Mars Design & Architecture - ...(how do you visualize it?)

Palomar · 2004-04-02 11:47:14

*I've seen a lot of references to Roman, Greek, and a combination of those two "styles" throughout various threads.

Which most easily comes to your mind when thinking about The Red Planet? I presume the above two-mentioned will be the most voted on [ :laugh: ], but I'm especially curious how many folks here are inclined otherwise.

For me, Egyptian. I think because of past comparative religion studies, mainly. (And no, for me it has -nothing- to do with the alleged pyramids on Mars, etc.)

--Cindy

::EDIT:: Ancient Egyptian name for Mars was "Harmakhis." I should have titled the thread with it instead, I suppose.

Byron · 2004-04-02 12:16:37

I voted for "other," as I honestly don't believe Martian architecture will resemble Earth architecture in the slightest, as it will be necessary to put functionality over asthetics, at least in the early going.

However, assuming humans-on-Mars can reach a relatively mature state, in that they would be able to devote resources to making things look pretty as well as functional, I would vote for the ultra-contemporary look, based on the principles of feng shui and basic principles of nature. I'd want to see clean lines and plenty of open "breezeways" and free-flowing rooms and gathering places, interspersed with skylights and plant-filled solariums adjacent to the residential areas, etc. If open-air domes are built, I'm sure the .38 gee will have a tremendous influence on Martian architecture, with lots of Frank Lloyd Wright-ish cantilevered decks and overhangs, etc, as well as open-air structures held above the ground by nearly invisible cables, etc, to afford more space on the ground and the like.

Color, too, would be important, with lots of bold blues and greens to counteract the endless shades of red outside, I'm sure...lol..and with color (paint) being the most economical aspect of architecture, this is another factor that would likely encourage its use on Mars, probably to a much greater degree than here on Earth.

B

Palomar · 2004-04-02 12:50:04

I'd want to see clean lines and plenty of open "breezeways" and free-flowing rooms and gathering places, interspersed with skylights and plant-filled solariums adjacent to the residential areas, etc. If open-air domes are built, I'm sure the .38 gee will have a tremendous influence on Martian architecture, with lots of Frank Lloyd Wright-ish cantilevered decks and overhangs, etc, as well as open-air structures held above the ground by nearly invisible cables, etc, to afford more space on the ground and the like.
Color, too, would be important, with lots of bold blues and greens to counteract the endless shades of red outside, I'm sure...lol..
B

*Yes, I can easily visualize that as well.

I do associate Mars with ancient Egyptian imagery...but I also would LOVE to have it look like what you describe.

We discussed this along similar lines in summer 2002. So *you* were the person who mentioned Frank Lloyd Wright. I couldn't remember *who* from that previous thread, but when I created the thread I thought about that.

Oh yes...open breezeways, clean lines, etc. I'd like to see some 1960s-style artwork and etc., too. I love the 1960s, and especially the "pop sci-fi" art from back then. REALLY funky.

Hmmmm...my career of the future: Interior design on Mars. ;P

--Cindy

A.J.Armitage · 2004-04-02 13:09:07

What makes you think fung shui and Clean Lines will still be "ultra-contemporary"?

Bill White · 2004-04-02 13:13:29

Use multi-color LED lighting to easily re-decorate by varying the shades of light cast on walls and floors.

Years ago, my wife and I changed a bathroom light fixture from flourescent to incandescent and we were stunned to see that the color of the wall tile appeared to change significantly.

Use light-neutral walls and splash with whatever color light suits your mood.

Rxke · 2004-04-02 13:52:14

Greek, roman,Egyptian stuff? (Groan...)

Please no more of that neo-neo-neo classical utter uninspired stuff!

Ok, ranting, but let me explian: I'm an European, and most 17th-19th century stuff around here is is neo-something... All referring to roman-greco (and less Egyptian) architecture, with a sprinkle of oriental in it... And I always felt it was, well... dedadent. Why copy and re-copy those same patterns over and over? All those white buildings with columns, pillars, ballusters, frontons..... It makes me think of a bad 50's dream of a nuclear age Utopia (Gernshback stuff) Yecch!

