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Retrofitting the International Space Station

This is a sole authored refereed book chapter within a collaborative book "Out of this World: The New Field of Space Architecture." The contributors include internationally distinguished architects, designers and engineers in the emerging discipline of Architectural Design for Space and Extreme Environments (Broughton, Vogler and Adams).

Space asks us to reconsider our normative relationship with our immediate environment – the architecture of motion. The author focuses on exploring the implications of movement and stasis, very perceptible in space, and transfers those considerations using a case study for design-led orbital architecture. The research draws on principles from two separate domains, architecture and engineering, applied to the context of the extreme environmental conditions presented by space. Methodologically, the case study consists of a series of discrete studies: form in zero-gravity environment, isolation, and confinement. Each study produced stand-alone design outputs (e.g photography and zero-gravity furnishings) at international conferences and in a published collection: Transcripts of an Architecture Journey (2005) (http://www.stoutbooks.com/cgi-bin/stoutbooks.cgi/72427). This is considered the precursor to “Out of this World”. The culmination of ten years work, through this chapter the author presents her unique contribution to near Space culture, a design strategy for 'retrofitting' the International Space Station.

The book represents a key reference for the theory and practice of Designing for Space, providing technical reviews, case-studies, mission photographs, sketches and Architectural plans by the 35 invited authors from the international network of American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics. It is the first book to offer theory alongside highly visual design strategies and concepts for orbital, planetary and earth-based architecture (http://www.spaceflightdesign.org/p/top-reads.html, http://www.nss.org/resources/books/non_fiction/NF_076_spacearchitecture.html,).

The study of space architecture can be considered a ‘toy model’ of the larger science, economics and technologies of Earth, and as such it offers the opportunity to work through practice problems and devise new ways of addressing terrestrial challenges.