Working and living in Mars Science City will allow us to gain experience with climate control, safety, quality of construction, and resilience of human-made ecosystems that will be invaluable when we finally go to Mars and to our work on Earth. Part academic, part commercial, part exhibition, it will act as a Martian embassy on Earth &#; the first foothold of our neighbor planet on Terran soil.

By using a clover structure in organizing the residential program each patient’s room is oriented toward its own part of the landscape &#; two sets of rooms facing the lake, and one set of rooms facing the surrounding hills. That way the intimate living program has been folded into the landscape being on a level with the lake. Between the functions emerges a new collective space that is embraced by offices and bed units and populated by small patios.

The interior treatments of these spaces, particularly the live room, take its geometric inspiration from a rigorous understanding of acoustic principles. Cladded floor to ceiling with highly polished oak, the live room possesses a naturally delicate ambience heavily favored by recording artists and provides an outstanding aural experience, inspiring artists to create their greatest hits of all time.

To ensure an efficient, robust and healthy work environment for Suitsupply’s staff, the building hosts a sequence of terraces in gradual setbacks on the upper-level floors, allowing for relaxing moments during the work day. Dense tree and bush plantings on the lowest terrace floors offer wind protection, while grass and shrubs on the highest terrace floors resist the elements and allow for higher sun exposure.

The existing terrain is used to form the shell by casting concrete directly on the sand with all its layers including grasses, mosses, and seashells, like an amber sand dune frozen in time. Once the concrete is dry the space is excavated underneath, leaving the thin sheet of frozen beach hovering above. Like a new sand dune vernacular for Fanø, Lycium will appear as if it was always there, shaped by the winds and the water moving sand across centuries.