This is an artwork depicting the exterior of a type of large-scale space colony called an O'Neill
Cylinder, made popular by American Physicist Gerard K. O'Neill in his book The High Frontier: Human
Colonies in Space (1976). The interpretation in this view differs from O'Neill's original idea, in
which the inner surface had transparent strips running its length, and mirrors outside those
sections to bounce sunlight inside. Instead, here the surface is fully landscaped, with a light
source provided by a central, axial light strip powered by nuclear fusion (or other future
technology). The cylinders here measures 9.2km (5.6 miles) in diameter and 36km (20 miles) long.
Rotation about the long axis. at a rate of 300 m/s at the surface, provides artificial 1g of
artificial gravity by means of centripetal force. Two of them are bound together to stabilise their
rotation.