City As A Spaceship - CAAS

02/04/2026

Dear loyal CAAS community,
We are closing this page and will no longer be posting here, but we will continue with our spaceship analogies, reciprocity and other space explorations.

Join us on our journey at https://cityasaspaceship.org/ or on Instagram at SSusmita Mohanty SSue Fairburn BBarbara Imhof

The implications for what we seek to address may be very significant, and urgent, especially in the present day context when global climate change is staring us in the face.

12/18/2024

Launching into 2025 with holiday wishes from LIQUIFER
We have been reflecting on the past year, mostly to figure out where it has gone, but also to enjoy the great successes that came with 2024.
https://mailchi.mp/84766615c77c/holiday_wishes_from_liquifer
In Spring, we celebrated the acceptance of our I-Hab mock-up, a project four years in the making. Shortly after, we launched our monograph at the European Space Policy Institute with a panel discussion and a unique dining experience by local artist Marianna Mondelos.
Summer brought the opening of Living Beyond Earth, a retrospective exhibition of our portfolio, showcasing themes from our book and two decades of work. We also wrapped up HARMONISE, our innovative recycling-in-space project.
In Autumn, we completed LUWEX, a two-year R&D effort developing water extraction technologies for ISRU. Winter marked a milestone as Barbara recorded the final episode of Space Specials, the podcast she’s hosted for over two decades, featuring expert interviews and topics on space and extreme environment design. The full archive is available on CBA.
We’re excited for what’s ahead in 2025 and will share more early next year!
Wishing everyone a happy holiday season, and we look forward to connecting again in 2025. Until then we wish you all good health and happiness in the New Year.
With best wishes from the LIQUIFER team,
Barbara, Waltraut, René, Chris, Monik, Ingo, Peter and Susmita

07/28/2024

To all space architects and engineers/scientists who work closely with space architects! Take a few minutes to answer the following survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/decadal-survey

It is the Space Architecture Decadal Survey; conducted under the aegis of AIAA, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. It will summarize the state of the field today and serve as a unified reference for its priorities throughout the next decade.

https://spacearchitect.org/decadal-survey/

The Space Architecture Decadal Survey is being conducted under the aegis of AIAA, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. It will summarize the state of the field today and serve as a unified reference for its priorities throughout the next decade.

07/10/2024

BBC sounds – How are extraterrestrial spaces being designed?

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two space architects from Austria and the US to hear about how living spaces will be created for the moon and beyond.

Barbara Imhof from Austria is a renowned space architect and co-founder of LIQUIFER Systems Group, specializing in designing sustainable habitats for space exploration. …

Melodie Yashar is an Amercian architect and technologist focused on advancing human space exploration through innovative architecture and construction technologies. …

Produced by Emily Naylor

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two architects who design extraterrestrial living spaces

05/29/2024

LIQUIFER. Living Beyond Earth - Architecture for extreme environments

The exhibition is part of the focus series:
Art and science in dialogue

Opening
3.6.2024, 19:00–22:00

Duration
4.6. - 11.7.2024

Gallery rauminhalt
space & content
Schleifmühlgasse 13, 1040, Vienna

https://mailchi.mp/a250b3eb670d/gateway-space-station-international-habitat-module-mock-up-acceptance-press-release-16532424?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1U2CLFHWrS6frarOteglSoRCGwd2rrQx0Sk7WxY9O_cfSZZTJ6mmzO11Q_aem_AVgDyvLdALoQyFwnv3GYic-Lr30lyVdozYdDwtfEcoVPwYCY4JJx5SKp_NujISDA77XX59kerqhCveY3y4g6tzUc

11/13/2023

We are happy to present our book on our LIQUIFER work. It took 20 years in the making and now we have concluded the work in which we tell our story and share our design approaches.
We are grateful to Brent Sherwood and Christina Ciardullo who wrote the prologue and epilogue for the book.

LIQUIFER. Living Beyond Earth Architecture for Extreme Environments

Conquering the extremes: LIQUIFER Systems Group, a design and research firm based in Vienna and Bremen, has been addressing the issue of human life on planet Earth and elsewhere in the universe for two decades. Their work demonstrates how considerate technology-based design solutions and careful use of available resources can enable us to live in space. Their concepts, feasibility studies, and technological developments all deal with the key issue of scarcity that defines life everywhere: on Mars, on the Moon, in orbit as well as on Earth. LIQUIFER Systems Group's projects range from a simulated Mars mission in Spain's Rio Tinto region and the interior design for the habitation module of the planned Gateway space station, to the EDEN ISS mobile greenhouse in Antarctica and biogenerative studies in which microbes are integrated into buildings to generate energy and recycle materials. LIQUIFER. Living Beyond Earth is the first book to present the practice's groundbreaking work. It features spectacular images and visualizations, detailed plans, and drawings that are supplemented with an introduction by and a conversation between the LIQUIFER team, as well as a prologue and an epilogue by renowned American space architects Brent Sherwood and Christina Ciardullo. It enables the reader to delve into the visionary world of Europe's leading space design firms.

Conquering the extremes: LIQUIFER Systems Group, a design and research firm based in Vienna and Bremen, has been addressing the issue of human life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe for two decades. Their work demonstrates how considerate technology-based design solutions and careful use of ava...

06/27/2023

LIQUIFER
Living Beyond Earth
Architecture for Extreme Environments

----- book out in autumn -----

01/17/2023

https://cba.fro.at/595994
Niamh Shaw and Barbara Imhof talk about their personal encounters with astronauts and what they have learned from them.

17.01.2023 - Niamh Shaw and Barbara Imhof talk about their personal encounters with astronauts and what they have learned from them.

12/20/2022

Designing for Earth by living in Space | Barbara Imhof | TEDxMestre This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

The space Architect Barbara Imhof has chosen to dedicate her career to designing spaces in extraterrestrial environments.In her talk, Barbara shows us how ar...

11/19/2022

18th Nov. the first two episodes of the HABITAT section are avialable on Youtube. In these two episodes from the transdisciplinary laboratory, the deal with science, art and technology of our living space like our environment and the planet. The mission crew sets out to do research to find answers. What is a habitat and what is the future of the human species? As biological beings, are we driven by optimization and what is the goal? Watch and find out!

11/14/2022

Space Specials Podcast:
Encounters with Spacewalkers
Niamh Shaw and Barbara Imhof talk about their personal encounters with astronauts and what they have learned from them. This is Part 1.

14.11.2022 - Niamh Shaw and Barbara Imhof talk about their personal encounters with astronauts and what they have learned from them.