated 3d printer.

The resulting bolt-hole is planned to be built near the lunar South Pole to take advantage of near perpetual sunlight

Xavier De Kestelier, Partner, Foster + Partners specialist modeling group said: “As a practice, we are used to designing for extreme climates on earth and exploiting the environmental benefits of using local, sustainable materials – our lunar habitation follows a similar logic.

“It has been a fascinating and unique design process, which has been driven by the possibilities inherent in the material (lunar regolith).”

Foster + Partners have recently completed a Spaceport in New Mexico for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.

Post your comments

Your name (required)
Your email (not displayed)
Comments (required)
	All comments are pre-moderated and must obey our house rules.