February 19, 2025

Exhibiting Life

Among Jupiter’s 95 moons, Europa is the most promising in terms of habitable environments outside of Earth. Strong evidence has been found for an ocean laying underneath the moon’s thick layer of ice, potentially containing lifeforms. The Europa project is centered around designing a future exhibition, located on the outskirts of the city of Chicago. The proposed architectural structure takes inspiration from Europa’s ice-covered mass to create a simple yet dynamic scheme. White plates of concrete, reminiscent of slabs of ice, cover the icicle-like building. The remaining spaces between are transparent, giving the structure a sense of openness and bringing in natural light. The exhibition is placed on the ground floor while the rest of the space seems out of reach with its extensive height, mimicking the impressive lengths one must go through in order to obtain evidence of new life.