From Antarctica to Outer Space:

The dissemination thesis examines human activity in the most inhospitable continent of the planet, Antarctica, focusing on the existing research facilities and in the way of living in this environment. In addition, it observes the parallelism of living conditions and requirements for Antarctic infrastructures to those in outer space. Ultimately, the centerpoint of the research is analyzing the Antarctic research stations and their correlation with interplanetary design, as well as highlighting the importance of architectural design in the development of these infrastructures in such extreme environmental conditions.

Dissemination Project - Research Oriented

Presented in National Technical University of Athens, 2020

Student: Evgenia Angelaki

Professor: Panagiotis Vasilatos

Grade: 10.0/10.0

! Flip through the booklet and read more (Language: GR) -> ISSUU BOOKLET

Summary:

Human exploration in the furthest, most isolated and dangerous places on the planet, generated settlements in extreme and hostile environments. Humans have encountered exceptional challenges to be able to inhabit and benefit from research in these areas. The engineers are faced with extreme difficulties when developing construction projects in such conditions and architectural design shall be present during this development.

The dissemination thesis examines human activity in the most inhospitable continent of the planet, Antarctica, focusing on the existing research facilities and in the way of living in this environment. In addition, it observes the parallelism of living conditions and requirements for Antarctic infrastructures to those in outer space. Ultimately, the centerpoint of the research is analyzing the Antarctic research stations and their correlation with interplanetary design, as well as highlighting the importance of architectural design in the development of these infrastructures in such extreme environmental conditions.

The first chapter of the paper is diving into an introduction to the Antarctic continent, its special characteristics and its importance to the global scientific community. Continuing the research, the observation of essential infrastructures in Antarctica gives an overview of typologies and general characteristics of project developments in the continent. Some of the research stations and their expansion throughout the decades, approach the scale of small villages and can be observed on an urban scale. Furthermore, the psychological effects of living in these peculiar environmental conditions is examined as an important factor to be taken into serious consideration in the design process. 

Halley VI, is one of the first research stations in Antarctica led by an Architect. It is an impeccable example of embodying architectural principles in harsh environmental conditions and taking into consideration human psychology. In this regard, it was an influential project for the research stations that were developed after, an archetype in that manner.

The second chapter is focused on the human activity in space, the present and the future ambitious space missions and on the emerging field of Space Architecture and the infrastructure typologies in space. Subsequently, one can observe the human presence in Antarctica, its purpose and its challenges as equivalent to human space exploration. The research is concluding in a tripartite parallelism of the Antarctic research stations with interplanetary design, in terms of environmental conditions, psychological impact and, infrastructure evolution and typologies.

Conclusions

Having analysed the course of human presence in the frozen continent, it becomes evident that the evolution of design in Antarctica is similar to that of space exploration programs. While architecture in the Antarctic initially had improvised, temporary character and was intertwined with practicality, in the last decades the architectural landscape evolved drastically. Antarctica is now seeking an architectural identity. Research stations such as Halley VI, are interpreted as design archetypes and most of the future plans for Antarctic research stations are confined to architects.

On the contrary, the evolution of design in the space industry, seems to have a much slower pace. That is a result of the increasing technical difficulties, costs, construction time, and even of the political interests for different space missions. Additionally, very few space missions require physical human presence in space. Like Antarctica, the priority in space missions at the moment is survival and technical flawlessness.

Despite this slow evolution, the analysis indicates that the next few years will be important checkpoints for the physical human presence in space. Missions like “Artemis 2024” , the increasing popularity of space tourism and a plethora of other aspirations for human moon settlements, indicate the intention and need for a design that is adapting  effectively to the human needs and feelings. 

The construction logic of the Antarctic research stations is not always novel. The design borrows elements from different construction techniques that have proven valuable. For example, modular design is widely used, even in space exploration (e.g. International Space Station, Mars rovers, etc.). 

The conclusion of this dissemination is that the architecture practice in the Antarctic, has significant correlation to the emerging field of Space Architecture. While technically, these fields are operating with different criteria, the case studies show the similarities regarding the logistics, the human factor and technical subjects. These topics could bridge the communication between the antarctic and space community.

Questions:

Could the future of architecture in Antarctica be a continuous evolving current of independent, 3d printed units using in-situ material resources? While the human population in Antarctica is expected to grow significantly, the future of the continent will be more related to the rest of the world. As a result, designers and architects are expected to play an increasing role in the evolving landscape of the continent, by inscribing architectural qualities in the needs of human and animal life, robotics, science and climate science. Respectively, similar questions are raised for the future of human exploration and presence in outer space. Space technology is currently the most advanced and as history has proven in the example of Antarctica, we might be in the beginning of an exponential evolution. For the time being, the growing numbers of startups and architectural firms that are occupied with Space Architecture topics are evident. Computational design, 3d printing technologies, and robotics are some useful tools for the practicality of construction in remote environments and space.

Ultimately, the Antarctic continent, as a more accessible environment than outer space, has proven to provide a rich source of knowledge for space research. The architecture community could gain valuable knowledge while designing and orchestrating constructions in the Antarctic environment, since it could be considered a training field for future design in outer space.