SPARC

Space Architecture Project

Project Mission

As the presence of humans expands into space, human habitats on the surface of the moon and mars will need to be designed to allow living, beyond surviving. 

While the development of such habitats is slowly gaining momentum, new technologies such as Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality will support the process, by initiating earlier or parallel user testing, to improve our wellbeing in space in the future.

With this project we’re aiming to test and study several innovative space habitats concepts realized by student groups of the course “Architecture for Human Space Exploration” held by Professor Valentina Sumini at the Architecture Faculty at Politecnico di Milano. 

Approach

Through the  parallel collaboration with the Virtual Prototyping Laboratory of Dipartimento di Meccanica (DMEC) of Politecnico, we are able to use the powerful Meta Quest 2 headset to make our habitats explorable in Virtual Reality. 

By implementing this new technology, it is possible to significantly improve and speed up the testing process of an environment, rendering it more intuitive and cheaper. Decreasing testing time and cost will enable a rapid iteration process, preparing human habitats for our deep space journeys of the future. Through a trans-disciplinary and cross-departmental approach as well as  an international team, we are shaping the future of our lives in space today.