villa on the moon

The Dutch architectural firm Royal Haskoning Architects gave us their plans for a Moon Hotel. It is designed so that it can be brought in parts with existing carrier systems, eg. Ariane 5 from Kourou, to the moon. Architect Dennis Hauer explains: “The villa is a spherical mini biotope on the moon. It is metaphorical reference to the earth. The villa forms a contract with the rough and dark moon landscape. A smooth and transparent sphere with a green living environment inside.” The thinking beyond borders leads to innovative solutions and typologies. The villa is designed to provide the energy, water, food and oxygen it needs, since there is nothing available on the moon. It isn’t a traditional house with rooms and walls, but a continuous space; house and garden are one. Only the spaces which ask for privacy, like bedrooms and bathrooms, are placed in closed smaller spheres. Interesting detail is the “split level” principle. Between the different floors there is a height difference of 1, 20 meters. Because the gravity on the moon is only 1/6 of the gravity on earth, the different levels are accessible without any staircases. The villa is made of glass, plastic and steel. Glass and steel on the moon could possibly be mined and processed, plastic should be transported from the earth. But it is also possible to prefabricate the villa on earth and ship it to the moon. The skin of the sphere consists of a 15 cm thick layer of glass and plastic composite. This is resistant to cosmic rays and can withstand impacts of small meteors. On the outside of sphere a screen with diaphragms is placed that can rotate with the Sun. The size of the hole in the diaphragm can be controlled so that more or less sunlight falls into the sphere to control the temperature in the villa. On the screen are also solar cells to create the required energy. Because the gravity on the moon is only 1/6 of that on Earth the villa can also be constructed lighter. The floors only need to be 2 to 3 cm thick. Food can partly be grown in the villa. In a vegetable garden to grow vegetables, potatoes, rice and spices, fish can be held in a pond. Plants also have an important role to exhale CO2 back into oxygen. This creates an closed oxygen cycle. Below ground is a shelter against solar storms. 2.5 m layer of soil and rock provides sufficient protection. The basement and the globe are connected by an airlock. Through the airlock, the occupants can go out to enjoy the moon landscape.

Last Updated on Friday, 26 November 2010 18:25