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SPACE STATION CREW MODULE 1985-1988

PROJECT FOR NASA

EQUAL 1ST - THE LOS ANGELES PRIZE, 'PLACES FOR PEOPLE IN THE

YEAR 2010', AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS, 1987

CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION, NASA, 1989

Southern California Institute of Architecture, under a three-year contract with NASA, carried out design studies to explore ways of improving the interior of the Space Station Crew Living Module. The challenge was to fit a full inventory of accommodation and equipment for a 6-person crew inside
a module 12.5 metres long by 4.1 metres diameter. Student designs were downselected in two stages with the final design a synthesis of several concepts built as a full-scale demonstrator. By 1985, NASA was finalizing its 'four stand-off' design for Space Station modules in which a central square-section corridor was lined on all four sides by stowage and equipment racks that had flat faces. The effect was similar to a locker room in a ski resort (as described by one astronaut). This project emphasized the development of designs that were radically different from NASA's approach with a more comfortable interpretation of racks and compartments using curved surfaces where practicable. The final built version shown in the photographs proposed several innovations including foldaway sleep compartments, deployable exercise tents, soft storage surfaces, large LED-type colour screens (not introduced until the 1990s) and adjustable lighting.

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