Mars Surface Habitats: Architectural Designs and Concepts for Planetary Outposts

The work of an architect lies in the creation of specific paths through functionalistic - though ‘jungle-like’ -realities. The architect searches for new cross-connections to build an inhabitable world, always inscribed with a different meaning yet adapted to ever changing circumstances. The focus of this paper is on new programmatic content, which offers newly inscribed spaces and the freedom of choice for the inhabitant’s use. So the architect enlarges the already ‘coded’ space with a different and new cultural aspect. Thus the architectural form of any final product cannot simply be described as ‘Gestalt’¹. The architectural form derives from its design process.

In this paper, examples of architectural design studies for Mars habitats - elaborated under the premises mentioned above - are taken as reference to build Lunar, Martian and other planetary outposts. New concepts of habitats including all human factors for long-term space missions are considered to be of significant importance for a mission’s success. The architectural design of the confined space developed with a concern for the psychological and physical well-being, with a concern for the crew’s overall performance and safety is the subject of the FUTURE SHELTER project.