Space-Age Houses

An anonymous reader writes "The dream of building the Jetson's Skypad Apartment may come to true because technology designed for space could become the basis of the new German Antarctic station. The same ultra-light composites that ESA uses onboard its spacecraft for antennas and solar panels, will be used to make a self-supporting lightweight shell-like structure able to withstand severe earthquakes. This approach is in sharp contrast to many contemporary design solutions that use ever more steel and concrete..."

Comments

Earthquakes, sure...

[ackthpt]

will be used to make a self-supporting lightweight shell-like structure able to withstand severe earthquakes.

How about typhoons and hurricanes?

There's some housing in the Florida keys built on concrete pilars which look a bit like this, except they're square, built to withstand trailer shreading winds and stay above the water.

I wonder how durable in extreme cold this stuff would be, particularly in cold climates, as much aluminum developes stress fractures. More surface area on the outside means more area to insulate, too.

BTW, if you've ever considered living in a geodesic home, consider that the roofing costs about 3x what a regular house does. I wonder what mantenance would be like on these in the long term.

Some plus points

[kabz]

Well, the design goals that support these idea include :

- must be assembled in situ. So transporation dictates that the components must be fairly lightweight. Starting out lightweight also means that additional highly effective insulation materials can be added to minimise heat loss to the environment.
- must withstand cold. Space proven materials can already stand up to the extremes of cold.
- aerodynamic design. Carbon reinforced plastic is great for forming into non-flat shapes. Note that all the pictures in the article show structures that look like they are designed to have low wind resistance when compared to traditional cabin shapes.
- non-polluting at end of life. Lightweight structures that may be dissassembled and released from their ground tethers are better than traditional buildings that may have to use concrete foundations.

I wonder if this style of building is something that will spread to normal life. If it could be made low cost, then it would sure beat having a mobile home !!

Come to think of it, the Texas coast, just south of Galveston has some houses that look a bit similar to this, though the ones I've seen look more like they are made of sheet metal.