In the Interim Design Center parking lot of California State
Polytechnic University, Pomona, students are constructing a 30
foot experimental structure that could house astronauts in
space. Funded by the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), the year-long research and
experimentation project challenges students to design a vertical
habitat capable of housing four astronauts in space for a period
of 60 days. Not only is this an extreme case of micro-living,
but to design a living quarters with no orientation, where
walls, floors and ceilings are non-existent, is unworldly. More
after the break… This experience has inspired some Cal Poly
Pomona students to think beyond the traditional architecture
career path and pursue internships with NASA, working at the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, a federally funded research and
development center that specializes in the construction and
operation of robotic planetary spacecraft. “It opens up my
perspective to what you can do with a design degree like this,”