In our modern era we have a tendency to look to the future in terms of a dystopian environment rather than with much of the optimistic qualities typical of early 20th century futurism. While this serves the purpose of preparing for future crisises, it does not hold much room for what we should be aspiring towards, and therefore imposes an overwhelming sense of pessimism and defeatism towards the future.
Prompt
How can we visualize a lens into our own future that we actively might aspire towards rather than seek to avert?
Problem
What design opportunities does technological projection and advancement pose for us as a species?
Solution
We should envision what an isolated example of a futurist location that showcases technological possibilities could possibly look like, and present it in such a way that it evokes the feeling of wanting to spend time there by making it functionally a place of leisure, like a resort.
The Akastral Archipelago
The Akastral Archipelago is a union of space colony resorts each with their own separate purpose. They are called as such because, when viewing space as a sea of stars, the union of colonies function akin to a series of islands that can be jumped between by means of a more predominent form of space-faring vessel. What follows are a handful of the "islands" that can be found on the archipelago:
The Akastral Voyager
A resort space colony with an emphasis on creating a self-sustaining environment much like Earth's in space.
The Akastral Identity
A resort space colony with an emphasis on replicating an urban environment.
The Akastral Crystal
A resort space colony with an emphasis on providing the ability to observe the solar system.
The Akastral Ascent
A resort space colony with an emphasis on creating the ideal environment for training athletes.
This presentation will focus solely on the first island, the "Akastral Voyager."
The Akastral Voyager's "Open Air" Environment
The Akastral Voyager's primary draw is in how it replicates a natural environment whilst still within an entirely man-made body confined to space. Despite all of our advancements, humans are still animals that originate from Earth, and that's not about to change any time soon. Which is why an appeal to pastoralism is necessary no matter how far we advance. Even while still on Earth, urban environments like cities require greenery through park areas and street trees in order to maintain a high standard of living. It serves not only an aesthetic purpose but more importantly it serves a functional purpose, being vital to the mental wellbeing of most people to not be entirely confined to artificiality.
The Akastral Voyager's Spaceport
Arrivals and departures within the Akastral Voyager are done primarily through one of four gates on the low gravity layer. Humanity should aim to develop more widespread and less commodified usage of interstellar travel as a means of, for the first time in our history, the ability to create more space. Visualizing a series of space colonies as an archipelago is all well and good, but it only functions close to one when the means of "seafaring" isn't as difficult to accomplish as it currently is for us.
The Akastral Voyager's Accomodations
With the idea of a resort in mind, the Akastral Voyager's design is primarily influenced by contemporary hotel aesthetics, deferring to cruise liners while keeping in mind that these apartments function more as cabins than typical hotel rooms. One of the benefits of fully manufacturing a colony in space is that you don't need to conform to the environmental factors like elevation. If you hold the materials and means of development necessary, then they can suit most designs.
Layer System
The Akastral Voyager is a massive spacecraft, and therefore must artificially produce and maintain the circumstances that allow human life to flourish. The layered system is designed with this in mind.
10km circumference.
"Open Air" Layer
The primary appeal of the Akastral Voyager is it's massive spacebound recreation of Earth-like conditions away from Earth proper. The "Open Air" layer is meant to most closely resemble an Earth atmosphere.
1.5 km from center.
Residential Layer
Sectioned off from the forest above is the residental accomodations of the Akastral Voyager. This area functions close to a resort with a more chic modern aesthetic.
1.54 km from center.
Functional Layer
This layer is primarily out of sight and performs all of the tasks required for the vessel to properly function, including air filtration, food production, material manufacturing, satellite connectivity, heat radiation, and so on.
1.59 km from center.
Spoke Layer
Aside from functioning as the support beams used to facilitate the rotation of the space colony, the spoke layer provides elevators in order to traverse between the core cylinder, the inner ring, and the primary ring.
Low Gravity Layer
This layer serves as a lower gravity area used both for recreation and used as the primary port for the space colony. Arriving vessels enter in this area and sometimes may be stored for prolonged periods of time.
0.7 km from center.
Zero Gravity Layer
The zero gravity layer is another much smaller gravity based recreational area that sits just outside of the engine.
0.2 km from center.
Engine Layer
The engine layer provides one of the core necessities of the space colony. That being artficial gravity produced through the centrifugal effect of the rotating spacecraft. It is also directly connected to perpendicular beams in the exterior that gather electricity from sunlight for the spacecraft.
Process
The Akastral Voyager began as a fairly amorphous concept with only the broad strokes and overarching themes nailed down. I sought to make it a space colony and have it contain an organic habitat that resembled natural forest environments on earth.
As I did research on hypothetical space colony designs, I eventually landed away from the more abstract and fantastical designs I had started with and landed more firmly in the realm of established futurist concepts, settling into using the Stanford torus template. The Stanford torus is a is a large, donut-shaped structure that rotates in space, and I personally view it as the most reasonable design for a space colony where the need for some kind of artificial gravity substitute exists. The simple design and usage of centripetal force makes it very easily understood and requires it use the fewest possible assumptions of future technological developments in order to feasibly portray. It primarily just required an electrical motor. Simply seeing it allows you to get a good idea of how it functions. The gravity gradient as you move toward the center also appealed to me. Mundane areas with low gravity have a unique appeal in sci-fi settings.
To the right is an image gallery containing a snapshots of the developement process of the Akastral Voyager.
