Architecture of the Apocalypse 2020

Premise

EARTH is a doomed planet and if humans do not act fast, humanity faces going down with the ship, Professor Stephen Hawking warned in his last book.

Hawking predicted that the earth would turn into a giant ball of fire by 2600 and humans would need to colonize another planet or face extinction. However, many possible scenarios of anthropogenic extinction have been proposed; such as human global nuclear annihilation, biological warfare or the release of a pandemic-causing agent, overpopulation, ecological collapse, and climate change.
Whilst there is a notorious race that burst to colonize space and the celestial bodies in it. It is almost the same technology developed for that purpose that could save us here on earth after the apocalyptic event to survive through any dystopian future.

Whilst there is a notorious race that burst to colonize space and the celestial bodies in it. It is almost the same technology developed for that purpose that could save us here on earth after the apocalyptic event to survive through any dystopian future.

 

Question?

Life exists on Earth only because it balances unsteadily in a delicate and fragile way but precise. Our atmosphere, proximity to the sun, and countless other proper conditions not only permit living things to survive and evolve but also thrive.

But what if one day we woke up and found that Earth is inhospitable to anything resembling life anymore as we know it.

The life on this planet likely won't cease until billions of years from now. But, depending on the scientists and astrophysics, it could also happen tomorrow or anytime in between.

At that time could space technology we develop to colonize other planets be useful to re-colonize earth again? It is dystopian but realistic that someday we will have to deal with our mother Earth as an extra-terrestrial planet.

 

Issue

Extrme conditions scenario

An extreme environment is a habitat that is considered very hard to survive in for life forms due to its considerably extreme conditions such as:

•    Scarcity of Oxygen in the atmosphere with high levels of toxicity in the air
•    High levels of radiations (Alpha, Beta & Gamma rays) due to a possible nuclear catastrophic event.
•    Lack of Flora and Fauna.
•    Extreme temperature fluctuations between day and night
•    The rise of Sea levels due to the melting of ice on both North and south poles.
•    Contamination of Earth water bodies with continuous acidic rain showers
•    Lack of sunlight due to heavy cloud cover

 

Brief of the competition

Brief: It is your mission if you choose to accept it, to design a self-sufficient, closed-loop life support system that can support regenerative life for the minimum viable population (MVP).

The MVP for this competition is 160 human beings on any location on earth after the extinction-level event where any location on earth will be an extremely harsh environment as any extraterrestrial planet.

Using the space technology but this time on earth. Dealing with earth as an extraterrestrial environment after apocalyptic event. If we have the technology to colonize Mars, That will be the same technology that will save us when the extinction level event (either it is manmade or natural) will happen.

It might be an underwater life boat, a sea level ark maybe, a cocoon shelter dug deep on a subterranean level or even an airborne airtight balloon. Your design today maybe some day’s human race ticket to survival to re-terraform earth again.

 

Earth (Doomed)

Mankind had already developed huge advancements in space colonization. Fortunately we can use same technology and concept in restoring earth again. Study Space colonization strategies and plans to provide you with insights.

 

Location

Choose any spot in context of doomed earth based on your research that can be safe and mitigate the extinction conditions on what was known previously Earth.

A few examples can be: Volcanic tubes (A form of tunnel caves formed by a volcanic activity, where they are naturally shielded from radiations and acidic rains), OR Underwater city that was once a shore city but drowned due to ice melting of North and south Poles (Availability of the infrastructures even if flooded by water) OR Extremely high altitudes above cloud cover (Like Mountain Everest)

Note: The above are just suggestions of sites which can withstand extreme conditions, however you can choose any other possible site based on your research.

 

Objectives

Idea: Underlying thought behind your doomsday habitat.

Site: The choice of place and scenario you build in.

Life: How human life is orchestrated inside the habitat.

Working: How the conceptual habitat would function.

The following objectives can be a point of beginning to conceive this design. Participants can assume their own contexts and users before initiating their design process.

 

Suggested Program

Keep note:

“Optimum systems are not necessarily composed of optimum components”

To create a balanced ecosystem to support mankind life you are free to edit and add to remove some of the program elements according to your research and vision.

• Planting farms (Aeroponics and/or Aquaponics) for 4 types of plants,(Vegetables and fruits for nutrition, Medical plants, Wood plants for construction, Oxygen bomb plants)
• Life supporting system including but not limited to Air recycling station containing (MOXIS) and/or water recycling (WAVAR)
• Sleeping areas (Pods and/or Capsules)
• Research Labs
• Living and exercising areas
• Powering station (Nuclear Batteries, Fusion reactor, piezoelectric, or any other suggested technology)
• Communication center to establish a network with other surviving communities
• Airlocks attached to the entrances with purification and sanitizing area.

 

The above design programme is open to modifications by the participants.

 

Judging Criteria

The entries will be judged by an international jury of the competition on the following criterions: