— Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty), Jan. 27, 1967.

Ahead of their flight from prison by means of wings made of feathers and wax, the mythological Greek inventor, architect and artist Dædalus warned his son Icarus not to fly too close to the ocean lest the damp would clog the feathers, and not too close to the sun lest the heat would melt the wax. Overwhelmed by hubris, Icarus ignored his father, rose too high, fell from the sky and drowned in the sea.
Humans have exceeded the metaphor of Daedalus' craftsmanship and transcended Icarus' ambition since the first men successfully flew into outer space and safely returned to the earth in the 1960s, and continue pushing the frontiers of space exploration.

This summer, the AA Visiting School Luxembourg will investigate the architectural condition of Luxembourg in relation to its growing space economies, through a series of field trips, architectural visits, lectures, film screenings, and workshops.
‘Dædalus’ will examine both the intellectual premise fundamental to any spatial project, such as global commons, as well as their physical manifestations on planet Earth and in outer space.
We will begin our journey by visiting ‘Down to Earth’ at the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 18^th Architecture Biennale in Venice, which has been curated by Francelle Cane and Marija Marić. Their pavilion explores the “wild imaginaries of extraction-driven growth”, calling for an urgent debate on the impact of shifting material exploitation from the Earth to other celestial bodies, and has inspired our mission.
We will continue and end our travels in Luxembourg, where participants will hear more from Francelle Cane and Marija Marić about their project in a special guest lecture.

Immersed within the local, yet globally relevant, architectural discourse, we will go on to undertake our own research of the potential typologies of space architecture, by researching incubator spaces, office buildings, industrial facilities, space campuses as well as their strategic organisation across natural and urban environments.
Furthermore, we will explore the overlap of the core concepts and key technologies advanced by the established space industries and innovative start-ups to re-imagine our architectural practices.
Participants will be encouraged to frame their interdisciplinary research and respond with critical architectural propositions using the medium of photography.
At the end of the two weeks, our collective body of work will be curated into a public exhibition at the luca – Luxembourg Center for Architecture.

Organized by the Architectural Association School of Architecture (London).

The AAVS Luxembourg is organized in collaboration with the Luxembourg Center for Architecture and the Master in Architecture at the University of Luxembourg.