Globus Cassus
Encyclopedia
Globus Cassus is an art project and book by Swiss architect and artist Christian Waldvogel presenting a conceptual transformation of Planet Earth
into a much bigger, hollow, artificial world
with an ecosphere
on its inner surface. It was the Swiss contribution to the 2004 Venice Architecture Biennale
and was awarded the Gold Medal for the "best designed books from all over the World" at the Leipzig Book Fair in 2005. It consists of a meticulous description of the transformation process, a narrative of its construction, and suggestions on the organizational workings on Globus Cassus.
Waldvogel describes it as an "open source
" art project and states that anyone can contribute designs and narratives to it on the project wiki.
and atmosphere
would be retained on its inside. The ecosphere
would be restricted to the equator
ial zones, while at the low-gravity tropic
zones a thin atmosphere would allow only for plantations. The polar region
s would have neither gravity nor atmosphere and would therefore be used for storage of raw materials and microgravity production processes.
of a compressed geodesic
icosahedron
with two diagonal openings. Along the edges of the icosahedron run the skeleton beams, the gaps between the beams contain a shell and, where there are windows, inward-curving domes.
, mantle
and core
are gradually excavated, transported outwards and then transformed to larger strength and reduced density. While the crust is mined from open pits in the continent's centers, magma
and the liquid mantle are pumped across transfer hoses. The core is dismantled from the surface.
's trajectory, the construction of Globus Cassus would not alter the Earth-Moon system. However, on planetary scale the proportions would be altered, with Globus Cassus being only slightly smaller than Saturn
, the Solar System's
second-largest planet.
, four space elevators are built. Eventually they become massive towers, each measuring several hundred kilometers in diameter and extending to a length of about 165,000 km. The towers contain elevators which are used to transport silicate building material to the construction sites at geostationary orbit.
and balance at every moment and will ultimately span around all sides of the earth. Then magma
is pumped towards the skeleton, where it is used to form thin shells in the skeletal openings. Eight of these openings are fitted with large, inward-curving window domes made out of silicon glass.
, which wander outwards towards the new World. Globus Cassus' equator zones are equipped with a system of trenches and moulds that will become river
s, lake
s and sea
s as soon as the water has settled. The transfer process of atmosphere and hydrosphere is called "The Great Rains".
.
Globus Cassus, Lars Müller Publishers, with contributions by Boris Groys
, Claude Lichtenstein, Michael Stauffer and Christian Waldvogel. Awarded the Gold Medal in international competition "Best designed books from all over the World 2004", (ISBN 3-03778-045-2)
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
into a much bigger, hollow, artificial world
Artificial world
Writers in the fields of science speculation and fiction have created in their works several varieties of artificial worlds.Such megastructures could have a variety of advantages over natural planets, such as efficient use of solar energy and immense living space, but their construction and/or...
with an ecosphere
Ecosphere
Ecosphere has several different meanings:* In ecology the term ecosphere can refer to the Earth's spheres, a planetary ecosystem consisting of the atmosphere, the geosphere , the hydrosphere, and the biosphere....
on its inner surface. It was the Swiss contribution to the 2004 Venice Architecture Biennale
Venice Biennale of architecture
Mostra di Architettura di Venezia, the Architecture section of the Venice Biennale, was established in 1980, although architecture had been a part of the art biennale since 1968....
and was awarded the Gold Medal for the "best designed books from all over the World" at the Leipzig Book Fair in 2005. It consists of a meticulous description of the transformation process, a narrative of its construction, and suggestions on the organizational workings on Globus Cassus.
Waldvogel describes it as an "open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
" art project and states that anyone can contribute designs and narratives to it on the project wiki.
 |
Properties
The proposed megastructure would incorporate all of Earth's matter. Sunlight would enter through two large windows, and gravity would be simulated by the centrifugal effect. Humans would live on two vast regions that face each other and that are connected through the empty center. The hydrosphereHydrosphere
A hydrosphere in physical geography describes the combined mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet....
and atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere
The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...
would be retained on its inside. The ecosphere
Ecosphere
Ecosphere has several different meanings:* In ecology the term ecosphere can refer to the Earth's spheres, a planetary ecosystem consisting of the atmosphere, the geosphere , the hydrosphere, and the biosphere....
would be restricted to the equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
ial zones, while at the low-gravity tropic
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
zones a thin atmosphere would allow only for plantations. The polar region
Polar region
Earth's polar regions are the areas of the globe surrounding the poles also known as frigid zones. The North Pole and South Pole being the centers, these regions are dominated by the polar ice caps, resting respectively on the Arctic Ocean and the continent of Antarctica...
s would have neither gravity nor atmosphere and would therefore be used for storage of raw materials and microgravity production processes.
