Can space teach us something about designing smarter, more sustainable buildings and cities here on Earth? This is the question that, through concrete experiments, this five-day workshop on space architecture and design will try to answer. The second Space Architecture and Design workshop will take place June 12–16 in in Lugano, Switzerland. Organized by the Swiss School of Disruption, the event will repeat the format that worked so well last year, offering participants meetings, discussions, and hands-on workshops in small groups.
Underlying the program is the belief that the inhabited environments built in outer space are similar organisms to the most modern cities here on Earth, especially the hi-tech ones. This has prompted the transfer of the designs, ideas, and digital tools used in space to Earth to improve livability and quality of life. The workshop will be conducted by several leading experts in the field, whose task will be to share some of the important relevant know-how gained by the space industry.
“We’ll be welcoming to Lugano people who are extremely important in their respective fields,” commented Igor Ciminelli, founder and managing director of the School of Disruption. “We’ll also be creating a networking opportunity for what we’d like to see become a new class of design professional, including executives able to take on board the important contributions coming from space research. This will be an enabling experience for new professional and research visions.”
Like last year’s event in Strasbourg, participants will attend lectures in the morning followed by workshops in the afternoon, with a team competition planned for the workshop sessions. Designs will be judged by a panel of international architects who share the common goal of interpreting the most groundbreaking innovations in the field of design through the lens of the great opportunities of space. They include Paolo Colombo from A++ Architects, Adolfo Suarez from Lombardini22, and Maria Antonietta Perino from space industry giant Thales Alenia Space.
“Like last year, we’ll have participants from around the world with different professional profiles. [Last year’s event attracted people from 20 countries.] This gives the event extra edge in terms of the cross-pollination of ideas,” added Ciminelli. “The Swiss Institute for Disruptive Innovation and the School of Disruption look to space to advocate for the opportunities it offers for the transfer of technology and knowledge, and have been working for years now in the training and consultancy fields.”
Besides the School of Disruption, the key themes, panel discussions, and other sessions will be curated by René Waclavicek and Barbara Imhof, an industry pioneer who spent years at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. The instructors will include Christophe Lasseur of the European Space Agency; Christina Ciardullo, space architect with the SEArch+ research firm; Angelo Vermeulen, artist, biologist, and researcher with experience with NASA and ESA; and Virginia Wotring, professor of human performance in space with the International Space University, which was set up through cooperation between space agencies around the globe.
This is an important opportunity that combines the chance to work side by side with renowned NASA contractors, ESA project directors, and university professors, with the research, exploration, and multidisciplinary approach of an industry involved in space design and research on a daily basis. The organizers hope that the event will be the first in a series of opportunities for people to take up the challenges of space professionally.
Location: Lugano, Switzerland
Date: June, 12-16th
More information: www.disruption.school
All images courtesy of Swiss Institute for Disruptive Innovation