Desert Snowflake — a self-erecting Martian dome

Desert Snowflake was our entry to Marstopia, Eleven's ninth international competition (the sequel to Moontopia), which asked the creative community a single question: what does Martian vernacular architecture and design look like? Out of hundreds of entries worldwide, Desert Snowflake won the People's Choice award.

What it is

A self-erecting, ultralight, deployable geodesic dome that takes Buckminster Fuller's ideas into the new millennium — an ode to architectural origami. The spore-like structure is designed for adaptability and modularity, so a Martian colony can keep growing over time. It showcases the flexible, lightweight, yet highly robust construction systems that off-world settlement will depend on.

The team

Designed by Robert Salazar, Anastasia Prosina, and Svetlana Krinochkina — the same deployable-structures and space-architecture thinking that runs through much of Stellar Amenities' later work. See the competition results →