Geometric structure
Globus Cassus has the formShape
The shape of an object located in some space is a geometrical description of the part of that space occupied by the object, as determined by its external boundary – abstracting from location and orientation in space, size, and other properties such as colour, content, and material...
of a compressed geodesic
Geodesic dome
A geodesic dome is a spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles on the surface of a sphere. The geodesics intersect to form triangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the structure. When...
icosahedron
Icosahedron
In geometry, an icosahedron is a regular polyhedron with 20 identical equilateral triangular faces, 30 edges and 12 vertices. It is one of the five Platonic solids....
with two diagonal openings. Along the edges of the icosahedron run the skeleton beams, the gaps between the beams contain a shell and, where there are windows, inward-curving domes.
Building material
Earth's crustCrust (geology)
In geology, the crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or natural satellite, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle...
, mantle
Mantle (geology)
The mantle is a part of a terrestrial planet or other rocky body large enough to have differentiation by density. The interior of the Earth, similar to the other terrestrial planets, is chemically divided into layers. The mantle is a highly viscous layer between the crust and the outer core....
and core
Planetary core
The planetary core consists of the innermost layer of a planet.The core may be composed of solid and liquid layers, while the cores of Mars and Venus are thought to be completely solid as they lack an internally generated magnetic field. In our solar system, core size can range from about 20% to...
are gradually excavated, transported outwards and then transformed to larger strength and reduced density. While the crust is mined from open pits in the continent's centers, magma
Magma
Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
and the liquid mantle are pumped across transfer hoses. The core is dismantled from the surface.
Planetary scale
Since the stationary cables would stay clear inside the moonMoon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
's trajectory, the construction of Globus Cassus would not alter the Earth-Moon system. However, on planetary scale the proportions would be altered, with Globus Cassus being only slightly smaller than Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
, the Solar System's
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
second-largest planet.
Construction process
Starting at four precisely defined points in the geostationary orbitGeostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
, four space elevators are built. Eventually they become massive towers, each measuring several hundred kilometers in diameter and extending to a length of about 165,000 km. The towers contain elevators which are used to transport silicate building material to the construction sites at geostationary orbit.
Skeleton and shell
The building material is converted into vacuum-porous aggregate and used to form the skeleton. It is built retaining constant symmetrySymmetry
Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection...
and balance at every moment and will ultimately span around all sides of the earth. Then magma
Magma
Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
is pumped towards the skeleton, where it is used to form thin shells in the skeletal openings. Eight of these openings are fitted with large, inward-curving window domes made out of silicon glass.
The Great Rains
Having been used up to a large degree, the Earth has shrunk, the polar ice caps have melted and the Earth's mass and therefore gravity has declined. This leads to the sudden loss of the atmosphere and hydrosphereHydrosphere
A hydrosphere in physical geography describes the combined mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet....
, which wander outwards towards the new World. Globus Cassus' equator zones are equipped with a system of trenches and moulds that will become river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s, lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s and sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
s as soon as the water has settled. The transfer process of atmosphere and hydrosphere is called "The Great Rains".
Colonization
The moment the Great Rains start, the Earth becomes uninhabitable. Along with massive amounts of seed for all existing plants, the regions of high cultural value, that need to be conserved and reapplied on Globus Cassus have been stored in the skeleton nodes which touch the towers. Humans and animals rise in the towers to await the end of the rains and start settling on the two equator regions.Plant growth
The remaining Earth core is dismantled to build the shells that lie in the pole regions. During this process, the massive heat radiation of the core accelerates plant growth and therefore aids the process of establishing a functioning biosphereBiosphere
The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...
.
See also
- Bernal sphereBernal sphereA Bernal sphere is a type of space habitat intended as a long-term home for permanent residents, first proposed in 1929 by John Desmond Bernal....
- Dyson SphereDyson sphereA Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
- Planetary engineeringPlanetary engineeringPlanetary engineering is the application of technology for the purpose of influencing the global properties of a planet. The goal of this theoretical task is usually to make other worlds habitable for life....
- Planetary habitabilityPlanetary habitabilityPlanetary habitability is the measure of a planet's or a natural satellite's potential to sustain life. Life may develop directly on a planet or satellite or be transferred to it from another body, a theoretical process known as panspermia...
- TerraformingTerraformingTerraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
- Rendezvous with RamaRendezvous with RamaRendezvous with Rama is a novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1972. Set in the 22nd century, the story involves a cylindrical alien starship that enters Earth's solar system...
Literature
Boris Groys
Boris Efimovich Groys is an art critic, media theorist, and philosopher. He is currently a Global Distinguished Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University and Senior Research Fellow at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Karlsruhe, Germany...
, Claude Lichtenstein, Michael Stauffer and Christian Waldvogel. Awarded the Gold Medal in international competition "Best designed books from all over the World 2004", (ISBN 3-03778-045-2)
External links
- Globus Cassus Open SourceOpen sourceThe term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
Website hosted by Christian Waldvogel - Globus Cassus addon for CelestiaCelestiaCelestia is a 3D astronomy program created by Chris Laurel. The program is based on the Hipparcos Catalogue and allows users to travel through an extensive universe, modeled after reality, at any speed, in any direction and at any time in history...
- 9th international architecture exhibition in venice, italy, 2004 / swiss pavilion: ‘larger earth’, by Christian Waldvogel
- Damn Interesting review of Globus Cassus