The Corporate Cosmos

Sometimes, much as they may be psuedoenvironmentalist corporate scum, Foster & Etc seem to inhabit a better, and far stranger world than our own. So following on from the Abu Dhabi zero-carbon Vermilion Sands resort, here's:

'Foster + Partners to design the world's first private spaceport
The Foster + Partners and URS team has won an international competition to build the first private spaceport in the world - The New Mexico Spaceport Authority Building. The sinuous shape of the building in the landscape and its interior spaces seek to capture the drama and mystery of space flight itself, articulating the thrill of space travel for the first space tourists.
Making a minimal impact on the environment, the scheme will be the first facility of its kind and a model for the future. The Spaceport lies low within the desert-like landscape of the site in New Mexico. The astronauts' areas and visitor spaces are fully integrated with the rest of the building to convey the thrill of space travel. The more sensitive zones - such as the control room - are visible, but have limited access. Visitors and astronauts enter the building via a deep channel cut into the landscape. The retaining walls form an exhibition space that documents the history of the region and its settlers, alongside a history of space exploration. The strong linear axis continues on a galleried level to the 'superhangar' - which houses the
spacecraft and the simulation room - through to the terminal building.
Designed to have minimal embodied carbon and few additional energy requirements, the scheme has been designed to achieve the prestigious LEED Platinum accreditation. The low-lying form is dug into the landscape to exploit the thermal mass, which buffers the building from the extremes of the New Mexico climate as well as catching the westerly winds for ventilation.
Natural light enters via skylights, with a glazed façade reserved for the terminal building, establishing a platform for the coveted views onto the runway.'

(ta once again to the inestimable Kiri Bloom for the info)