Design Line: 11 – 17 March
The sky’s the limit in this edition of Design Line as NASA unveils a bold new spacesuit look for its astronauts, while the UK Space Agency funds plans to design a mini nuclear reactor for the moon. Meanwhile scientists make the case for floating solar panels and mobile navigation tools embrace electric vehicle charging stations.
Sartorial in space
Forget the catwalk, it’s all about the spacewalk this week as NASA unveiled a new look for its astronauts. Debuting at the Space Center Houston, the Artemis III lunar spacesuit is the first new outfit for American astronauts in 40 years. Definitely time for a wardrobe refresh, then. The silhouette remains the same, but the colour palette has been overhauled to a perennially fashionable black with navy and orange accents. When prepping to leave the spaceship for the moon, the astronauts will strip away this outer layer and replace it with a white, insulated cover to reflect that pesky solar radiation. The Artemis III’s camera readiness is intentional, as NASA and its collaborator Axiom Space enlisted the help of costume designer Esther Marquis – known for her work on the tv series For All Mankind, an alternative history of a privatised space programme. After all, the space race is all about burnishing the national image, and if NASA is going to make a bid for the uncharted lunar south pole then the astronauts need to look good getting there.
Privacy is dignity in times of crisis (image: Shigeru Ban Architects).
Shigeru Ban steps in
Pritzker Prize-winning Shigeru Ban, who has gained a reputation for his sensitive disaster response design, revealed this week that his practice has brought its modular shelter system to help survivors of the Turkey-Syria earthquake. Over a month after the catastrophe, the death toll stands at more than 50,000 and more than 26 million people have been displaced from their homes. Ban’s Paper Partition System, or PPS, uses simple cardboard tubes, safety pins and fabric sheets to form private cubicles for people temporarily living in emergency accommodation such as sports halls. The shelters are designed to be lightweight and easy to construct from inexpensive materials, while also offering privacy and dignity for sleeping and changing. The sheets can be pinned up during the day to create communal living spaces. Shigeru Ban Architects recently provided the PPS to shelters in Europe housing Ukranian refugees, and is currently working on a Styrofoam Housing System to offer more long-term shelters. Ban’s commitment to using design to practically address humanitarian causes, rather than engage in vapid solutionism, makes him an example to the wider industry.
Floating solar panels – just add water (image: SolarWriter).
A buoyant idea
Floating solar panels – aka “floatovoltaics” – on reservoirs could generate renewable power and conserve water on a massive scale, reports a new study published in Nature this week. Floating photovoltaics (FPV) would take up no extra land, but could provide 6,256 cities and communities in 124 countries with enough power to become self-sufficient. Researchers from China, Sweden, Thailand and the US created their model using the number of reservoirs around the world that are close to major population centres, with an estimate of 30 per cent coverage of FVPs on the reservoir surface. Placing the panels on the surface serves the dual purpose of the water keeping the panels cool, and the panels lowering the water temperature and preventing evaporation. Although FVPs are more expensive to set up than conventional panels, the researchers argue that they could be a more cost effective solution in the long term. There are already large-scale FVP schemes in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. While there’s no silver bullet for the climate crisis, the concept of a sustainable energy form that also conserves water and doesn’t encroach further on nature seems like a win-win. Armbands at the ready, we’re ready to float.
Zoom zoom zoom, zap zap zap (image: Waze).
Electric light the way
Where would we be without SatNav? While our grandparents’ generation may have relied on a trusty paper map, most cars these days come with a built-in navigation tool – or you can just plug in your smartphone. But while you can instruct your wayfinding application to find you the nearest petrol station, electric vehicle drivers have to rely on cross-referencing with a different purpose-built map app. It’s a hassle and not ideal when you should have 100 per cent of your focus on the road. So props to Waze, the navigation tool owned by Google, for adding electric vehicle charging points to its interface this week. Users can enter their vehicle model and preferred plug into the app in order to have charging stations listed on the route. Google Maps has also started including details about plug availability at charging stations. The Waze roll-out hasn’t been super smooth, reports The Verge, with petrol stations accidentally being listed as suitable for EVs. But the developers are sure that the crowdsourced information will provide drivers with up-to-date information. As more countries introduce legislation to phase out fossil fuel-reliant vehicles, the demand for redesigned navigation tools will only increase.
In space no one can charge your screen (yet) (image: Rolls-Royce).
A nuclear moonshot
More moon-themed design news this week, as the UK Space Agency green lit funding for Rolls-Royce to develop a nuclear reactor for the moon. The £2.9m budget will go towards designing a microreactor that could provide power for astronauts living and working on a moon base, rather than simply paying a flying visit. With a power source in situ, a moonbase with life support systems could be established and occupied full time. “Space exploration is the ultimate laboratory for so many of the transformational technologies we need on Earth: from materials to robotics, nutrition, cleantech and much more,” said UK science minister George Freeman. How clean the tech required to put a base on the moon is, however, is another matter. Carbon emissions from rocket launches are increasing at a rate of 5.6 per cent a year (mainly thanks to the vanity projects of billionaires) and worse, the pollutants are delivered directly to the upper atmosphere where they hang about for years. And while a nuclear reactor would be better than say, opening a coal plant on the moon, is the potential for nuclear waste in space a great idea? We’re neither astrophysicists nor nuclear scientists here at Disegno, but it seems like a risky endeavour to take uranium into orbit.
There' ain’t no panel like a MIPIM manel (image: Twitter).
Lads on tour
Grab your chinos and golf clubs, lads, it’s time for MIPM 2023. The annual international property bonanza began in Cannes this week, encouraging a mysterious satirist to emerge to mock the (admittedly laughable) gender imbalance the event has become notorious for. Adopting the nominatively determinist nom de plume, “Mipim Lads” has penned a scathing column for the Architects’ Journal and is running a firmly tongue-in-cheek Twitter account to highlight the sheer number of lads involved. "It's also empowering that MIPIM has taken a bold stance on panels,” wrote the lad correspondent. “Unlike other global events that have bowed to woke pressure, it continues to authorise and promote all-lad discussions.” The laddishness of MIPIM has been an ongoing issue for the architecture industry, with UK practice Grimshaw fielding an all-women team in 2019 in protest. While the joke is funny, we’re only laughing because otherwise we’d cry. The sight of so many white men in navy suits and gilets standing round in the sun becomes even more sinister when you realise how much sway they have over the future of our built environment.