More than ever, our societies need to look to the future. These projections towards a world in the making must enable us to move towards a construction that is desirable and meaningful for the greatest number of people. The 8th edition of the Fondation Jacques Rougerie 2018 international architecture competition traces its path towards ever more creation, audacity and an ability to imagine visions of anticipation of a world to come, in the respect of the precepts of sustainable development, turned towards the ocean and space. On 17 January 2019, at the Institut de France, the Foundation awarded the winners of this 8th edition-promotion 2018 Laurent Fayat.
First part of the prize list: Architecture, Design and Technology for Space.
Dince 2011, more than 7,200 applications, 150 projects selected per year, on average, 135 nationalities from the five continents and, finally, 705 participants for this 2018 edition. Created in 2009, within the Institut de France, the Jacques Rougerie Foundation continues its support for educational, cultural and artistic projects on the themes of knowledge and preservation of the marine world, the universe of water or space; the analysis and understanding of human behaviour, particularly in extreme habitats; but also the evolution of human relationships and technologies allowing the presence of man under the sea or in space.
What a wonderful palette for architects, designers, engineers, and urban planners who once again have a great opportunity to propose innovative, daring, and disruptive projects! Architectural projects based on emerging advances, which offer a forward-looking vision and cross-disciplinary skills (science, sociology, climatology, geography, etc.) - and must urgently respond to the major current and future environmental challenges for greater industrial and technical responsibility.
The challenge is to take into account the precepts of sustainable development and to contribute to the integration of the sea and space in the development of our society: innovative materials, techniques and fundamental advances in terms of design and development, savings in energy or natural resources, recyclability, etc.
Architecture, Design and Technology for Space - Focus Lunar Village
All space exploration roadmaps include the Moon as the next step before a trip to Mars. Our presence on this satellite from Earth in a permanent infrastructure would therefore be a real stepping stone to even further exploration.
Jan Woerner, Director General of ESA (European Space Agency), proposed the concept of the "Moon Village" in 2015. This vision implies a progressive expansion of habitable infrastructures, adapted to multiple uses and different types of residents and users.
The Lunar Village should be imagined as an open, inclusive and sustainable project in the service of humanity, supporting international science, proposing new opportunities for cooperation with space and non-space actors, open to all nations and broadening the potential uses, whether industrial, commercial, tourist, educational or cultural.
On the surface of the moon...
The absence of a protective atmosphere makes its surface very hard and very exposed to extreme temperatures (from - 110°C to + 130°C). The moon is also regularly bombarded by meteorites. Its surface is covered with a fine dust coated by a vitreous shell which makes it very abrasive, but also electrostatic due to its exposure to the waves of solar radiation. The moon's gravity is 1/6th that of the earth.
The objective of the competition is to propose Earth-independent, autonomous housing systems using in-situ resources, in a circular economy approach. These closed-loop life-support systems should include the regulation of the atmosphere, the production of food and water, the recycling of waste, and the equipment essential to life (exercise, mobility, etc.).
The selected projects fall into one of these three categories: pre-integrated units, modular systems brought in from the ground and assembled on site, and systems built in situ with materials and systems such as regolith-based materials, on the surface or in lava-tunnel cavities.
Focus Price: The Lunar Village :
The Oasis Project
1/Samer el Sayary, Architect - Egypt: "The Oasis". They will provide food and shelter in a place where there is no life. Create a self-sufficient and sustainable environment. An oasis is an isolated area in a desert, usually surrounding a water source, such as a pond or small lake. Lunar oases are made fertile when sources of fresh water, from frozen aquifers, irrigate the surface after it melts and purify it in the core reactor.
The circular geometry of the introverted oasis is intended to make it a safe and clean environment for the residents, where no dust can enter the colony due to the lack of atmosphere. All surface access units are equipped with dust extraction, dedusting and dust removal devices. Also the indoor arena is well lit by inflatable trees to support the psychological aspect of the space's residents, where the view of the trees has been proven to improve the mood.
Selenia Project
2/ Sylve Truyman, Architect and Pierre-Jacques Truyman, Engineer - France: "Sélénia", a village under the moon In 2017, NASA's LRO probe discovers holes on the Moon that lead to ancient lava tubes several tens of kilometres long. An opportunity that solves recurring problems faced by space agencies on our planet: how to protect future lunar inhabitants from deadly radiation, micrometeorites and sharp temperature variations?
It was this exciting news that inspired the team's research work. Today, 50 years after the first Apollo 11 lunar landing, they have imagined and designed a village under the Moon designed to be mobile.
Each Capsule will be like a turtle with a solid shell that can house its legs and openings that allow them to connect to each other. It will assemble like plant cells. It will be able to adapt and evolve by following the rough contours of our satellite both on the surface and in the lava tunnels like a starfish moves on the bottom of the water. It will benefit from light produced by Bioluminescent Phytoplankton. It is possible to house several of them in the future NASA SLS rocket, the first version of which will take off in a year's time!
Half a century also separates us from Stanley Kubrick's film "2001, A Space Odyssey" to which they wanted to pay homage with their sketch. A century before him, Jules Verne imagined in his novel "From the Earth to the Moon" a journey in four days. The inhabitants on the Moon were called the Selenites. So they named this village under the Moon: "Selenia".
Architecture, Design and Technology for Space
Quintessence Project
2018 Grand Prix: Jordan Hugues, Architect - United Kingdom : Quintessence - Millennium Space Architecture The project, inspired by the discovery of TRAPPIST-1 in 2017, is the result of extensive research drawn from the fields of film, science fiction, proven science and imagined future to produce a written thesis, a portfolio and a film.
The Project Quintessence is not about abandoning our planet in a dystopian future. Instead, he dreams of what might be a possible architecture to develop in space. Although space holds a plethora of complex challenges for architects and engineers, it is possible to create spectacular architecture that manipulates gravity, programs time and builds nature.
Infinity Project
Special Mention of the 2018 Grand Prix: Thomas Goessler, Architect - Austria: Infinity. Mars is here, waiting to be reached Dozens of spacecraft have been sent to Mars, but only one mission in three has been a success. This sobering statistic underscores how difficult it is to send a spacecraft to Mars and have it arrive in good working order to transmit data to Earth. But there will come a day when humans will be able to go to Mars.
This project is an expedition base on Mars, offering humans everything they need. The design presents a self-contained system that not only provides humans with what they need to survive, but also meets their social and psychological needs. In addition, laboratories and infrastructure needed to explore a new world are provided.
