Moving to Mars

Photo: Ed Reeve.

16 October 2019 – 1 March 2020, The Design Museum, London

Curated by Andrew Nahum, Eleanor Watson and Justin McGuirk

Through this exhibition the Design Museum explored the consequences of the new frontier in space for human design. Mars has been proposed as the first instance of human domestic life adapting to another planet, bringing with it considerations of design and homeliness previously unnecessary for space exploration. Taking this as a central intrigue, the exhibition presented various different daydreams for life on Mars.

Drawing Matter loaned the four drawings illustrated below, made as part of a study for NASA by the designer Raymond Loewy.

Raymond Loewy (1909–1980), Habitability Study, 1969–1975. Pen, ink and felt pen in thin wove paper, 396 × 545 mm. DMC 2763.2.
Raymond Loewy (1909–1980), Space Station Habitability Study, 1969–1975. Pen & ink on thin wove paper, 354 × 430 mm. DMC 3763.1.
Raymond Loewy (1909–1980), Habitability Study of Shuttle Orbiter, 1973. Pen, ink and felt pen on trace, 352 × 430 mm. DMC 2642.2.
Raymond Loewy (1909–1980), Habitability Study, Shuttle Orbiter for report prepared for NASA, 1973. pen, ink and brown felt pen on thin wove paper , 352 × 430 mm. DMC 2642.1.