TEXT

”There is a metaphor I’ve had occasion to cite more than once, that Persian metaphor which says that the moon is the mirror of time. In the phrase “mirror of time” lies the moon’s fragility, and its eternity as well. There is that contradiction of the moon, so nearly translucent, so nearly nothing, and yet whose measure is eternity.” – Jorge Luis Borges, Seven Nights

The Moon is pure landscape. Perhaps the only landscape humanity has shared since its origin: we see the same moon that the first humans saw.

A project for the Moon must above all be a landscape project, one that engages in dialogue with its perpetual condition. The most salient character of its landscape is the monochrome color of its surface and the thousands of craters of varying sizes, the product of asteroid impacts over time.

For any intervention on the Moon, we propose always beginning by mirroring the concave geometry of the craters, materializing over them lightweight convex domes, of great structural efficiency under lunar low gravity, that define and protect interior spaces. Seen from above, their shadow will resemble that of the original crater, but inverted. Their construction material will be obtained by profiling the crater floor, which will guarantee a color similar to that of the Moon itself. Using three-dimensional printing technology, the lunar dust obtained will accumulate in horizontal strata, progressively narrowing until the crater is fully covered, or alternatively, leaving oculi of variable size and position according to specific needs.

It is an open system that pairs craters with domes, studying their sizes and configurations to generate opportunities for groupings and habitable spaces. The Moon’s extensive topographic data will make it possible to establish the best siting options for domes of various sizes and grouping conditions. Beneath them, the technological and scientific structures necessary for human activity will be developed.

From above, from Earth, the interventions will be almost imperceptible, and the Moon will remain as it has always been. There are only subtle anomalies: some craters have their shadow mirrored.

TEAM

Diego Arraigada, Sofía Rothman, Lucrecia Rossi Raies, Pablo Gamba, Luciano Navarini, Francisco Falabella, Mercedes Paz, Quentin Bonnet, Emmanuel Leggeri, Manuel Bianchi, Facundo Spina

PHOTOS

Diego Arraigada, Federico Cairoli