spoh

Hey guys, Im relatively new to the site, but I am an architect (in the real world) as well as a space enthusiast. Mars architecture (Marchitecture) is a very sensitive and ultra functional architecture. Whether its 2050 or 2010, the landscape of Mars is baren and hostile to human presence. Any hope of creating an architecture that at all resembles that of Earth during any period is absurd. Terraforming a planet to create an environment where Earth like buildings could/would take seed would happen many centuries after the effort began. Architecture for Mars must serve one purpose above all others first and thats safety. The planet is not our home. In order to do anything, we must create an architecture that is affordable to build, safe to humans at all times, and it will probably use a great deal of Martian resources in construction. Just like the early Western settlers, we must first live off the land. The buildings we have today use steel mills, concrete factories, glass blowers, electrical technicians, mechanical engineers, brick layers, and hundreds of others. THe infrastructure that is financially sustainable will likely not exist on Mars for a very long time after human settlement, therefore missions of construction in such a harsh climate will likely utilize robotic workforces, vernacular materials, of course be sealed environments, and will likely exist on a broader, longer scale because surface area and land usage on a planet with no seas is the last thing any settlement would have to worry about. The architecture, being ultra functional, ultra-safe, and ultra-financial will probably be a system made of easily repeatable modules, able to be constructed from one phase to another onsite, and will likely be broadly laid out, low to the ground because as height increases, so does the surface area most affected by harmful elements on the planet. Protecting against those elements send construction costs skyrocketing. Places need to be easily accessible and phycologically appealing. Tall structures require a higher order of engineering knowledge and considering the vast unknowns that could exist below the Martian surface, this is not the likely type of architecture to take hold. Comfortable, home-like structures that create a sense of safety, whether false or true, are crucial to the stability of a society because phycology governs the overall success of the colony more so than any tangible product can ever do. I can envision a central bubble or block structure that is a constantly growing entity and can eventually become a city center lateron. Remember, economic forces, political forces, environmental forces, and social forces all govern architecture in CRUCIAL ways. Mars people many hundreds of years might demand an architecture much different from that of Earth. Who is to know, but if any of you would like me to post some sketches of some visions, Id be happy to. -K.