In this modern world, it is hard to imagine a life free of pollution and conducive to minimal travel; a place in which all the necessities of daily life are within a mile of the home, and it is pleasant to walk that distance, without fear of bus exhaust, ambient grime, or the bubble gum of those who passed before you. Have you recently left home without checking the pollen and pollution counts before leaving? When was the last time you felt comfortable waving to a neighbour you passed on the street; or, for that matter, when was the last time you remember passing one?

GroundLine Industries is proud to present a place where you can do all these things and more. The city contained in our state of the art non-orbiting space station, the IZS Simon Magus, seeks to solve all the traditional problems of city design and planning for its anticipated 30,000 residents. Our first concern in the design of this new city was the dehumanising aspect of design styles normally used in the construction of extraterrestrial facilities. Aboard the Simon Magus, we have tried to make everything more human sized; our doors are seven feet tall, except in areas in which large constructs must pass, and none of our residential ceilings exceed ten feet. While the ceilings in the rings themselves and the corridors are over 50 ft high, we consider them to be outdoor areas, and no more imposing than seeing the sky on a city block.Our design philosophy is drawn from diverse sources, influences upon the architectural design include architects from Le Corbusier to Ebenezer Howard. One might argue that the top-down design requisite for a facility such as ours would, by its very nature hint a High Modernist aesthetic. Indeed, from the outside, the station does give an impression of regular, strict geometry; however once inside, one will perceive that the external structure is not entirely indicative of the internal. Soft, almost-organic shapes dominate the interior of the station, and a surprisingly wide variety of styles, colors and internal organization is present, particularly in the habitat ring. Moving walkways are provided along the sides of the corridors and around the Habitat and Production Rings for the elderly and the injured.

We believe that by limiting the population of our community, and keeping all of its community and productive sectors within walking distance of all residents, we can avoid the overpopulation of Istanbul, the pollution of Pittsburgh, and the crime rate of Albuquerque. Our goal is to extend the dream of Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City in such a way that our residents do not become agoraphobic or lazy from being contained in an indoor city. It is our dream to free mankind from the nature of earth without abusing it, or man’s own nature. Critics of Howard and his proponents have pointed out that the city contained in the Simon Magus does not allow for walks outside or sunbathing. While this is to some extent correct, we like to think that by bringing outside inside, we offer our residents a chance to enjoy a clean, healthy, outdoor environment with a minimum of ultraviolet exposure. The strength of our artificial sunlight is only enough to encourage the growth of plants, but not enough to cause cancer in lab employees.