On April 15, 2010, President Barack Obama announced an ambitious strategy for expanding human presence out into the solar system. On the way to Mars, the nations of the world will demonstrate solution for living in deep space indefinitely, and for building on planets. The discovery of water on the moon fundamentally changes the practical value of our nearest neighbor. After learning about where it is and how it is concentrated, we can learn to collect and purify it. And then we can use it to support human life and for rocket propellant. Now is the time to re-think the moon as a destination for human enterprise.

Photo: NASA

What could be a better study model for renewable energy – thinking about how to build a self-sustaining city on the moon may help us break free of our dependence on fossil fuels here on Earth. How about the moon as a laboratory to prepare for exploring other planets and as a new tourist destination? SHIFTboston calls on all architects, artists, landscape architects, urban designers, engineers, and anyone else who would like to tackle the question: what if – what, when – these things happen on the moon?

This competition is intended to collect and inspire. Through sources such as blogs, editorials, advertising and exhibition, SHIFTboston will promote the most radical ideas gathered in this competition. The goal is to attract greater public interest in future possibilities for human expansion into the solar system, and in elements of self-sustaining cities of the future – efficient cities – that no longer rely on fossil fuel.

The honorary recipient will receive a cash prize and present at the SHIFTboston Moon Capital Forum celebration in Boston on Thursday, October 21, 2010. The winning entry will be displayed in a new online virtual moon tourism world, in addition to a post cards series and book. All eligible entries will be promoted on the SHIFTboston blog and website and will become part of the SHIFTboston Moon Capital Exhibition.

Submission deadline is September 3, 2010. Click here for more information about the Moon Capital Competition.

Through Blueprint Magazine we found out about the birth of a machine that is able to print entire buildings. The monster is located near Pisa, Italy, and its father is Enrico Dini, an engineer with a background in offline programming systems for six-axis robots.

“Driven by CAD software installed on a dust-covered computer terminal, the armature moves just millimetres above a pile of sand, expressing a magnesium-based solution from hundreds of nozzles on its lower side. It makes four passes. The layer dries and Enrico Dini recalibrates the armature frame. The system deposits the sand and then inorganic binding ink. The exercise is repeated. The millennia-long process of laying down sedimentary rock is accelerated into a day. A building emerges. This machine could be used to construct anything.”

The machine is explained to be a remix of existing technologies supercharged with robotics. However, it took seven difficult years for Dini to turn his ideas into a tangible model. His persistence even cost him his marriage. In the end he managed to deliver a machine of which its developement embodies a vital move forward in the world of 3D printing, from the “shoebox-size” prints of today “to tomorrow’s ability to print complete structures on site”. The British Architectural Association is the first to get a marketable version of Dini’s baby.

“A 5mm-wide stream spreads out over the dust, becoming a 10mm layer when solid. Because the two components mix outside the nozzle, the machine does not clog up and can maintain an accuracy of around 25 dots per inch. The resulting material is solid stone.”

London-based architect Andrea Morgante has joined Dini to produce the first 3D-printed building ever, a pavilion to be built in the nearby town of Pontedera. Morgante and Dini have decided to print the egg-shaped landmark in parts before assembling it on site. The building shows the potential of the 3D printing machine — its ability to easily create Gaudiesque, curvy structures. Good news for Zaha Hadid and Santiago Calatrava. Furthermore, the printer is four times faster than conventional building and “costs a third to a half as much as using Portland cement”. And last but not least, it creates little waste and is therefore much better for the environment. You can imagine the huge impact 3D printing could have on the building business, since much less efforts will be needed to build a house. Besides that, on site printing of buildings will likely decrease transport of materials and should have a tremendously positive effect on the size of the carbon footprint of a building process.

Interestingly, Dini started working with the European Space Agency Aurora programme, which was established to explore opportunities for a plan for robotic and human exploration of the solar system, “with the Moon and Mars as the most likely targets, and to establish a more permanent presence on the Moon”. He approached a Alta Space, a company specialized in propulsion technologies, and also asked Norman Foster to join the team. Expect some ambitious proposals and ideas in the future…

“The idea is to create a robot that could take the regolithic powder found on the moon and make buildings from it, using advanced sensor technology being developed by La Scuola Normale Superiore and propulsion devices created by Alta Space. In addition it would presumably create large structures in the manner of Foster and Partners. Given the way the practice’s buildings often go against the urban grain, the moon seems ideal.”

Extra: I found a video about the space printer on Monogocoro:

Archiprix International invites all universities and colleges teaching architecture, urban design and landscape architecture to select 1 graduation project and to ask the designer(s) to submit the selected project for participation. Designers who have graduated since July 1 2008 are eligible. The selected designer must be registered by the school by August 1st, 2010 and projects must be received at MIT by September 1st, 2010. The projects will be presented in the exhibition, on the website and in a book with DVD. The designers of the projects will be invited for the workshops taking place in May/June 2011 in Cambridge, USA. Participation is free of charge.

Over 1400 faculties from more than 100 countries have been invited to take part. This makes Archiprix International by far the biggest competition for recently graduated architects, urban designers and landscape architects. No other competition for young talented designers displays such a broad insight in world-wide trends in education and the fields of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture in general.

After successful editions in 2001 in Rotterdam, 2003 in Istanbul, 2005 in Glasgow, 2007 in Shanghai and 2009 in Montevideo, Archiprix Interna-
tional will again stage a unique presentation of the world’s best graduation projects. Archiprix International 2011 takes place in May/June 2011 in
Cambridge, USA. This fifth edition will be hosted and co-organised by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture + Planning. The
SA+P boasts an illustrious history stretching back nearly a century and a half, providing the current students with a legacy and long tradition of pioneering
excellence. The Department of Architecture was the first such department in the nation (1865) and became a leader in introducing Modernism to America.

For more details and the latest news, please visit the official website at archiprix.org or the MIT host website at mit.edu/archiprix.

The AA School of Architecture has published a video of last week’s Al Manakh: Gulf Continued discussion on its website. Click here to watch the video.

“Rem Koolhaas and Al Manakh editor Todd Reisz will discuss the implications of the book and OMA’s continuing work in the Gulf region. Al Manakh: Gulf Continued is an essential and comprehensive guide to the cities of the Gulf, produced by AMO, Archis and Pink Tank. A follow-up to the first installment of Al Manakh – made in the very different moment of 2007, this 536-page book of interviews, travelogues, analyses, propositions, infographics and photography explores the growing interconnectedness of the region and the complex impact of the financial crisis.”

Please join us at Shelter for an informal get-together with some of the contributors and members of the editorial team of Al Manakh: Gulf Continued, today from 7:30 pm. You will also have the opportunity to get your copy of Al Manakh: Gulf Continued at a discounted price.