off world design collective
ideas in conversation, futures in formation.
Off World Design Collective is one part think tank, one part consultancy. We do deep work, considering the future human-centric design for live beyond our home planet.
Our founder, Kelly LaPlante, is a futurist and visionary with a unique professional background as an interior designer, environmental sustainability strategist, and aerospace consultant.
our work
FALL 2026: SPACE HABITAT EVENT
Principal investigator, Kelly LaPlante will be sharing the findings from the Post-Efficiency Space Fellowship at the Space Habitat Event, an international teleconference produced by Habitat Marte, the Brazilian Space Analog Research Station.
SUMMER 2026: Post-Efficiency Space Fellowship
For decades, space exploration has prioritized engineered efficiency: the minimum viable volume, the most caloric density, the strictest life-support tolerances. As we move from short-term stints in space to multi-year missions and orbital habitation, the metric of success must shift.
The Post-Efficiency Space Fellowship investigated the 'soft systems'—aesthetics, circadian light, tactile textures, and spatial psychology—that transform a pressurized vessel into a home.
Through our research, as well as a series of in-depth interviews with astronauts, analog astronauts, space psychologists, doctors, and other industry professionals, we set a solid foundation for the work that is to come next in our quest for humans to thrive, in habitation beyond Earth.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Kelly LaPlante
RESEARCH FELLOWS: Natalie Hill, Italian Design Institute • Stella Perone, University of Utah • Tara Williams, Washington University in St. Louis
AI rendering by Natalie Hill