According to Raffi Tchakerian, the expansion of humanity towards other worlds, from the Moon to Mars, will give birth to “new cultures, perhaps even new religions”. Because in space the way of thinking changes. And to design. Tchakerian, 37, Lebanese, has been teaching Space design at the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation since 2018. A discipline that will take root more and more because the revolution brought by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos has opened up to mass travel beyond the atmosphere, to people “Normal”. And design will play a central role, not only to survive but because boredom will have to be overcome, thanks to artificial intelligence and virtual reality. He recently told the students of Lumsa, during one of the “Innovation talks”, about how environments and objects for interplanetary travelers take shape. Look to Johnny Depp, he graduated in industrial design in Venice, where on long walks on the Lido he discussed philosophy and technology with his uncle, an Armenian monk. For several years he collaborated with Arturo Vittori, space architect, brother of the astronaut. He tells, with fluent Italian, how designing for space is, literally, another world.
Why is space design being talked about so much now?
“Until now, only states had the resources to launch programs and access space. From the boom in Silicon Valley, people with the economic capacity, resources and mentality to do so have emerged. In 2004, Burt Rutan’s SpaceshipOne was able to access space for two. times in two weeks and broke that barrier. SpaceX and Blue Origin for the first time have created reusable rockets that can be landed and reused in less than 24 hours. For the first time we have more sustainable and cost-effective access to space. For people too. like us. Space is a severe environment, you can’t go wrong. Space design must design precisely to encourage mass access to space for those who are not trained “.
What do you teach at the Dubai institute of innovation?
“In the first year all students must take courses or workshops to train themselves to think critically, abstractly and learn the ability to design. One of the courses derives directly from MIT:” How to design almost anything “. There are various modules for the scanning and 3D printing. We also have new robots to print with sand. So you can use resources in situ, on the Moon or Mars, to build. A technology transfer from Earth to space. “
How should you think to design “spatial” environments and objects?
“To live long, and for the success of the mission, you have to think about psycho-physiological aspects of passengers and astronauts, the interaction with the environment. If you look inside the International Space Station, everything is used, you don’t have walls or ceiling, and it’s extremely engineering. If instead you look at the SpaceX capsule inside, it’s all virtual, the AI takes care of most of the processes. It’s about making the environments less “machinistic” and more human, too for those who are not trained “.
Come?
“We can send primary resources to create tools and environments and then recycle them with rapid manufacturing. Imagine robotic arms that can reprint reconfigure the space during the night, flexible or pneumatic environments, there are various materials that, based on how you inflate them, you can create different environments, then with the “weightlessness” you have many more opportunities. But also on Mars, where there is 30 percent gravity compared to Earth, and you can build with less material. We also talk about a sound environment, smells, colors, scents, to stimulate the senses and create an environment that evolves with you. With technologies that read your emotional state, you can play with your senses to make mission more enjoyable but also sustainable “.
Is there a paradigm for designing a “spatial” object compared to terrestrial design?
“I give the example of sculpture AtlasCoelestisZeroG, designed for space: 13 rings one inside the other that open in microgravity, was created for the 400th anniversary of Galileo. NASA said it was a dangerous object, because it was composed of various microelements, and if it breaks they can put people at risk. When designing for space, you can’t have floating objects hitting people or damaging equipment. Today, when you plan for mass production you have a lot of material waste, even 70 percent. In space you only need to print an object without losses, you can customize it very efficiently. You tell the software the Newtons, the forces it has to endure and at which points, and the algorithm puts the matter where it is needed, just like with the bones of our body. In the future, to design, we will rely on algorithms “.
Then Atlas Caelestis flew to the International Space Station.
“Yes, because they made it more robust. They sent it into space as an art object, and instead the astronauts started playing with it and broke it. This is an example of how in space astronauts find unexpected ways to use environments and objects. In one of the Mars 500 missions in Russia, the volunteers closed for two years dismantled the environment and created new objects, because they were bored, they wanted to create something, to play. In space everything must be flexible “.
Do you have an example of an ideal space environment that you saw in a movie for example?
“One of the most interesting examples, is base of 2001 A Space Odyssey. For long journeys you have to somehow guarantee artificial gravity, this is because of the way in which space destroys the human body, eyes, bones, muscles, there is radiation. And to create spaces, environments and greater volume than a spacecraft. I had designed for a master’s thesis a module for the ISS with an inflatable system, from four meters to eight in diameter. Guaranteeing large volumes is already a good design element “.