Why not more 'organic' stuff, like Gaudi, or some more esotheric Japanese 'kami' stuff (where odd shaped rocks are some kind of ''''gods''' and so very important for the powers in a landscape, scenery...)

Despite Mars being a 'new frontier', we'll undoubtedly copy lots of Earth architecture if only out of some homesickness or cultural reference stuff, but the gravity and the landscape are different, and could be a tremendous opportunity to come up wwith some really original or wacky designs (think the industrial mohole dug up rocks the japanese settlers built into a hollow mound in the form of a giant dragon in (KSR's Mars trilogy)

Ok, this sounds agressive, not meant so, but.... i guess i'm just overloaded with architecture lessons at school, currently, HAH

Rxke · 2004-04-02 13:59:26

Oh, BTW: proposing the use of fluorescent lighting as a standard fixture on Mars should be punished with a stroll through the nearest airlock!

(In fact only half-kidding, it might be more energy efficient, but trans-luminiscence is an *insult* to lighting! I'd rather use a broken storm-lantern or self-rolled waxcandles than having to live my life in a fluorescent-lit room, i really do!)

SBird · 2004-04-02 14:05:29

A quick aside - feng shui cracks me up. I've been to China and it looks like the illict offspring of Vegas, New York and Bladerunner LA. While Feng Shui may result in pleasing architecture when used properly, it can generate some true awfulness as well.

Anyway, I anticipate that no single architecture styles will predominate. The first buildings will, of course be utilitarian blocks and vaults. Once we get building industries underway, I inagine that all sorts of fanciful designs will spring up. Only having 38% of the gravity here allows for much more creativity in architecture. I imagine skyscrapers done up to resemble things like lightbulbs, rockets, people and all sorts of other gory affronts to the sensiblities. I base this off the fact that the US and China will probably be the two major powers that colonize Mars. Of all the cultures on Earth, we and the Chinese are the two that have the greatest love for gaudy, Las Vegas-esque eyesores.

I've got visions of Cal Worthington's great, great grandson's rover company headquarters done up in the shape of a giant tiger riding a rover. (only US West coast people will get that reference)

Bill White · 2004-04-02 14:07:12

Oh, BTW: proposing the use of fluorescent lighting as a standard fixture on Mars should be punished with a stroll through the nearest airlock!

(In fact only half-kidding, it might be more energy efficient, but trans-luminiscence is an *insult* to lighting! I'd rather use a broken storm-lantern or self-rolled waxcandles than having to live my life in a fluorescent-lit room, i really do!)

LED - - or light emitting diode - - is far more efficient than even flourescent and more durable as well.

A few years ago, I mentioned using solid state sulfur lamps for growing crops (the Smithsonian has a prototype installed today) and Shaun Barrett (if I recall correctly) thought I typed sodium vapor. :;):

Solid state sulfur lamps are waaaay cool, very durable and low energy users and can pump out lots of light. Same spectrum as the sun as well.

Hang a few high in a opaque dome and you can simulate Terran daylight.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) installed Fusion's sulfur lighting in the plaza of its Washington headquarters. Two sulfur lamps replaced 240 conventional mercury lamps, and according to DOE, they produce four times the light, from only one-third the electricity. A block away, the Smithsonian Institution replaced 94 conventional lamps with three sulfur lamps in the Space Hall at its National Air and Space Museum. Light output doubled and electricity consumption declined 25%, according to the Smithsonian.

SBird · 2004-04-02 14:27:39

WOW, I hadn't even heard of the solid state sulfur lamps before. They look very promising. The only problem is that they don't seem to be able to scale down to home use. Anything smaller than a hotel lobby is impractical with these. However, LED based lighting should fill in the lower end.

I know that all the light buld companies are basically going through emergency reallignments to be ready for the complete extinction of incandescent and fluorescent bulbs in the next decade. I've already saved a couple light bulbs to show my future kids as an example of the antique light sources we used to use. :;):

I was just reading that the solid staet sulfur bulbs are expected to drop US lighting power consumption by 15%. LEDs are supposed to drop the demand by another 30%. They've already estimated that LEDs (mostly in stoplights) have already cut the US power consuption by the equivalent of a large power generation plant.

