Ice Lab will present some of the most innovative and progressive examples of contemporary architecture in Antarctica. The first exhibition of its kind, it will draw together projects that not only utilise cutting-edge technology and engineering, but have equally considered aesthetics, sustainability and human needs in their ground-breaking designs for research stations.
Initiated by the British Council and curated by The Arts Catalyst, Ice Lab will feature four international projects: Halley VI, UK (Hugh Brougton Architects) Princess Elizabeth, Belgium (International Polar Foundation), Bharati, India (bof architekten/IMS), Jang Bogo, South Korea (Space Group), and the Iceberg Living Station (MAP Architects) – a speculative design for a future research station to be entirely made from compacted snow.
The visually rich exhibition will also highlight the diverse science that takes place on the frozen continent – from collecting 4.5 billion year old meteorites that illuminate how the solar system was formed to drilling ice cores whose bubbles of ancient air reveal the earth’s climate history; from cutting edge astronomy peering into the world’s clearest skies to studying its Dry Valleys, the closest thing to ‘Mars on Earth’.
Torsten Lauschmann will also make a new audio and light work in response to a commission from The Arts Catalyst especially for the exhibition. The Glasgow-based artist will create this work in collaboration with ‘We Made That’, the exhibition’s designers.
Drawing on a number of archives and collections Ice Lab will include original drawings, models, photographs, films, ephemera and sources of inspiration for these highly specialised, sci-fi looking infrastructures – the closest thing to future space stations on the Moon and on Mars.