We broadcast a recording of the interview with Dr. Advenit Makaya, Senior Mechanical Engineer at the European Space Agency (ESA). The conversation took place in the frame of the course Emerging Fields in Architecture, TU Wien (WS 2025). Students were investigating current and future challenges in planning and building within a broader social, ecological and technological context.
For this series, they asked researchers, creative people and experts from different disciplines and research fields about the following questions: What kind of future do we want to create? What role(s) does architecture play in this? What tools and technologies are available to us? What visions exist, and where are they leading us? What can we learn from other disciplines for a sustainable architecture? What lessons can be drawn from the past for future projects?

This interview explores the relation between space technologies and architecture, mainly focusing on how innovations developed for extreme environments can influence the development of design and construction on Earth and how the future would be in space. In conversation with Dr. Makaya, the episode discusses the challenges of building in space, the role of advanced manufacturing such as 3D Printing and in-situ resource utilization and the potential transfer of these technologies to sustainable construction on our planet and forth. The discussion reflects on how research conducted for space missions can inspire new approaches to materials, fabrication and resilient design. The interview invites listeners to consider how knowledge from aerospace engineering may contribute to the future of architecture and building technologies overall.

Sinan Ilker and Can Abdullahoğlu conducted the interview and produced this broadcast as part of the course Emerging Fields in Architecture at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien).

More information about Dr. Advenit Makaya and ESA:
https://www.esa.int

More information about the lecture:
https://www.tuwien.at/ace/news/news/metal-3d-printing-in-orbit-a-european-achievement-and-building-block-towards-manufacturing-in-space

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Radio Spaceuriosity at Radio Orange 94.0
Every 2nd TUE of the month
A broadcast by Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger and Verena Holzgethan
http://o94.at/radio/sendereihe/spaceuriosity/
Live Stream: http://o94.at/live/
cultural broadcasting archive: https://cba.fro.at/series/spaceuriosity
and on spotify