Multi layered modular housing system for a generation ship

Mentor: Boaz Lavie

What would life look like aboard a spaceship that carries thousands of people on a journey to a distant planet spanning several centuries, generation after generation, with no possibility of disembarking, and for many, without ever choosing to take part in it?

The project sets out to design a comfortable and flexible environment that can be adapted to the evolving needs of a growing and changing community, attending to various aspects of a full life – housing, employment, leisure, and everything necessary for maintaining mental well-being and a good quality of life.

The research draws on architectural theories such as Archigram’s movement (mobile cities), the Japanese Metabolist movement (modular construction), and architects like Moshe Safdie and Yona Friedman (prefabricated, multilevel building systems). It examines how these ideas could be adapted to the extraordinary challenges of a multi-generational spaceship: extreme physical conditions, the need for artificial gravity, raw material constraints, and above all, the capacity to change and respond to the community’s needs throughout the journey.

The result is a concept for a multilayered modular system that allows for planning flexibility, transformation, and long-term development. By the end of the journey, this system could also be deployed on the destination planet. Moreover, many of the insights gained from this project can already be implemented on Earth today.