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During his lecture at Lumsa he used the words “human” and “inhuman” several times, in the sense of inhospitable for a long experience. And he recalled the concept of boredom several times. Because?
“When the space missions started, they just focused on the right stuff: if you had all the requirements to become an astronaut then there was no problem. He didn’t focus on psychological problems. The priorities were other. In the last 10-15 years there has been several research, in submarines or in arctic areas, on what happens to human psychology during missions of a year or more. There is a great impact on psychology. Boredom is one of the biggest barriers “.
How do you defeat boredom in long months of space missions?
“When you take a walk in the woods, or even at home, you hear the horn or the neighbors, the birds, those are all microelements that create variations in the environment. In isolated environments, like the Space Station, you always hear the same noises, those of the machines that keep you alive, this creates a numbness, the senses are not stimulated. We must therefore vary the noises, the colors, play activities, art, music. The change of routine is not to be underestimated. We have designed a mirror which changes color according to mood, if you are happy it gives you a yellow spectrum, if you are depressed it moves and tries to entertain you “.
And how experiences? For example virtual reality?
“Today we talk a lot about the Metaverse. We could create a kind of system where astronauts can enter and detach themselves from isolation during long journeys in space. Create their own reality. There are artificial intelligence algorithms capable of keeping you busy, you may have a psychotherapist. virtual, if you have problems you can enter like Brad Pitt does in that movie (Ad astra, ed) that interacts with an AI. Artificial intelligence will play an important role because we will not have direct connections, the distances will be too great, on Mars. It will not be possible to have conversations with the family, and with the people you love. “
How do you imagine an extraterrestrial colony? Where does it start to take shape?
“When I was teaching at the American University of Beirut, in the first three weeks the students were asked to become” scientists of Mars. “It started with studying the atmosphere and the territory, because everything changes compared to the Earth. Martian pole, you do it with ice, like igloos, or you send robots that melt it and can combine and 3D print new structures. It also depends on the type of mission, whether it is short or long, for a few pioneers or hundreds of people. You have to ensure the safety of the inhabitants. Ice and water are very useful as protection from cosmic radiation, but also lava tubes (large underground caverns). ed), there are on the Moon and also on Mars. If you need fuel to return to Earth, you have to choose places where soil is full of peroxides and useful materials. “
In a recent book, Heavenly Man Tommaso Ghidini of ESA told why we try to reach other worlds. As a stage of our civilization. What do you think?
“In the United Arab Emirates I held a workshop with 15-16 year olds on how to design a colony on Mars. One of the questions they asked me was“ In which direction should we pray? ”How do you answer such a question? it is inevitable that on Mars, wherever we have to create a settlement, new cultures will be born. Maybe even new religions “.
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How do you imagine it?
“I imagine a very efficient civilization, on another planet there is no room for errors, everything you do must be calibrated and sustainable. Food, relationships, even procreation. A new mentality, those who get used to it will hardly want return to Earth. And as often happens, the technological transfer from space will improve life on Earth, even a cultural transfer towards greater efficiency and sustainability “.
Where does Raffi Tchakerian come from?
“I was born in Beirut, mine is a family of inventors, my father was always busy creating solutions, a handyman, opened safes, created new tools. I watched them fascinated, as if they were special effects from the cinema. When I went to study in Venice, I took long walks on the Lido with my uncle, an Armenian monk on the island of San Lazzaro, who was doing a doctorate in philosophy of technology. We were talking about Heidegger and technology, the love for the thought of design comes from him “.
And then he met Arturo Vittori, a space architect.
“I met him during my master’s degree. He explained various aerospace projects and moon bases with ESA and NASA. I didn’t have that kind of background but listening to him I said to myself ‘I want to become like him.’ virtual reality, and he called me to collaborate, an experience that lasted more than ten years. After graduation, I got my doctorate in space design “.
And with what results?
“More than design he focused on the way of thinking: large sociotechnical systems. The easiest example is the electrification of the world, Edison created not the lamp, but the system of generators, cables, light bulbs to install his technologies. Me. I was looking at how space and new realities like SpaceX, Amazon or Virgin Galactic will transform our future, create new sociotechnical systems and how designers will play fundamental roles to ensure the success of these realities “.
Why now in Dubai?
“Dubai is the most appropriate and mature place to create a space design course, they give you the possibility and the resources because there are no bureaucracies that exist elsewhere where there is the rejection of new things. Unfortunately it is the experience that I also had in Italy “.
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