Mars City Design Entry Project Background

·        What is it?

My project focuses on the progression of human’s adaption to a completely new environment. This design proposal for Mars consists of a city plan that conveys the development and adaption of human beings and their surrounding architecture on Mars. This adaption to the environment is to prepare the human body to a phenomenon similar to the natural selection process as humans getting closer exposure to the immediate mars environment.

·        How will it work?

To achieve this goal of human’s steady adaption, there is going to be a shift from the architecture being the machine that conditions the environment to the body being the machine that responds to the environment. Each phase of human adaption and development will be organized through the concentricity of the Mars city plan. The construction of the city will evolve from the center and out. Each established ring within the city plan will become a new phase in a living condition that is slowly reaching towards that of Mars’.

·        How can your design improve the functioning of a city on Mars?

The original phase of my design will be a completely conditioned environment identical to that of Earth’s and within the human comfort zone. As the city expands, the environment will be a little less focused on the machine and the conditioning, but more so the experiential aspect of the surrounding environment. This will happen as humans push the limits of the conventions. The technology involved in each phase of the city development will strive towards passivity as there is an increase in gardens, recreational spaces, amenities, and public spaces for the citizens to enjoy.

·        How did you come up with the idea?

I came up with the idea due to my belief that we are going to mars not to make it similar to earth. Throughout the past millennia, humans haven’t changed or evolved much because we lived so heavily dependent on the technology around us. We conditioned the Earth’s environment to our comfort zone. I want to experiment with pushing and pulling the limits of the human body. I want to see how living in a new environment can change the way the human body adapts.  

·        Which category does your design fit best under?

My design fits under an urban planning category that aims to evolve out of the Earth-like conventions of living,

·        Which Martian challenges does your design address?

The Martian challenges that many people will face on initial settlement is getting used to the new life style and daily routine. They will have to live in a conditioned bubble, which is what I viewed as the issue that my design will address. My city plan proposal will develop from living in a completely conditioned bubble to slowly bringing humans closer to their immediate environment, that being Mars.   

·        What is unique about your design.

Instead of thinking about how we can design a condition as close to the conventional human lifestyle as possible, this design aims to break through the human’s comfort zone. Though it may be difficult and frightening at first, I believe time will help humans get accustomed to this needed change.

·        What innovation comes out of this design.

From this project design, we can discover a new part of ourselves. We get to see the extent of how our bodies change and adapt. It is amazing what the human body is capable of doing and how it responds to an unfamiliar environment.

·        Can it be used immediately on Earth to improve human life condition?

Definitely. When we look at extreme environments on Earth like the arctic pole, Antarctica and deserts, it is very difficult for us to live there. There are limited resources and the climate is not the most ideal for humans. This project can help expand the limit of living conditions in which humans are accustomed to.

·        How?

As I mentioned earlier, this plan introduces a closed loop system. This system will help limit the resources we need to find to maintain the city. The progressing phases, as the city expands concentrically, will also help humans adapt a little bit more to conditions closer to their immediate environment.