Three hundred and twenty-seven years ago, humanity reached for the stars. The first autonomous interstellar ship to system Copernicus-7 came back to Earth. Crewed missions followed quickly.

Restoration of the environmental balance on our own planet in the late twenty-first century changed the human race forever. For the first time in history we learned to consciously care for the environment, and in doing so, somehow learned to live with each other. Times of unprecedented cooperation and peace followed.

Even with enormous advances in science and technology, reaching for the stars was, again, only possible as an effort of the whole planet. Having learned from dark chapters of history, ethical considerations were at the forefront of any plans for exploration.

Monument to the First Explorers is an educational facility in Greenland. It has been created in recognition of countless people who devoted their lives for the betterment of humanity and the universe.

I often reach for pure escapism in my architectural art by portraying imaginary worlds in the spirit of classic science fiction. I find it liberating to let the mind roam free and envisage humanity reaching for the stars.

This image depicts the escape shuttle vessel used by the early settlers from Planet Emang’s Settlement 3. It was one of the starships launched after a sudden volcanic eruption nearby.

This particular liftoff was photographed from Settlement 4, itself temporarily safe from seismic activity.

Hundreds of years ago, Albert Einstein stipulated that ‘velocities greater than that of light have no possibility of existence’. It took a couple centuries for humanity to gain a deeper understanding of the universe and find a way to travel to the stars and beyond, thanks to the tachyon drive.

Zonn, Emang, Taggais and countless other planets at the far ends of the galaxy now carry human settlements and provide us with invaluable data to further our research.

We learned to use the quantum entanglement of faster-than-light tachyons that happens naturally throughout the universe. We control this phenomenon using stabilisers that create what we call ‘tachyon fields’, where entangled neutrons are collected by relatively simple reclamation towers.

Centuries ago, physicists believed that nothing could travel faster than light. Interstellar travel was thought to be a subject of fiction. Yet, here we are, with colonies on Zonn, Emang, Taggais and countless other planets at the far ends of the galaxy.

We use reclamation towers to sweep through quantum entanglement fields and collect tachyon-entangled neutrons for use in the tachyon drives that propel our ships to the stars.

The enthralling hustle and precipitancy of a city. Dizzying tides of heedless people scurrying desultorily. A mesmerising gamut of events and experiences. Galvanising serendipity of daily life intertwining with glorious marvels of human achievements… so easy to immerse oneself in the city and let it become one’s world.

Wind. Air. Sound of the ocean washing up ashore. An occasional passerby greeting you with a smile. Space for everyone. When you look at the city from a distance, you realise it exists right before your eyes and yet seem like an outlandish fantasy — a place of ineffable marvels and ferity.

The house of heaven and hell.

This was the day we made contact with the creatures now known as Veix. They are slender tubularians living on the surface of crystal lakes of their home planet Zonn. Their undeniable intelligence is so distant from ours we can only communicate in symbols.

This photograph is from a visit to the group living closest to our research station. It shows Abbott and Costello, the two Veix apparently designated by their kin to make contact with us.