‘Hello Tomorrow!’ Has Us Wondering How to Build the Perfect Home on the Moon

In the new drama of Apple TV+ hello morning!, The characters live in 1950s America, but through the looking glass. Businessmen jetpack to work; ties tighten; Wheels and wheels have been swapped out on cars and strollers in favor of Streamline Moderne models that float. It’s no wonder, then, that the whole point of the show is a group of traveling salesmen – led by Billy Crudup as Jack Billings – who are trying to lure the average suburban housewife into buying… a timeshare on the moon.

The show’s eight executive producers include Billy Crudup and Ryan Kalil, a former NFL star who starred in a role at his home ADVERTISEMENT. To create the show’s absolutely perfect retro-yet-futuristic sets, Apple hired Maya Sigel, an experienced production designer. She knew that depicting this alternate world had to walk a fine line between fantastic and believable. From a design perspective, the timeshares known as Brightside Lunar Residences play a particularly important role. These homes needed to look even more modern and up-and-coming than those on this alternate Earth, but Sigel also needed to keep in mind existing 1950s interior design and architecture trends.

She began her research by looking at NASA footage from the period: “During that time, they had a number of artists and architects make these renderings and imagine what life might be like on another planet,” says Sigel. But her designs felt a little lackluster to her and not as ambitious as she had envisioned. The aha moment came when she began researching architecture in Palm Springs at the height of the Mid-Century Modern era, particularly buildings by Arthur Elrod and Frank Lloyd Wright. Not only were these mansions the definition of ambitious, but the California desert, with its lack of water and trees, is not unlike a lunar landscape. Sigel was also heavily influenced by Googie architecture, whose futuristic forms, perhaps not coincidentally, also hail from Southern California.

The result is lunar homes and landscaping that are “bold, graphic and modernist,” she says. And unlike Levittowns, the grid-like, suburban housing developments that were just gaining momentum in the early 1950s, Brightside is all curves. “These houses had to be a little sexier, a little more whimsical, and just different. There has to be a reason you would want this timeshare on the moon,” explains Sigel.

Since we – devastating –quiet Not having Moon Time shares in 2023, we began to wonder what today’s architects and designers would propose for such a moon house. We reached out to David BenDavid, founder and creative director of accessories brand Sprayground, and Tim Fu, architectural designer for Zaha Hadid Architects, who together explored the intersection between ‘intergalactic’ fashion and avant-garde architecture. Fu notes that with the advent of algorithm-aided design and digital manufacturing technologies, “we can now move from the traditional vision of modular space-age aesthetics to the more fluid dynamic of neo-futurism.” Both also agree that a lunar mansion shouldn’t dispense with the earth (or earth tones) entirely, but should instead marry terrestrial and extraterrestrial styles. “[We can] play with form and light, introduce parametric design and biophilic forms, and bring an aura of nature and familiarity to a potentially cold and hostile environment,” adds Fu.

And lest we forget that this hypothetical house is also a home, BenDavid emphasizes that soothing interior design and amenities would also be important. “We have to make it feel fun and feel safe!” he says. “The walls should have dynamic, mood-enhancing overhead lighting so that when it’s night on Earth, the angle you’re looking at the Earth from doesn’t look so gloomy. An indoor pool or sauna would also be important.” And while the jury is out on whether we’ll ever actually colonize the moon or anywhere else in the galaxy, it’s comforting to know that certain design elements, whether mood lighting or hot tubs, work well in broadcast to every galactic space.