A Hub For Moonbats

Not long ago, the prospect of people populating the moon was primarily fodder for popular science fiction novels. However, a local company recently hosted a design competition for architects and engineers to create concepts of what a moon colony could look like in 2069.

Moon Capital 2010, a competition by the nonprofit urban planning group SHIFTboston, brought together architects, artists and engineers to envision what colonies could look like on the nearby Swiss-cheese-looking sphere.

What they came up with defied expectations, and in some cases, necessity.

A group from California Polytechnic State University designed an Olympic stadium for low-gravity games, which The Teller considers a clever solution to politically inflammatory battles over which country gets bragging rights for hosting the sporting events. Thankfully the team included a roof on the structure to keep all those pole vaulters and high-jumpers from leaping into outer space.

The tower that would overlook the stadium would house offices, accommodations for athletes and spectators, and support facilities. One image evoking the office tower was inspired by the 1982 science fiction cult classic, “Tron.” The Teller only hopes Jeff Bridges will be available to rescue unsuspecting elevator riders from being digitized and sucked into the machine’s computer mainframe. Or else.

Another design created cluster settlements with webs of interconnecting infrastructure, and are oddly reminiscent of the movie “Alien” – although these webs would likely be used for transportation and public works needs, and not safe passage and hiding spaces for flesh-eating monsters with acidic blood from a distant planet.

In the end, as impossible and downright zany as some of the designs are, if the song remains the same for Boston developers in the future, it could soon be easier to construct a colony on the moon than it is to build an office tower on Boston Harbor.