Virgin Galactic Spaceport, Sardinia
Commercial Spaceflight The task of this semester is to create a spaceport on the island of Sardinia, Italy.
Commercial spaceflight, now in its test phase, opens the opportunity to speculate about the architectural definition of a spaceport - an exploration in terms of form as well as program of such an edifice. Virgin Galactic is already testing commercial spaceflights, in the Mojave Desert, new Mexico, USA. This Studio is proposing a European based spaceport, located in the heartland of the island Sardinia, Italy.
Goals As this will be a two semester thesis project the design process is structured in two main tasks: The first semester focuses on the exploration of design strategies and the basic development of the architectural project. The second semester is dedicated to the further development and refinement of the project to achieve an excellent result for the thesis presentation.
Hyperbolic Surfaces The main design trajectory explored in the studio is the application of hyperbolic surfaces and their related principles as design techniques. The studio especially explores possibilities for the aggregation and tessellation of hyperbolic surfaces to form architectural bodies. The application of these techniques has the potential to create lightweight yet solid structures, reducing material consumption. Instances of scale and mass versus lightness will create a manifold of opportunities for variation in the studio projects, generating an ecology that will explore alternative methods to employ geometric conditions to create architectural shapes that are yet to unfold.
Extensive and intensive Affect and atmosphere are the results of a finely tuned sensibility for architectural design, proportions, scale, chromatic effects and spatial formations. The goal of this studio is to guide students trough a design procedure that will train those sensibilities in order to create an architectural body in tune with extensive systems while simultaneously radiating within intensive conditions.
