Vienna, Austria – Who says the future of housing must sit above ground? With its Prototype Inflatable Earth House, Pneumocell has taken a design shaped by Mars and Moon habitat concepts and reworked it into an earth-sheltered structure made from ultra-light inflatable modules, giving TPU architecture a look that feels equal parts geodesic dome and sci-fi escape pod.

The project grew out of work on extraterrestrial habitats. Thomas Herzig, an architect who has specialised in inflatable structures for almost 20 years, said the idea began in 2018 after an astrophysicist in Hungary approached him to develop a modular inflatable Mars habitat. “Most of the inner area would consist of greenhouses for self-sufficient production of food and oxygen,” Herzig told Urethanes Technology International. “With mirror membranes the optimal amount of sunlight is directed inside.”

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