Serious Antarctic Architecture

I’m not sure why but recently I’ve had a “thing” for that mass of ice, Antarctica. I think it started back in April when I read this great piece from Wired and shortly after watched Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the World. Tonight I saw the Lee Hotz: Inside an Antarctic time machine TED Talk and decided it was time to revisit some beautiful Antarctic architecture.

Princess Elisabeth (Belgium)
Length: 72.2 feet
Width: 72.2 feet
Height: 27.9 feet

Halley VI (UK)
Length of module*: 64.6 feet
Width: 33 feet
Height: 33.1 feet
*This is the first of several modules of varying sizes that will be linked end-to-end.

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (USA)
Length: 407 feet
Width: 148 feet
Height: 39.4 feet

I urge you to check out the descriptions and details of these and many more Antarctic bases here. The common denominator to all of these great buildings is that they are seriously self-sustaining. In a land that has an involuted relationship with natural resources and energy consumption, these pragmatic buildings must be efficient and smart.