Rxke · 2004-04-02 14:35:18

*Rxke dances around his desk after reading previous posts about sulfur lamps as a good replacement for fluorescent lighting in big places*

Yeehaa! Good riddance to bad rubbish!

~Eternal~ · 2004-04-02 15:48:11

Grecian of course.

Cobra Commander · 2004-04-02 16:13:39

Glad I'm not alone on the flourescent lighting thing. Hate those flickering tubes of sickly pale green illumination.

Once we get past the subterranean/canned-hab stage and get some spacious domes set up I really wouldn't mind seeing neo-classical architecture on Mars. Not for everything of course, but there will probably be a little of it.

However, when you have modern materials at your disposal big stone columns cease to serve any real function. Why waste time and energy quarrying this stuff and carving it into columns, even using modern machinery?

No, I see lots of slab-sided structures, maybe with walls sloping at non-right angles. Trapezoids, pyramids, and a few old fashioned boxes. Maybe some geodesic domes, primarily because they're easy.

Until the Martian civilization is in place for a few generations, Then I'd expect two common human architectual themes to really pick up: building towers as tall as materials and engineering will allow, and a return to classical architecture, only bigger. I can't help but think the low gravity coupled with the monstrous scale of the Martian landscape will encourage grandiose design. A sort of "Speerian" architecture could crop up in time, neo-classical structures built on a mega scale.

Bill White · 2004-04-02 17:28:32

So far, my favorite Marsian architecture idea is to carve living quarters into the sides of vertical narrow canyons. Man-made, well finished caves, if you will, with many levels overlooking the center open space.

Build on both sides of the canyon, or many sides, if you can locate a junction between multiple canyons.

Dome over the top, close off the sides and pressurize the entire space. Create a nice pond with trees planted on the canyon floor and give every home a balcony or terrace overlooking the canyon.

Three sides of every home would be rock, for radiation protection but the fourth side would overlook the open canyon.

Hang giant sulfur lamps just beneath the canyon roof.

Cobra Commander · 2004-04-02 19:02:41

Bill's suggestion is interesting, I can see this being done. Very cool, very Martian. Of course such designs have the inherent limitation of requiring specific geologic features. If we want to build a city someplace where there happens to be a canyon, excellent. But there are other, flatter places.

So Martian architecture will certainly encompass a wide range of forms, there will likely be no definative Martian design aesthetic.

Besides, eventually I'd like to see those canyons flooded.

RobS · 2004-04-02 20:47:53

So far, in my novels I've envisioned two types of architectures:

1. Dome anchored to the ground via a very wide skirt covered with regolith, with housing excavated under the skirt. This produces housing that is buried for radiation protection with windows opening onto the central dome (which would probably be agricultural, mostly). There could also be some skylights and maybe somewindows facing outward to Mars.

2. I like this better. The domes, called "bubbles," have no skirts around them; rather, the arched sides continue downward to become an airtight floor. First one prepares a site for the bubble, including a strong foundation of porous material like sand and prepositioned steel foundation beams; then one sets up and inflates the bubble. Housing is then built inside the bubble in a shirtsleeve environment. The buildings are built rather like a ship in a bottle; the building itself has another bubble that exactly conforms to the building's shape. That way if the dome depressurizes, the building has its own airtight bubble. Outside the building bubble, one erects a framework of steel girders (attached to the prepositioned foundation beams under the dome through small holes cut in the dome) to support rooftop agriculture, which floats above the building bubble and doesn't actually rest on it. The rooftop agriculture includes at least two meters of regolith; enough to grow trees in, and plenty of radiation protection for the building underneath. The rooftop garden also has a two-meter overhang, providing radiation protection for oblique radiation and some protection for people "outside" in the dome. Between the girders, the bubble is covered by the equivalent of vinyl siding, like many houses on Earth.

