Exhibition

Space Design by Galina Balashova

Galina Balashova (Russia), Philipp Meuser (Germany)

Galata Greek Primary School

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“Amongst the creative thinkers of the Soviet Modernist movement is the architect and designer Galina Balashova, who was formerly in the service of the Experimental Design Bureau OKB-1, followed by the aerospace company RKK Energiya… Balashova is the only woman in the history of outer space to have played a key role in designing more than four generations of spacecraft. On her desk lay the construction plans of Soyuz capsules, the space stations Mir and Salyut, as well as the orbital glider Buran – proud evidence of a technical race in weightlessness between the USA and the USSR. Balashova’s tasks ranged from everything from the ergonomic design of a living and sleeping area, to comfortable chairs for the cosmonauts or the design of a space-quality bathroom facility.” –PM

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Space Design by Galina Balashova presents a collection of drawings by Russian architect Galina Balashova produced for the Soviet Space Program. As the only architect in a program with thousands of employees, Balashova was responsible for interior design, ergonomics, lighting and color schemes of all Soviet spacecraft for over two decades. Initially classified as “top-secret,” her remarkable technical drawings are often densely populated by human figures and explore unique experimental relationships between bodies and space.