Mars Settlement Center & Exhibition -Graduation project

MARS SETTLEMENT CENTER AND EXHIBITION

Site Location: El Galala, Egypt

Project Function: Educational center and exhibition

Graduation project // 2023 // Alexandria University - Interior Architecture Department

The future of humanity is precarious and endangered. The Earth is facing numerous existential threats, such as climate change, nuclear war, and pandemics.

Therefore several ways of saving humanity have been researched and one strong solution was to start a human colony on Mars.

Mars is a challenging but not impossible place to live, There is water ice on Mars and the Martian soil contains the elements needed to grow food. With the right technologies, humans could create a sustainable colony on Mars.

And while colonizing Mars is a hot topic of discussion around the world, it is not a topic that is widely discussed in Egypt. A Mars educating facility in Egypt would be an important step in raising awareness of space exploration and inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Currently, this topic is given little to no attention in Egypt, despite the country's long history of scientific and technological achievements.

A Mars educating facility would help change this by providing a space for learning and exploration, and by connecting young people with role models in the space industry. The facility offers a variety of educational programs, such as lectures and workshops.

It also provides a space for public events and discussions. And it houses a collection of space artifacts and exhibits and a simulation of a Mars habitat. The design objective is to create a place that would give visitors the feeling of being on Mars by choosing the right materials, colors and light. The project consists of two main parts and functions; an educational floor and an Exhibition. Each with a separate entrance and exit.

The core of the building is a full scale standing mars habitat enclosed by three floors ensuring that visitors and students would always be able to see the habitat and be reminded that it is the ultimate goal that they’re all working for.

The exhibition experience starts upon entering the building; visitors would find themselves in a dim, muted space with the habitat in front of them, surrounded by curved screens displaying mars landscape thus making them feel like they just landed on the planet.

The mars habitat is a simulation of how a living space on mars is imagined to be. It is self-sufficient, enclosed and designed to meet all necessary human needs. With a living quarter and exercise area, laboratory, vertical farm, kitchen, bathroom and sleeping pod.

After finishing the habitat tour through its stairs and 3 floors, visitors exit the habitat through a dark tunnel that displays documentaries about the threats facing humanity on Earth. This stop is called ‘‘Humanity: Where to..?’’. And by moving through the tunnel, visitors find light at the end, a suggested solution for saving humanity. By exiting the tunnel visitors enter the ‘‘Why Mars..?’’ stop, where space artefacts and spacesuits are displayed introducing Mars as an alternative home for humanity, and why it is the most suitable planet for life after Earth.

The last stop in the exhibition is called ‘‘Life on Mars’’ and it’s where rovers and examples of 3d printed habitats are displayed.

The educational floor is accessed through a separate entrance and includes several lecture rooms and a conference hall.

(This project is a redesign of Mask architects’ proposal for the Seoul Photographic Art Museum international competition.)