ARCHITECTURE
Space on Earth
New York-based architecture firm Clouds Architecture Office has designed a concept for the Avatar X space exploration campus in Japan.
3 December, 2018
The building is meant to be a robotics research center. The unusual thing about the project is that the firm wanted it to be futuristic, something connected with Space. That is why the building will be suspended over an man-made crater and situated in an old mining site in Oita prefecture, Kyushu, as it is already similar to a lunar landscape.
Situated 18 meters above the bottom of the crater, the Avatar X Lab will be made from transparent and translucent panels of fluoropolymer membrane wrapped around a steel frame and supported by strong steel cables.
To reduce the weight of the multi-storey structure, the company is going to use carbon fibre partitions, honeycomb aluminum floor plates, and fibre-reinforced plastic trims.
To reduce the weight of the multi-storey structure, the company is going to use carbon fibre partitions, honeycomb aluminum floor plates, and fibre-reinforced plastic trims.
Images: Dezeen
"The form of the floating structure was informed by pressure vessels common in space architecture, which tend to be cylindrical in shape," Masayuki Sono, architect and co-founder of Clouds Architecture Office, told Dezeen.
"Space architecture tends to be low mass, compact and high performance, since much of the construction material has to launched into space aboard a rocket with a limited payload capacity," added Sono.
"The final form of the building is the result of intersecting of four cylinders and using them to trim each other. The result is symmetrical and balanced to maintain an even distribution of weight."
"Space architecture tends to be low mass, compact and high performance, since much of the construction material has to launched into space aboard a rocket with a limited payload capacity," added Sono.
"The final form of the building is the result of intersecting of four cylinders and using them to trim each other. The result is symmetrical and balanced to maintain an even distribution of weight."
Image: Clouds Architecture Office
A bridge will connect the lab to the side of the crater and symbolize the "crossing of thresholds" of space exploration and technological innovation.
The research center has been designed for Avatar X, a public-private program established by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and ANA Holdings – the parent company of All Nippon Airways.
The research center has been designed for Avatar X, a public-private program established by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and ANA Holdings – the parent company of All Nippon Airways.
Images: Clouds Architecture Office
The company is now investing in the communications tools and robotics needed to establish an off-world telepresence which will be used to duplicate someone's actions and senses in another location (even if it is another planet). ANA is offering a $10 million prize to anyone who can create "a physical, non-autonomous Avatar System with which an operator can see, hear, and interact within a remote environment in a manner that feels as if they are truly there."
ANA-JAXA want to develop the capability to build on the Moon and Mars, and the lab will be used for developing the robotics and virtual reality technology required for this remote construction work.
Companies that have signed up to develop the Avatar System will be able to use the Oita campus. The lunar-like terrain will be used for space exploration simulations to test their robots.
The campus will also feature a Moon Environment Simulation Building, which will contain a recreation of the Moon's rocky terrain, and a Research and Development Centre.
ANA-JAXA want to develop the capability to build on the Moon and Mars, and the lab will be used for developing the robotics and virtual reality technology required for this remote construction work.
Companies that have signed up to develop the Avatar System will be able to use the Oita campus. The lunar-like terrain will be used for space exploration simulations to test their robots.
The campus will also feature a Moon Environment Simulation Building, which will contain a recreation of the Moon's rocky terrain, and a Research and Development Centre.
Banner image: Archiecho.com