SEArch+ presents at the Construction Institute's 2020 Visionaries Forum

On September 30, 2020 Melodie Yashar of SEArch+ presented within the Construction Institute’s 11th annual Visionaries Forum, a virtual event exploring the intersection between technology and people. 

Dr. Ibrahim Odeh of Columbia University moderated the panel, and the participants included Phil Bernstein of Yale School of Architecture, Stephen Brown of the International WELL Being Institute, and Howard Carsman of Intel, in addition to Melodie of SEArch+.

Melodie Yashar of SEArch+ presents at AIAA Los Angeles / Las Vegas Meeting

On August 22, 2020 Melodie Yashar of SEArch+ presented with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Los Angeles- Las Vegas Section as part of a “Space Architecture” gathering organized by Kenneth Lui and Prof Madhu Thangavelu, the moderator of the event.

SEArch+ attends World Urban Forum 10 within Special Session on NASA's 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

Monsi Roman of NASA Centennial Challenges, Jose Pinto Duarte of Penn State, and Melodie Yashar of SEArch+ participated in a Special Session at the Tenth World Urban Forum (WUF10) in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 8 – 13 February 2020. The panel was moderated by Christophe Lalande, Leader of Housing and Slum Upgrading Branch, UN-Habitat, Nairobi, Kenya. The panel discussed how technology innovations achieved through the Construction levels of the 3D-printed habitat Challenge can serve the needs of communities in the developing world and in disaster-relief areas for the construction of low-cost housing.

SEArch+ attends IAC 2019 in Washington DC

Christina Ciardullo of SEArch+ leads the special session on “Futures Past and Present: Space Architecture in Imagination & Reality” at the International Astronautical Congress in Washington DC.

SEArch+'s Michael Morris presents at Lisbon Architecture Triennial

On May 6, 2019 Michael Morris presented the lecture “5 Houses for Mars” at the Lisbon Architecture Triennial. Photos by Fabio Cunha / Trienal de Lisboa.

SEArch+ reviews Mars Greenhouse Designs as judges at NASA Langley 's Big Ideas Challenge Forum

Earlier this month, SEArch partners Melodie Yashar and Christina Ciardullo were privileged to participate as industry judges in the 2019 Big Ideas Challenge to design a closed loop sustainable Mars Greenhouse inside the Mars Ice Home, a collaborative habitat design by SEArch+, CloudsAO, and NASA Langley. SEArch is committed to ongoing research in sustainable systems for Earth and Space.

Congratulations to Dartmouth College and MIT for taking 1st and 2nd Special honors to Team SIRONA from CU Boulder, Harvard, and Cornell for their design which took home an award for “Most Innovative Concept” NASA wrote all about their winning schemes here.

Watch all 5 finalist teams present their projects here.

SEArch+ / Apis Cor led by Melodie Yashar win Top Prize in 100% Virtual Design of NASA's Phase 3 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

New York, NY (April 1, 2019) -- SEArch+ (Space Exploration Architecture) is pleased to announce their first place win in the latest level of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The award for Virtual Construction Level 2 of the Challenge was awarded to SEArch+ for their proposal MARS X HOUSE, created in collaboration with Apis Cor, the first company to develop specialized equipment for 3D-printing and construction of entire buildings directly on site. The design of MARS X HOUSE offers a robust and durable 3D-printed habitat using autonomous robotics and indigenous materials found natively on Mars.

Led by SEArch+ co-founder Melodie Yashar, MARS X HOUSE employs an evidence-based design process to introduce the design and constructability of a future habitat for a crew of four to live and work on Mars for the duration of one Earth year. MARS X HOUSE is designed to exceed radiation standards in order to ensure human health, and vitally connects the crew to natural light and views of the Martian landscape. In addition to this most recent first place win in Virtual Design, SEArch+ and Apis Cor have advanced in the overall competition by winning first place in both Construction Levels 1 & 2 and placing fourth in Virtual Design Level 1.

The official NASA announcement, “Top Three Teams Share $100,000 Prize in Complete Virtual Construction Level of 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge” may be found here .

SEArch+’s video submission to the competition may be viewed here .

Michael Morris hosted by US Embassy Iceland delivers keynote address in Reykjavik

On March 29th in Háskólinn University in Reykjavik, Iceland Michael Morris delivered a keynote address hosted by the US Embassy Iceland on “Life on Mars: Designing a New World for Earthlings” as part of the DesignMarch program.

An inspiring discourse about extreme habitats, Michael spoke and discussed the future of design and space exploration with Karl Aspelund.  

SEArch+ / Apis Cor led by Melodie Yashar win Top Prize in Construction Level 2 of the Phase 3 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

Team SEArch+ / Apis Cor have placed in first place for Construction Level 2 of the Competition, the Hydrostatic test. For this level of the competition, teams submitted 3D-printed samples that were tested for their ability to hold a seal, for strength and for durability in temperature extremes. Four teams will share a $300,000 prize for successful completion of the seal test stage of the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge.

The final printed structure before the Hydrostatic test.

Read more on the announcement from NASA here:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/3DPHab/latest-updates-from-nasa-on-3d-printed-habitat-competition

SEArch+ / Apis Cor win Top Prize in Construction Level 1 of NASA's Phase 3 3D-Printed Habitat Competition!

SEArch+ / Apis Cor has won the Top Prize in the first Construction round of NASA's Phase 3 3D-Printed Habitat Competition! View the teaser of Apis Cor's amazing submission below.

