Antarctica to Architects: Only Sci-Fi Looking Structures Allowed

[Buster's Uncle]

Antarctica to Architects: Only Sci-Fi Looking Structures Allowed
Curbed
Tuesday, November 25, 2014, by Rachel B. Doyle



Photo by Emanuel Jacobi/NSF via IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory


Antarctica is the most challenging place in the world to build. Thanks to the unforgiving temperatures, fierce winds, and icy ground, the only structures found there are polar research stations. Also, despite all the ice, most of the hostile continent is technically a desert. However, the few buildings that have set up shop on the South Pole are often ingenious feats of engineering. With all their cutting-edge features, it's no surprise the stations look like something out of a sci-fi film.

Belgium's research station Princess Elisabeth is Antarctica's first zero-emission station, and does not require interior heating due to its layers of aerodynamic stainless steel. India's modernist-style Bharati Research Station is made from 134 prefab shipping containers, and can withstand blizzards, rough winds and temperatures of 40 degrees below zero. The Halley VI station, operated by the British Antarctic Survey and placed on a floating ice shelf, is the world's first fully relocatable polar research station. Photos, below:



Ice Lab Halley VI. Photo by A. Dubber/British Antarctic Survey via Arts Catalyst



Bharathi Antarctic Research Station. Photo courtesy of Bof Architekten via Archello



Ice Lab Princess Elisabeth. Photo by Rene Robert/International Polar Foundation via Arts Catalyst



Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Photo by Patrick Cullis/NSF via IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory



Jang Bogo Station. Photo courtesy of Korea Polar Research Institute via Arts Catalyst



IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory. Photo by Keith Vanderlinde/NSF via IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory



Bharathi Antarctic Research Station. Photo courtesy of Bof Architekten via Archello



Bharathi Antarctic Research Station. Photo courtesy of Bof Architekten via Archello



Bharathi Antarctic Research Station. Photo courtesy of Bof Architekten via Archello


http://curbed.com/archives/2014/11/25/a-look-at-south-pole-architecture.php

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An absolute embarrassment of diplomacy landscapes.

[Geo]

H Y U N D A I 

I don't know for the other stations, but its been written in our press that during 'summer', a large part of the people manning the Belgian station need to sleep outdoors in tents.