“Life Beyond Earth,” an installation that illustrates SOM and the European Space Agency’s concept for a Moon Village, was recently presented for the first time in China at the 2024 Xiamen International Design and Art Exhibition. Featured at the Xiamen Art Museum, the show brought together work from architecture firms, designers, and artists representing 15 countries and regions.
SOM’s installation, first presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021, emerged from a multidisciplinary initiative launched by the European Space Agency to study the potential for long-term human habitats on the Moon. The project inspired visitors to envision future societies in new environments and to confront the challenges for sustaining human life in the conditions of outer space.
“In the past, there has been a focus on transportation, on getting to the moon,” said SOM Partner Michael Duncan, who attended the exhibition opening. “This research changes things. It allows us to extend our understanding of the environment and how to design a habitable space there. Space exploration has inspired innovation since its inception, and SOM embraces that. Thinking about the moon fires the imagination.”
