Frontier: Space Design Starts with the Human Body

29. May 2026

Article

Frontier: Space Design Starts with the Human Body

Space programmes are still largely shaped by engineering and hard science. But the question of how people will actually live inside a spacecraft – how they move, sleep, grow food, work, or simply stay well over months in orbit – often comes second. Modules are designed from the outside in. First the shell, then someone works out whether the human fits.

Vision

Martin Vostal and the Frontier project make the case that architecture belongs in the space programme. The goal is not to challenge engineering, but to complement it. Non-technical disciplines such as architecture, spatial design and ergonomics have something real to contribute to how humans inhabit space. Frontier asks what happens when we start designing space habitats from the human body outward.

Gamechanger

Frontier is grounded in research, not renderings. The team at the Faculty of Architecture, Brno University of Technology, explored two directions: modular space design derived from full-body motion scanning, and closed-loop growing systems for food production under artificial gravity. Both ask the same core question: what does a space that truly works for the human body look like? The team is now building a platform to connect people across disciplines who share an interest in space architecture and related technologies.

Who is it for?

Researchers, architects, designers, engineers, biologists, technologists and anyone curious about the intersection of space technology and human-centred design. Especially those who do not see space only as a technical challenge, but also as a question of how people live, move and feel inside extreme environments.

What has worked so far?

Frontier grew out of student research at BUT Brno. The team developed a motion-scanning methodology for analysing how astronauts move through confined spaces, and produced design proposals covering sleeping quarters, hydroponic food systems and working zones. The pitch at Velvet Innovation Meetup in May 2026 marked the project’s first step towards a wider community.

Martin and Frontier is looking for people who think across disciplines – architects, engineers, biologists, technologists and others curious about what space habitats could become. If that sounds like you, reach out to Martin directly.

I want to get involved