Shotput / ball drop test on the Foundation prototype measuring the potential impact of meteorites on the habitat; conducted at Moscow State University

First Place -   SEArch +/ Apis Cor
Second Place - Pennsylvania State University
Third Place - FormForge l Austin Insdustries l WPM

The official NASA announcement can be seen at:  https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/3DPHab/latest-updates-from-nasa-on-3d-printed-habitat-competition/

SEArch+ win fourth place in the Level 1 Virtual Design Challenge of NASA's Phase 3 3D-Printed Habitat Competition

SEArch+, in collaboration with Apis Cor, has won fourth place in Level 1 of the Phase 3 3D-Printed habitat Competition. 

Read more about the results from the Level 1 competition here:
From NASA.gov: Top Five Teams Win a Share of $100,000 in Virtual Modeling Stage of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Competition

NASA X-Hab 2018 Completed at Pratt Institute

Michael Morris of SEArch+ presents the latest work of the X-Hab Academic Innovation Challenge at Pratt Institute. 

SEArch+ presents in Space Architecture Workshop at MIT's 'Beyond the Cradle'

SEArch+ member Michael Morris presents in the Space Architecture Workshop of MIT's 'Beyond the Cradle' event, organized by the MIT Media Lab's Space Exploration Initiative. 

SEArch+ poster at the MIT Media Lab's event

Michael Morris presenting within the Space Architecture Workshop.

Christina Ciardullo delivers lecture "Architecture with Space Applications" at TU Delft Space Architecture Symposium "Supernova"

Christina Ciardullo spoke on the relationship between terrestrial and extraterrestrial architecture at TU Delft's Space Architecture Symposium: Supernova. Touching on topics from sustainable and closed loop architecture, to 3D Printing and human design and building standards, Christina addressed what Space Architecture can do to benefit Architecture on Earth.

For video of her lecture along with the other presenters during the day long symposium, check out the You Tube Live Steam below

Mars Ice Home Materials Selected for MISSE-11 Testing Aboard ISS

NASA has selected Mars Ice Home for its upcoming MISSE-11 mission scheduled to launch in November 2018. Materials specified for the wall assembly of the habitat structure will be flight tested for one year aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Samples of various materials will be mounted to the outside of ISS to investigate the effects of long-term exposure to the harsh environment of outer space. At the conclusion of the exposure cycle the samples will be returned to Earth for analysis to evaluate performance.

Kelsey Lents / SEArch+ Featured on WeMartians podcast "Dome Sweet Dome"

Jake Robins of the WeMartians podcast has released a new episode on the Mars Ice Home concept featuring Kelsey Lents of SEArch+ and Jeff Montes of Clouds AO. To listen in, visit: http://www.wemartians.com/home/019

Mars Ice Home Featured in Vitra Design Museum Exhibition: Hello Robot

Mars Ice House is now on display at the Vitra Design Museum as part of a newly opened exhibition titled "Hello, Robot. Design between Human and Machine." The exhibition, "Hello Robot," on view at the Vitra Design Museum from February 11th through May 14th, 2017. For more information please visit: Hello Robot: Design Between Human and Machine.

From the exhibition's website:

"Hello, Robot." introduces us to robots in four steps. The first section of the exhibition traces the fascination that artificial humans have long exerted on people in the modern age and looks at how popular culture has shaped our perception of robots. The second section is devoted to the field in which robotics first made a breakthrough: industry and the world of work. Whereas robots are typically perceived in this context as a threat to jobs, "Hello, Robot." looks at the current debate on this subject from a number of very different perspectives. The spectrum of exhibits ranges here from classic industrial robots to an installation by the group RobotLab, in which a robot produces manifestos on a production line, thus questioning where the boundary lies between work that can be automated and human creativity. The third section of the exhibition shows how we are gradually coming face to face with the new technology – as a friend and helper in our everyday lives, in our households, in nursing care, as a digital companion, or even in cybersex. The fourth section looks at the increasing blurring of the boundaries between humans and robots – exemplified by our living in »learning« buildings, traveling through »smart cities«, or having smart sensors implanted in our bodies.

Mars Ice Home Featured on NASA.gov

Read on about A New Home on Mars: NASA Langley's Icy Concept for Living on the Red Planet

“After a day dedicated to identifying needs, goals and constraints we rapidly assessed many crazy, out of the box ideas and finally converged on the current Ice Home design, which provides a sound engineering solution,” said Langley senior systems engineer Kevin Vipavetz, facilitator for the design session.

Eric Gillard
NASA Langley Research Center

NASA X-Hab 2016 Mars Surface Habitat Proposals Presented at Pratt Institute

On December 10, 2016 the X-Hab Academic Innovation course presented four final project proposals for Mars Surface Habitats, culminating the fall semester. The course, taught by Michael Morris, Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman and previously by Melodie Yashar, will continue in the Spring semester to produce functional prototypes of the designs.

Melodie Yashar Presents Mars Ice House at Innovative City Forum, Tokyo

Melodie Yashar of SEArch+ and Masayuki Sono presented Mars Ice House as part of a panel on Art & Creativity in Space as part of the Innovative City Forum, hosted by the Mori Building Co. on October 19, 2016. An interview with Melodie preceding the presentation discusses the significance of space architecture within the discourse of design for extreme environments, found here.