Orbital Habitation
A speculative orbital habitat organized by three daily time zones and a continuous circulation rail.
An architectural study of circulation and program in a near-zero-gravity environment.
The degree project develops an orbital habitat for long-term workers and short-term visitors. A continuous guardrail organizes movement and functional zones without relying on a single floor plane. The research began in Fall 2023; subsequent drawings and models develop the interior organization and inhabited modules.
- Context
- Pratt Institute · Degree project
- Development
- Fall 2023 research / Spring 2024
- Final subtitle
- A Landscape Untied From Reality
- Setting
- Speculative habitat in Earth orbit
- Research collaboration
- Siyue You & Kexin Hong, Fall 2023
Time zones and program
Three looped bands correspond to morning, afternoon and evening. Their axes are arranged at 120 degrees around a central spine. Workers follow a proposed 24-hour routine; visitor spaces test changes in orientation and perceived duration.
The central spine contains docking, a lounge, living areas, bathing, laundry and private pods. Gardens and laboratories link the time zones. Connection nodes accommodate proposed solar, mechanical and storage functions.
Morning, afternoon and evening loops meet the central docking and living spine.
Circulation and sectional projection
The guardrail defines a three-dimensional route through rooms, planted surfaces and connecting passages. It provides a continuous reference for orientation and separates functional areas within the habitat.
A cylindrical module is unrolled and represented at 120-degree intervals to expose its interior relationships. The drawings coordinate a 360-degree garden, reading room, café, agricultural storage, visitor corridor and laboratory around the module’s circumference.
Unrolling and rotating the module exposes its inhabitable surfaces; pink rails trace movement.
The sectional model connects terrain-like surfaces, enclosed rooms and circulation.
Physical models and lighting studies
Research covers orbital living conditions, orientation, daily schedules and vegetation under directed light. These topics inform the arrangement of occupied surfaces and circulation supports.
The section model combines contoured planting surfaces, rails and enclosed rooms. Day and night photographs test lighting conditions. The module model, unrolled drawings and overall model describe the proposal at interior and system scales.
Illumination changes the reading of the model’s interior surfaces and routes.
Degree-project development at Pratt Institute, 2023–2024. The Fall 2023 research booklet credits Siyue (Steve) You and Kexin (Kelsey) Hong; listed critics are Yetunde Olaiya, Ostap Rudakevyh and Molly Davy. The habitat is a speculative architectural proposal.
