Did you know that in January 2017, the online architectural platform Eleven published the winners of an ideas and design competition - Moontopia.

Moontopia was an international challenge exploring design-led solutions for space architecture. Students, architects, designers, artists, academics, and scientists from around the world asked to propose visions for a self-sufficient lunar colony for living, working, researching, and space tourism.

The judges included space-architects, academics, and NASA designers.

The winning entry was:

Test Lab

by Monika Lipinska, Laura Nadine Olivier and Inci Lize Ogun

A medium-scale lunar colony, Test Lab is based in the frontline of space exploration and lunar colonization. The team developed a design that acts as an initial location on the Moon to conduct further testing on a satellite. The architecture grows and constructs itself through a form of 3D printed self-assembly, gradually colonizing the Moon over time.

The most important element of the Test Lab is the outer membrane. Based on a simple origami pattern and made of programmed carbon fiber, it has the ability to re-shape itself when it senses pressure variations in the solar wind.