We are at the beginning of the Second Space Age where humanity might not only survive but also thrive in space. The new chapter for space exploration differs from the First Age from a design perspective, with a shift from the one-off prototypical approach to reusable, automated scalability. The biggest champion of this shift is the SpaceX rocketry together with other commercialization endeavors by companies like Blue Origin, Axiom, and Virgin Galactic. At the architectural level, this is followed by rigorous design projects for outer space by architecture firms such as Hassell and ICON 3D.

This Visiting School is a call for the same level of focused, collaborative ambition and operation of the space industry to be explored within the field of architecture. Always last to embrace innovation, the built environment is stuck in every day, top-down problem solving – depending on clients as true instigators of change. But what if we were to envision the design before this is even needed? In this visiting school, we offer an incubator structure, one to envision, test and discuss new ideas, using space as a case study on idea development rather than a fixed site.