SPACELIFE
Design for a multi planetary humankind.
IED Rome explores how design can support human life on other planets.
IED Rome has launched a research group to explore how design can support human life in building stable communities on other planets. Over the course of two years, students from Interior Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Media Design, Fashion Design, and Illustration programs developed experimental projects investigating the role of design in some of the most hostile environments imaginable: the Moon, Earth’s satellite, and Mars, the red planet often considered the best alternative for sustaining human life within the Solar System.
From an ontological perspective, extending design approaches into contexts traditionally dominated by engineering, physics, or biology redefines the challenge. Once we imagine not only sending machines — rovers, robots or landers — but also human beings into outer space, the need for a user-centered conception becomes evident. Until now, orbiting stations such as the ISS have been designed primarily as high-tech machines, where humans adapt in order to survive. The immense technological effort prioritizes functionality, often leaving astronaut comfort as secondary, even optional.
Why imagine habitats in space?
However, if we begin to envision a stable, long-term human presence on the Moon or Mars, a user-centered approach becomes as crucial as scientific and technological development. Design is not only about shaping spaces, objects, or services; it also informs behavior, movement, mindset, and well-being. It defines how our bodies and minds act in space. In this sense, the role of design in environments so radically different from Earth is critical — guiding what may become the next evolutionary leap for humankind.
Curiosity rover’s selfie, NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
A new space era.
We are living through a new chapter of space exploration. Unlike the Cold War race that led to the first Moon landing, today the goal is not only to reach space, but to create a stable human presence beyond Earth. Private companies are now entering what was once reserved for superpowers, and the challenge is no longer purely technological. When it’s about robots and machines, it’s engineering. But when it’s about people, it’s also a matter of design — how we live, work, and thrive in entirely new environments.
Innovation that comes back to Earth.
The effort to reach the Moon in the 1960s and 70s gave us countless innovations that changed everyday life — from medical imaging to advanced sportswear. Space exploration has always been a driver of progress, and this new era will be no different. The Made in Italy tradition of creativity, technology, and design has the potential to play a leading role in shaping the solutions of tomorrow, both in space and here on Earth.
Earthrise, NASA/Bill Anders
Sustainability as the only choice.
The iconic Earthrise photograph revealed to humanity the fragility of our blue planet, suspended in the void of the universe. Today, imagining life on the Moon or Mars — places without water, air, or natural protection — means designing for survival where sustainability is not an option, but the only path forward. And perhaps this is the deepest meaning of our work: learning how to live on other planets in order to understand how to save the Earth.
An open archive.
This platform serves as an open archive, collecting the outcomes of two design laboratories: Moonlife and Marslife. It brings together the work of students and teachers who explored the role of design in shaping a multi-planetary human existence, enriched by the contributions of thinkers, philosophers, engineers, astrophysicists, and nutritionists.
The archive documents a wide range of ideas — from the pragmatic to the radical — all aimed at questioning how we might live beyond Earth. More than a repository, it is a platform for debate, inviting reflection on how design can not only respond to technological and scientific challenges but also drive the cultural, social, and emotional dimensions of our shared future in space.
A research 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.