Moonlife

The Moon Village is made of 25 modules located within the Shackleton crater at the lunar south pole.

The interdisciplinary laboratory envisioned the development of a permanent base on the moon, called Moon Village, located within the Shackleton crater at the lunar south pole. Based on the modules designed for NASA by Foster and Partners, the base consists of pneumatic bubbles inflated directly from Halo modules – the same ones used to construct the lunar orbiting space station known as Lunar Gateway, designed and built by Thales Alenia Space Italia. The pneumatic structures will then be covered by a thick layer of regolith, the fine dust that characterizes the lunar surface, to protect the interior environments from lethal solar radiation in the absence of atmosphere.

The design students imagined functions in hostile conditions and with different gravity, within 25 modules, creating a complex living scenario made up of spaces, objects, and services.

The interdisciplinary laboratory involved students from Interior Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Media Design, Fashion Design, and Illustration, working together to imagine human life beyond Earth. This included the integration of the concept of a rover for tourist explorations, visual identities and wayfinding, manuals and guides, digital management applications, lunar clothing, and events.

The research was structured around three progressive phases — survive, establish, and thrive — reflecting the gradual transformation of a base from essential survival to a fully developed community.

Within this framework, clusters of modules were conceived to host the core functional activities necessary for life in space: monitoring and controlsleep and restresearch and studyeating and cultivationwell-being, and even tourism. Each module responds not only to practical needs but also to the cultural and emotional dimensions of human presence, envisioning habitats where survival evolves into stability, and stability into prosperity.

Project Coordinator
Gianfranco Bombaci

Advisors
Prof. Luca Bradini (Interior Design)
Laura Bernasconi (Fashion Design)
Bruno Cannucciari (Illustrazione)
Stefano Luceri (Graphic Design)
Gianluca D’Ottavio (Media Design)
Gian Paolo Sammarco (Sound Design)
Francesco Subioli (Product Design)

Tutors
Marco Galofaro (Model Making)
Giulio Aleandri (Technical Studies)
Benedetta Gaiani (Video Making)
Marco De Angelis (Visual communication)
Claudio Castaldo (Visual communication)
Alessio Tommasetti (Visual communication)
Chen Zhao (Visual communication)

Guest lecturer
Lukas Feireiss (curator and educator)
Ing. Maria Antonietta PERINO (Thales Alenia Space)
Carlotta Pittori (AGILE Data Center coordinator)
Stefano Polato (Nutritional & Nutraceutical Consultant)

Photos
Gabriele Lungarella

Students
Cambruzzi Mariasole, Piccinini Eleonora, Bosi Sara, Cimignoli Daria, Pietropoli Imelda, Roguska Klara, Menna Anna Pia, Pacetti Filippo, Scardigno Sonia, Sabatini Tommaso, Thomas Giulia, Zhou Yuan, Dottarelli Claudia, Possati Ilaria, Salierno Gioacchino, Zhang Bingqi, Xie Ruoni, Chen Qianyu, Cantatore Edoardo, Galderisi Gabriele, Fiorucci Nina, Tomassi Francesca Romana, Colonnelli Flavia, De Michele Marco, Wu Luotong, Ke Chenwei, Liu Siyan, Taiyi Deng Yaxin , Huang Keying, Wu Shan, He Wenjing, Wang Xizhi, Liang Jiazhen, Zhang Jiyou, Yang Siqi, Ye Jiani

Reasearch Books

Moonlife-Product-Research

Project list

  • Lunaatelier

    Lunaatelier

    By Klara Roguska — LunAtelier is a pioneering design space that unites imagination, experimentation, and production to inspire creatives and…

  • GalactiGym

    GalactiGym

    By Jiani Ye Jiyou Zhang Siqi Yang — The objective of this project, rooted in the concepts of innovation and…

  • Contact

    Contact

    By SaraBosi, Daria Cimignoli, Imelda Pietropoli — This project focuses on research, monitoring, and administrative operations: it forms the backbone of…

  • Heimat

    Heimat

    By Mariasole Cambruzzi, Eleonora Piccinini — This thesis project explores the first two modules of the Moon Village, which play a…

  • Moonhaven Modules

    Moonhaven Modules

    By Gioacchino Salierno, Ilaria Possati, Claudia Dottarelli – This project, part of the third phase of the Moon Village development, focuses…

  • Moonhaven Rover

    Moonhaven Rover

    By Flavia Colonnelli and Marco De Michele. The lunar rover Nova represents a revolution in space tourism, designed specifically to transport visitors…

  • Moonhaven Identity

    Moonhaven Identity

    By Matteo Berloco, Chiara Di Palma, Alessandro Leonori — Live as a lunaut, rediscover yourself as an earthling HAVE YOU…

  • Moonhaven Orbiting Clubbers

    Moonhaven Orbiting Clubbers

    By Teresa Colonna – Orbiting Clubbers is a fashion collection created for Moon Life, the third phase of the lunar tourism experience.…

  • Buzzy

    Buzzy

    By Ke, Wu, Liu — This project envisions a comprehensive dining system for a lunar environment, combining technology, design, and social…

  • Aquarius – Experience

    Aquarius – Experience

    By Anna Pia Menna, Filippo Pacetti, Sonia Scardigno — The project envisions the development of three interconnected spatial modules: one dedicated…

  • Aquarius Guide

    Aquarius Guide

    By Aurora Cecchini, Francesco Del Ponte, Laura Loche — For millennia, humanity has witnessed the passage of zodiacal ages, each lasting…

  • Atlas

    Atlas

    By Giulia Thomas, Francesca Romana Tomassi, Nina Fiorucci, Gabriele Galderisi, Edoardo Cantatore — Atlas focuses on a vital aspect of…

Design for a multi planetary humankind.

A platform developed at IED – Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome, focused on spaces, objects, and services that place human factors at the center of the space industry.

IED Istituto Europeo di Design