Other Space Odysseys

This book presents three architectural responses to the idea of journeys through outer space in a future based on technology. After the 1969 moonwalk, Alessandro Poli with Superstudio considered it critical to imagine our environment as connected to outer space. His "Architettura interplanetaria" imagined a form of architecture that could be conceived and realized at the galactic scale. Poli's "Architettura materiale," on the other hand, challenged the optimism of journeying so far from our centre and questioned our dependence on technology. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is the site of one of Michael Maltzan's current projects. His goal is to bridge earthbound scientists with their work at the scale of outer space. Maltzan challenges existing architectural models for scientific research, and proposes a new type of environment to facilitate collaboration. Greg Lynn imagines a virtual challenge to our traditional way of conceiving space. He proposes original ways of thinking about design in relation to gravity and is creating a computer-based simulated environment that will allow a new kind of architectural experimentation. New City is the first such virtual world to be conceived by an architect, and provides an unprecedented geographic representation of our own world. This book will bring the reader on many journeys while questioning fundamental assumptions about architecture and space.