ARCHITECTS IN OUTER SPACE
You can buy a ticket to travel to outer space aboard Virgin Galactic's fleet of starships and stay overnight in an orbiting hotel designed by a world famous architect. This Jules Verne-esque fantasy is being made a reality day by day in the New Mexico desert as bulldozers race to complete the building and a housing boom is ignited nearby....
to complete Norman Foster's Spaceport. The building, terminal, hangers, runways etc. are all being constructed in a nearly overlooked rush to create a space tourism industry. Fueled by billionaire Richard Bramson's money, the enterprise is igniting the architecture profession in ways that require a serious rethink for building in zero gravity. Having broken ground on the terminal from which journeys to the stars will begin, the next evolution in architectural thinking embraces the places in which guests will stay once they've reached their extraterrestrial destination. Orbiting platforms created as hotels with all the creature comforts of modern life will await those with enough income for a weekend blastoff. Soon, space hotels will dot the moon.
Architects bold enough to conceive of structures and technologies that serve this exploratory venture are following an unknown path. Since the beginning of building the architecture profession has been singularly rooted in mother earth. Foundations rise from solid ground, footings are anchored, gravity aids compression which allows strength to be generated for buildings to climb skyward. But what happens when you're building in the sky? Where's the architect's friend gravity? This fascinating new direction for architects is a historical first, blending the creation of new buildings and physics. It is a place where strength and lightness are imperative facts of construction. Protection for occupants, includes the standard concerns for fire and egress, but also include shields from meteor collisions, gamma rays and solar winds. At the start of the 21st century, architecture has begun its move to the high frontiers of space and the architects building there now have a true tabla Rasla to sketch upon.
LINK TO: GUARDIAN UK STORY
LINK TO : BUILDING.COM's STORY