Scientific Domesticity - Transforming prosaic domesticity and space education through the wonder of speculative science.
- Paper number
IAC-15,E1,9,4,x29450
- Author
Mr. Luke Lupton, United Kingdom
- Year
2015
- Abstract
I made a star in my bathroom. As the lasers aligned, the sodium ions ignited, and for 10 seconds, a 1:100000 celestial orb burned at 200 degrees celsius in the bath. This was the first of a series of spectacular events of astronomical scale that were condensed to household proportions. Scientific Domesticity was an architectural proposition that explored the exciting and volatile duality of scientific testing within a domestic environment. This explosive and experiential inhabitation of elemental genesis was explored in 1:1 experimentation. Through collaboration with leading professors in astrophysics at University College London and Mullard Space Science Laboratory, the theatrical processes that generate our universe could finally be experienced in an anthropomorphic arena - the home. As an architectural exercise, these tests started to inform spatial construction. Often the beauty of the infrastructure and apparatus required to support the reaction became more intricately designed than the event itself. The poetic altruism of sacrificial framework to allow a greater outcome was an unplanned source of inspiration for future work and one that resonated closely with the meticulous approach to space design. A methodology evolved that was based on empirical scientific rigour yet still allowed delight in speculation and conjecture. Science is inherently based on factual evidence but requires a margin for supposition. An embrace of nocturnal hypothesis and trust in tacit intuition became a nutritious vehicle of design. Space education needs to descend to terrestrial scale to inspire and ignite before gathering enough momentum to glide into interstellar space. All too often, monumental processes that form our universe are described to children as words and theories. It is time for a new paradigm of space education, one that is engineered to expose these phenomenal events in live, honest expositions of pure science. Not only would this fundamentally change the antiquated method of 1-dimensional teaching, it would birth a new generation of scientists, astronomers, thinkers and designers that speculate and cognate on how our experiences as humans can be heightened and better understood through physical interaction with raw science. Through awe-inspiring imagery, live science and inspirational ideas, I propose to expose the latent beauty in our universe and the explosive processes that govern our lives, on human scale. It is time for the inception of perpetual energy into the world of space education.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-15,E1,9,4,x29450.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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