alberto villanueva proposes utopia strategy to build life on mars

 
alberto villanueva proposes utopia strategy to build life on mars
all images © alberto villanueva galindo

spanish architect alberto villanueva galindo of idea architecture office has developed a strategy to tackle overpopulation by targeting one of the most extreme and as of recently attainable lands, mars. the project, titled ‘mars utopia,’ combines the realms of biomimicry, urban design, terraforming, and 3D printing to take advantage of the recently discovered existence of water on mars to develope a new generation of building materials and possibilities for colonization that don’t rely on artificially stabilized environments- a project that has peaked the interests of NASA and ESA (european space agency) as well as norman foster who has developed a similar project on the moon. 

 unlike other projects which attempt to create ‘alien’ structures designed to withstand inhospitable conditions and house human life, mars utopia first uses a living architecture to symbiotically work with the existing environment and naturally make it habitable, then allowing human life to be introduced. 3D printers would be sent to mars to print large metallic towers using local materials: basalt, regolith, and other various ferrous materials found on the surface. these towers located in currently empty craters feed off the electromagnetic energy of the planet and melt the subterranean ice and phylosililicates.  after a period of 4-6 months the towers disintegrate leaving behind a creater full of water and a ground composed of fertile soil and clay.

view inside the bacterial/fungal tower, illuminated green by the bioluminescent bacteria

once this has been accomplished, the second phase consists of re-using the 3D printers to build new towers with a mixture of epoxy resin, fungi, and bacteria- specifically the fungus mycelium which is capable of resisting extreme atmospheric and weather conditions. the fungus feeds off of the newly created lake water, as it consumes the CO2 rich atmosphere and releases O2 in its place. bio-luminescent bacteria serves to illuminate the structures. as they are living organisms, the towers will naturally grow on their own given the abundance of nutrients, and after a projected period of two years the culminated efforts of the various towers and lakes will have made the atmosphere hospitable for human life, paving the way for colonization.

material prototypes