Habitat Beyond Earth

Abstract

This thesis examines how architecture can influence human identity, culture, and memory in the context of a Mars settlement. It contends that when humankind embarks on leaving Earth, architectural practice will need to shift from survival engineering to a cultural and symbolic practice that instils feelings of belonging and continuity in an extraterrestrial setting.

Building on the theories of Yi-Fu Tuan, Gaston Bachelard, Marc Augé, Paul Ricoeur, and Mircea Eliade, this analysis explores the transition in which space is transformed into place through memory, ritual, and experiential involvement. The research comprises four main parts: preliminary theory, spatial methods, an imaginative proposal for design, and reflective analysis.

The design initiative Habitat Beyond Earth, situated in Arcadia Planitia, Mars (year 2120), is framed not as a definitive answer but as a framework: a method for exploring how architecture can convey symbolic significance, ritualistic practices, and identity within an extraterrestrial context. Through comparative analyses (such as the ISS, McMurdo Station, Zaatari Camp, among others) and biomimetic inspirations (like termite mounds, bowerbirds, and ants), it illustrates that culture and adaptability, rather than dominance, will be pivotal in securing human existence beyond our home planet.

Finally, the dissertation reinterprets space architecture as a product of culture, not just technology, a process of worldbuilding wherein construction is understood as a form of remembrance, belonging, and advancement.