Ice Lab tour sheds light on weird and wonderful buildings that allow humans to thrive in world's coldest place

It is no coincidence that many of the buildings in the first exhibition on architecture in Antarctica, shaped like caterpillars or icebergs, on stilts or stubby legs, will look like science-fiction illustrations – the storms, blizzards, extremes of temperature, darkness and howling winds they have been designed to withstand are so extreme that conditions have been likened to those on Mars.

The British Council is to launch Ice Lab, the first major international touring exhibition on buildings designed to allow human beings live, work, and relax safely in the coldest place on earth.

Vicky Richardson, head of architecture and design at the council, said the new wave of Antarctic research stations showed great inventiveness in design and engineering. In the same way that scientists from around the world collaborate in Antarctica, these buildings are made possible by co-operation between nations, so it is highly appropriate that the British Council should be commissioning this exhibition."

The most extreme proposal is only a concept, the Iceberg Living Station designed by MAP architects in Denmark, which avoids using conventional building materials. Instead it would use the caterpillar excavators employed in the Antarctic to clear snow, to tunnel into a large iceberg and hollow out a space large enough to hold a research station. Eventually, its purpose served, the iceberg would melt and all trace of the building would disappear.

Antarctica has been likened to an alien landscape. Photograph: Corbis

Many of the buildings already exist, including the British Antarctic Survey's Halley VI, which opened three months ago. Designed by Hugh Broughton Architects, it is located on a floating ice shelf 10,000 miles from the UK. The structure is designed to be self-sufficient for months, and to withstand winter temperatures of -55c as well as being a pleasant and interesting place for the scientists to live and work.

Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Antarctic was conceived, designed, constructed and operated by the country's branch of the International Polar Foundation, its sleek aerodynamic stainless steel structure the first designed to be zero-emission. Warmed by wind and solar energy, it has no interior heating system.

South Korea is one of the new players in Antarctic research, and its Jang Bogo base, by the Seoul-based firm Space Group, will be one of the largest bases designed to operate year round with up to 60 personnel, when it opens next year.

The exhibition will have architectural drawings, models, photographs and films, as well as a light and audio show by the Glasgow-based aritst Torsten Lauschmann. It will open in Glasgow in July, then Manchester in October before touring internationally.

by Maev Kennedy

via The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/may/21/ice-lab-tour-architecture-conquered-anarctica