SPACE HABITAT R&D
TESSERAE: Exhibition Pavilion
To enable the next generations of human spaceflight, we must design space habitats that promote scalable, sustainable life in space. At the core of Aurelia’s R&D work is the recognition that the current model of space construction and assembly – comprising small, rigid cylinders designed for utility – does not fully support the flourishing space community we wish to see.
Aurelia Institute's first R&D test case in novel space habitat development – TESSERAE’s self-assembling space architecture paradigm – has been flown to the ISS to assess its technical feasibility. Now, the Institute’s first foray into full-scale habitat design, the TESSERAE Space Habitat Pavilion, will connect the public to the future of life in space through an Earth-based demonstration.
As part of this vision, we built a life-size, interactive space habitat as part of our residency at the Autodesk Technology Center Boston, using advanced technologies in simulation, prototyping, and fabrication to develop the core architectural concept and interior design. In 2022, we developed a modular, reconfigurable skeleton for the pavilion, for which we were nominated and selected as finalists in the 3D Pioneers International Design Competition.
The Space Habitat Pavilion had a soft-launch in summer 2024, coinciding with the ISS R&D Conference in Boston. From there it debuted to the public as part of the “Home Beyond Earth” exhibit at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, which runs through January 2025.
Node and component assembly ahead of full structure build
In-house Waterjet fabrication at the Autodesk Technology Center, Boston
The interior of the TESSERAE Space Habitat Pavilion features a series of functional tiles and installations designed to take advantage of the unique affordances of microgravity.
The Green Vault protects, sustains, and highlights the importance of plants in zero-g environments. It maintains a variety of vegetables and herbs for both health and flavor. The Fermentation Station explores the value of microbes to provide shelf-stable, nutritious, and flavorful food off world. Developed in collaboration with CoFab Design, the tile maintains temperature and gas exchange for sourdoughs, pickles, and other fermented foods in the orb chambers. These tiles support the TESSERAE pavilion experience centered on growing, cooking, and eating food in zero-g, as well as the community, comfort, and ritual provided to spacefarers while in space.
Green Vault, protecting and showcasing a variety of vegetables and herbs for space
Fermentation station, using microbes to provide healthy, shelf-stable food to spacefaring humans
The TESSERAE Pavilion’s interior program communicates a vision of sustainable life in space, promoting the mutualism needed between human and non-human living entities to live and thrive off-planet. The Pavilion is an interactive way to engage with designers, researchers, and the public on the future of life in space, giving visitors an understanding of what it takes to design for microgravity.
Through open calls, invited collaborations, and design co-creation, the TESSERAE Pavilion will be a lens to imagine future meaningful lives in space, for new groups of people with new needs, contexts, and goals.