Inside the building bubble, one erects standard housing one finds on the earth using sheet rock wall panels (we now know Mars has plenty of sulfates; sheet rock is gypsum, which is calcium sulphate) bolted to steel two by fours (because there's no wood). The result is a building consisting of vinyl siding, a transparent, airtight bubble, and sheet rock inner walls.

To enter from the interior dome: a special, heavy, revolving door over which an airtight door can be closed on the inside. This would allow people in an emergency to enter the revolving door and turn it to enter the building continuously. Once everyone is in, to stop air leakage through the revolving door you close the inner airtight door over it.

For color schemes, I have assumed "contemporary Arizona desert"; lots of "earth" colors (grays, burnt oranges, browns, brownish reds, tans) and geometric designs. If you've every been to Skyharbor Airport (Phoenix) you'll be able to picture it.

Outside the dome in areas frequented by people with pressure suits, or along approach roads for pressurized rovers: zen gardens, rock gardens, natural sculptures (wind erosion can carve some pretty amazing shapes over time, so geologists would be on the lookout to bring wierd stuff back for the parks), supersized equivalents of "Navajo sand paintings" made of gravel on the sides of artificial slopes, mosaics, and in areas where people can walk, labyrinths (just on the ground as a pattern of paths; no walls). If one had the spare time and artistic energy, the Martian landscape around an outpost could be quite pretty.

Outposts will also acquire other outside features over time; monuments to the fallen, cemetaries (the cold conditions would give new meaning to the phrase "eternal rest,") hiking trails (for teenagers, tourists, and people wanting to stretch their legs), and probably a golf course. Possibly sports in pressure suits would evolve, and their playing fields would be outside as well.

-- RobS

Mundaka · 2004-04-11 19:32:05

Bill White · 2004-04-11 19:38:31

Concerning masonry, boron doped polyethylene can be mixed with powdered regolith to fashion bricks in pretty much any shape desired. Let the plastic cure and start stacking. Use plastic resins for mortar.

clark · 2004-04-12 10:08:35

Painted memories adorn these walls
Dressing Martian beauty in Earthly calls,
With colored tiles of cobalt blue
Scenes of rain and morning dew,
Where whales do rise in oceans gray
Kissing azure skies in morning play,
And heaving storms gather afar
Whispered recollections of a faint blue star,
Of seas, of life, of colors free,
Of scents, of wind, and endless tree;
Pictures, photos from this ancient land
Remembered now, etched in sand,
Upon these shores of orange-red rust
Where man does build from wind and dust,
To sing, to call, to continue on,
To weave new stories upon distant dawn
In brick, in mortar, in sweat and love,
Seeking heaven, to rise above-
All captured are these moments to be,
As our spirit fills the empty Martian sea.

Mundaka · 2004-04-12 16:42:55

clark · 2004-04-13 09:19:30

Thank you for the compliments. Flattery from the salesman-extradoniare! Perhaps I should be wary, lest my car payments suddenly balloon!

I'm not sure I should discuss the "how's" here though, as I don't want to derail the thread. However, I enjoyed your take on Martian architecture, so I keyed in on that, and wandered in your dream. I found that poem.

The key to poetry, or at least as I see it, is that there are no rules but the ones you impose upon yourself. "It's all good."

Earthfirst · 2004-04-13 13:44:55

Frank lyoid wright is a hack, I been to some of his houses and they are dumps. Frank dont even deserve the street named after him. I think it will be all natural people runing around naked, or grass skirts, mud huts, or made of bambo. With tatoos and pricings all over. Modern primitive, Just like in africa. Maybe they can even go head hunting!
Like in the flinstones.

TJohn · 2004-04-17 19:15:00

Mars will be the new cradle of humanity. There definitely should be a new style of architecture. Something strictly for Mars. I don't know enough about architecture but I think a new style will develop because of the environment there.

Mundaka · 2004-04-18 00:18:53

Hazer · 2004-04-21 17:20:39

The Martian style of architecture will likely have a lot to do with the initial conditions settlers undergo. If initially the settlers have to live in caves, I foresee Martian architecture skimping on the external details and focusing on making the insides of structures seem soaring, light and airy--to combat claustrophobia.
I expect future Martian architects to be very creative in that respect.

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