Inhabit:Space - Notes on Habitability from Earth to Space and Vice Versa

In the 4th century, Aristotle focused his attention on the concept of `space', defining it in his book Physics (350 BC) as the place occupied by bodies or the boundary adhered to the body that bounds it, including the void. In architecture, this concept adopts the declination of an advanced form (of space) that implies the vitalising presence of human beings, who bring with them the concept of `inhabiting' it. The study investigates the concept of habitability in the _eld of space architecture, starting from studies on the theme of inhabiting architecture on Earth carried out by treatises, architects, philosophers, and other scholars throughout history. In De Architectura (15 BC), Vitruvius postulated the need for the design of private dwellings in accordance with the specific needs of the inhabitants. During the Renaissance, Leon Battista Alberti adopted Vitruvian concepts on building and expanded them to the city. In the XX century, architects such as Walter Gropius considered the question of inhabiting as an anthropological one, in which spatial relationships, proportions and colours control psychological, vital, and real functions (Argan, 1988). Aldo Rossi further expanded the concept of living to include the city and its architecture in his book, The Architecture of the City (1968). At the present time, the British architect Norman Foster projected to the future this concept, highlighting how it is continuously evolving. The objective of this paper is to examine the evolution of the concept of living in relation to spaces beyond Earth, both presently and in the near future. Beginning with the studies of S. Häuplik-Meusburger and O. Bannova on inhabiting outer space, this text will deconstruct, analyse, and compare best practices of space architecture and experiences of inhabiting space. The aim is to explore how this is being done, what design strategies are being implemented and how terrestrial architecture can contribute. In conclusion, this research aims to initiate a process of considerations on inhabiting beyond the Earth while maintaining a bilateral relationship with it, throughout the human-architecture relationship.