Otherworldly inspiration is infiltrating architecture, art and even fashion.

Anicorn x NASA

This past fall, Hong Kong watch brand Anicorn teamed up with NASA to launch two super-exclusive designs in celebration of the U.S. space program’s 60th anniversary. The first edition of 60 pieces, which sold out in as many seconds, features a white textile strap embroidered with the classic NASA worm logo and the GPS co-ordinates of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Packaged in a branded tin with a NASA embroidered patch and a metal warranty plate, the watches boast three rotating discs to indicate the hours, minutes and seconds. A subsequent edition of 60, in black and inspired by the Advanced Crew Escape suit, followed the inaugural iteration. anicorn-watches.com

Tom Sachs

New York artist Tom Sachs has used space to inform a number of his works over the years, including a range of mixed-media art pieces as well as the 2012 NikeCraft shoe and accessory line, which continues to expand. The theme even pervaded his recent exhibition, The Pack, at Swiss gallery Vito Schnabel. Meant as a materialization of the artist’s fascination with Switzerland, the show also hinted at his affinity for the cosmos, with displays of moon and rocketship imagery. The event was prefaced with a showing of Sachs’s Sandcrawler (shown above) at the gallery’s New York outpost. Based on a Star Wars vehicle, the pyrographed plywood sculpture opens to serve as a fully functional bar cabinet. tomsachs.org

MARS Case Prototype

The final frontier. Galaxies far, far away. The adventure of outer space and the untold mysteries of the universe have been inspiring works of film, fashion, literature, art and architecture for eons. Among the latest: Beijing firm Open Architecture recently dreamed up this 12-square-metre house prototype designed for a Walden-like escape to Mars. Stripping modern living down to its bare essentials, MARS Case packs a kitchen, a bathroom and mechanicals into a lightweight, 4.8-square-metre service block. One wall drops to the side, releasing a second, inflatable module. The spherical living space inside features an adaptable surface that transforms from a hard floor to a soft king-sized bed at night. openarch.com

This story was taken from the March/April 2019 issue of Azure. Buy a copy of the issue here, or subscribe here.