April 14, 2023
Project Olympus, ICON's off-world construction initiative in partnership with BIG and NASA
Let’s talk about designing architecture—for space.
While talks of building on the moon have permeated popular culture for quite some time, we’re getting closer and closer to making lunar architecture a reality.
Just last year, 3D-printing giant ICON launched Project Olympus in partnership with BIG and NASA to investigate building 3D-printed structures on the moon. They plan to use lunar regolith, the mineral-rich dust and rock that covers the moon's surface, to do it, and prototypes will be sent to outer space in 2026 or 2027.
Over on the east coast, founder and director of the Space Exploration Initiative at MIT Media Lab, Ariel Ekblaw has launched TESSERAE, self-assembling space architecture for future space habitats, based on a system of magnetic tiles. Her concept is that, once deployed in space, wall-sized tiles would connect autonomously to create spacious, habitable, and reconfigurable structures.
In a recent interview, Ekblaw emphasized the importance of making these structures not only functional, but manifesting the sense of ethereal magic we all imagine would exist in space:
“Our long-term vision is to be able to scale humanity’s presence in orbit, which means being able to build large-scale, inspiring space architecture that really delights people as they float inside — that sense of goosebumps you get when you walk inside a beautiful stunning cathedral or a concert hall.”
What types of additional design and construction innovations will come from these efforts? When it comes to space architecture, the sky is no longer the limit.
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IDEA SPOTLIGHT
Initiative 99
Initiative 99, launched by ICON, is a global architecture competition aimed at designing accessible, beautiful, and dignified 3D-printed homes that can be built for under $99,000. The first competition of its kind, Initiative 99 encourages submissions that take advantage of the design freedom allowed by 3D-printing in order to come up with large-scale solutions. Oh…and the winner gets $1 million.
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