SESSION I
SUSTAINABLE CITY
April 16th, 2025 – 4:00 pm / 4:20 pm
LIVING BEYOND EARTH: DESIGNING FOR LIFE IN THE UNKNOWN
ABSTRACT
What does it mean to design for life in places where the familiar conditions of Earth—gravity, atmosphere, natural cycles—no longer apply? As we prepare for a sustained presence on the Moon, Mars, and beyond, the role of architecture becomes profoundly multidimensional: not just about structures, but about cultivating new relationships between humans, technology, and the environment. This talk explores the evolving field of Space Architecture through the lenses of sustainability, habitability, and immersive design. Drawing on interdisciplinary research at MIT Space Exploration Initiative and Politecnico di Milano—including engineered greenhouses for Mars, multisensory environments, and real-time feedback systems using XR technologies—the talk highlights how computational design, human-centered approaches, and ecological thinking come together in the making of off-world habitats. It is in this convergence of disciplines that we begin to design not only for survival, but for quality of life—offering new ways to imagine how we might live, connect, and thrive in the unknown.
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VALENTINA SUMINI – BIO
Space architect, her research activities have focused on the development of designs and structures to enable life in extreme environments both on Earth and in orbit, on the Moon, and Mars. With dual degrees in Architecture and Engineering, a Ph.D. in Preservation of Architectural Heritage, she is a Research Affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab within the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, and a Visiting Professor at the Politecnico di Milano, where she holds the first course in Italy on “Architecture for Human Space Exploration”. The course is part of an innovative didactic Pilot project at Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with MIT, featuring the Webinar Series ‘Design Exploration: towards a Moon Architecture,’ in which Valentina is also a lecturer.
Her passion for space exploration dates back to 2009 when she had the opportunity to design a hotel on the Moon, MOOREA, with the Alta Scuola Politecnica, aiming to democratize access to space for tourists. In her studies, she has focused on devising new methods of computational design and multi-objective optimization processes to evaluate the performance of extraplanetary habitats, designing ecosystems for lunar villages and Martian cities, wearable soft robotics to enhance astronauts’ mobility and safety in microgravity and during Extra Vehicular Activity.
Since becoming a postdoctoral researcher at MIT in 2016, she has developed award-winning research and projects in various competitions organized by international space agencies, including:
- MARINA, an orbiting Space Hotel in Low Earth Orbit around Earth (NASA RASC-AL Competition 2017),
- Redwood Forest, a city on Mars with its Mars Habitat W.A.T.E.R. (Mars City Design Competition 2017),
- BEAVER, a greenhouse on Mars (NASA Big Idea Challenge 2019),
- Y.D.R.A., a system for extracting ice and water from Martian permafrost (NASA RASC-AL Competition 2018),
- Moon Village in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and the European Space Agency, exhibited at the Venice Biennale 2021 (May-November 2021),
- Tidmarsh Living Observatory Portal, an immersive and multisensory portal to improve the psycho-physical well-being of astronauts during space missions, exhibited at the MIT Media Lab (2019-2023),
- SpaceHuman, a soft robotic exoskeleton tested during Zero-G flights in 2019 and 2021 by the MIT Media Lab – Space Exploration Initiative, exhibited at MAXXI in Rome (September 2022-May 2023).
Valentina has presented her research activities as an Invited Keynote Speaker at various international events and conferences in both architectural and aerospace fields and has published several scientific articles on the subject. She has showcased her projects in international exhibitions and venues, including the Venice Biennale 2022, MIT Museum, Harvard, Yale, Museum of Science in Boston, MAXXI, Museo del 900, Biennale Architettura 2021, International Association of Shells and Spatial Structures, International Astronautical Congress, MIT Media Lab Beyond the Cradle, Ars Electronica, TEDx Talks and others. Her work has been featured in MIT News, Harvard Design Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, WIRED, National Geographic, Structure Magazine and others, and presented at international conferences and institutional events organized by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Italian Embassies worldwide. Valentina is one of the founding members of the SpaceCHI – Conference on Human-Computer Interaction for Space Exploration, together with colleagues from the MIT Media Lab.
Valentina is a member of both the Technical Committee on Space Engineering and Construction (SEC) of the Aerospace Division (ASD) for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Space Architecture Technical Committee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where she serves as Chair of the Education section, aiming to democratize education in the field of Space Architecture globally for different generations of students.
Currently, she is involved in innovation, robotics, and sustainability for COESIA, COESIA Engineering Center, where she analyzes new activities with high technological impact aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of industrial processes.