Benita Chen

Interior Designer

NYC

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Curtis One

Volume Zero Competition - Moonception 2019 | Top 50 Entry | 2019

Curtis One, named after the crater upon it is situated, is the first building within a utopian vision of lunar architecture as the first intergalactic transit station. The Curtis models represents a global united force – the Apex of human evolution as we begin our journey into the unknown as one. Inspiration was taken from the shared fractal structure, stairs and physical ascension of religious temples from a myriad of ancient civilisations to elevate the brief as a metaphor of hope – a reach for heavenly delights; the transcendence of earth-bound humanity.

Curtis One focuses on the specific research into Helium-3 as a sustainable form of energy supply. Since frequent solar winds replenishes an abundance of the raw material - moon dust. Each Curtis mines and filters through regolith on the moon surface, they are then flowed through heated pipes and processed through the reactor where the Helium isotope is converted into energy and stored. The modular battery system powers both its internal functions and can be dismantled for external energy transference. This system prepares for the future vision of a launchpad which would utilise the dismantled batteries from each Curtis to power its functions.

Water is scarce on the lunar surface, however through the processing of the moon dust and rocks for Helium-3, water that are present in the soil evaporates and are collected for the vertical aeroponic farms. As natural sunlight is unreliable due to the orbital patterns, artificial red and blue lights are installed for continuous growth.

The vision the Curtis model brings is an interconnected system of buildings supporting a central base that would be the start of deeper space exploration. It is envisioned as the start of a network of craterbased lunar transit stations that would provide energy required for space exploration beyond the
moon.

Team Members:
Benita Chen
Ivy Tong
Leo Wang