London-based Arts Catalyst has been commissioned by the European Space Agency a research to find out how art might enhance life aboard the International Space Station, which is gradually being assembled in modules.

ESA is looking for projects that can be performed by the astronauts, or that deploy the technology of the space station in some way. Arts Catalyst stresses the realities of the space station: artists might want to focus on the bodies and minds of the astronauts themselves – stuck up there for months on end, trying not to go mad – or the unique architecture of the satellite.

In fact, the Arts Catalyst is thinking more of interiors than exteriors. Art is therapeutic for people on earth – why not for cosmonauts?

Via The Guardian.

Three years ago, the Tate in England launched Tate in Space, a commission inviting architectural practices to design the next Tate gallery in outer space.

ETALAB (Extra-Terrestrial Architecture Laboratory), Softroom and Sarah Wigglesworth Architects.

ETALAB design (picture above) involved changeable form and gravity, liberating the gallery environment from earthly constraints such as context, gravity, mobility and interactivity.

The project also included an international student competition to design an architectural concept for the Tate, and downloadable models to assemble at home.

Related: Zero gravity design.