Dissolving Corbin Building Foirgneamh Ilúsáide by Zihua Mo

Dissolving Corbin Building Foirgneamh Ilúsáide by Zihua Mo is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Duais Airgid A' Design Award in Dearadh Ailtireachta, Foirgníochta agus Struchtúir Competition Category.

AirgeadAiltireacht· 2026

Dissolving Corbin Building Foirgneamh Ilúsáide

by Zihua Mo

Duais Airgid A' Design Award Winner in Ailtireacht Category

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Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #177108

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Dissolving Corbin Building Foirgneamh Ilúsáide

Is dearadh foirgnimh ilúsáide é Dissolving Corbin Building atá bunaithe ar athúsáid oiriúnaitheach an fhoirgnimh stairiúil Corbin Building in Íochtar Manhattan, Nua-Eabhrac. Éiríonn an coimpléasc ingearach thart ar 55 méadar thar 15 urlár agus cuireann sé tithíocht, cistineacha comhroinnte, cúirt bia phoiblí, margadh bia agus feirmeoireacht ingearach le chéile. Iompraíonn fráma nua cruach aonaid mhodúlacha réamhdhéanta le cumhdach altach brící agus terracotta. Síneann gairdíní díon agus beár díon os cionn an Fulton Center in aice láimhe bealach poiblí a thosaíonn ag an subway. Caitear le cócaireacht agus ithe comhroinnte mar spásanna pobail.

The Recognition

About the Duais Airgid A' Design Award

Bhuaigh an dearadh Dissolving Corbin Building Foirgneamh Ilúsáide Duais Airgid A' Design Award, aitheantas an-ghradamach a bhronntar ar dhearaí ardchaighdeáin, álainn agus drámatach. Is saothair thar a bheith drithleacha agus an-chruthaitheach iad buaiteoirí Airgid a léiríonn saineolas, tallann agus géarchúis shármhaith a ndearthóirí. Táthar ag súil go mbeidh an dearadh Dissolving Corbin Building Foirgneamh Ilúsáide ina shaothar iontach, ina léiriú sampla, thar a bheith gairmiúil agus go domhain nuálach. Is aireagán an-suntasach, ionadmhuirthe é an dearadh seo a bhuaigh Duais Airgid A' Design Award a dhéanann leas do theorainneacha na healaíne, na heolaíochta, an deartha agus na teicneolaíochta agus a chuireann chun cinn iad. Is cruthú é an dearadh Dissolving Corbin Building Foirgneamh Ilúsáide a bhfuil formad mór leis, a mhúsclaíonn mianta, a thugann mothúcháin dhearfacha agus a adhnann iontas agus ionadh.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The project dissolves the historic Corbin Building into a vertical ecosystem where housing, communal kitchens, and a public food court intertwine. Solid walls transform into porous layers that blur domestic and urban scales, while a design language of dissolution mediates between ornate historic façades and contemporary simplicity. More than housing, it becomes an urban catalyst that nourishes community, fosters continuity across the city, and reframes everyday rituals as cultural infrastructure.
Dimensions & Packaging: The project envisions a vertical mixed-use complex with an approximate height of 55m and 15 floors, integrating housing, communal kitchens, a public food court, a food market, and vertical farming. A rooftop bar is added atop the adjacent Fulton Center, while rooftop gardens extend from the historic Corbin Building. A new steel frame hosts prefabricated modular units with articulated brick and terracotta cladding, with strategies emphasizing porosity, modular assembly, adaptability, and sustainable urban integration.
Tags: Adaptive Reuse, Mixed-use Building, Communal Living, Food Culture, Urban Catalyst, Historic Preservation, Vertical Farming, Public Food Court, Rooftop Bar, Community Architecture
Production Technology: The design was informed by studies of natural morphologies and part-to-whole relationships, which shaped a methodology of 'dissolving'. To realize this vision, the historic masonry is reinterpreted through a new steel structural framework combined with factory-prefabricated modular units. These modules enable the complex articulation of brick and terracotta surfaces, assembled on site with precision. Digital modeling and parametric simulations guided iterations, while renderings tested spatial integration with the city.
Design Challenge: The hardest challenge was breathing new life into a landmark once valued only for its façade. Balancing historic ornament with contemporary simplicity demanded a design language of dissolving. Socially, the project sought to counter fragmentation with food as a universal connector, while technically it explored how modular construction could realize intricate brick and terracotta forms.
Research: This conceptual design research explored adaptive reuse of historic buildings and the role of food culture in urban life. The aim was to test how dissolving boundaries between private and public could foster community. Methods included studies of natural morphologies, urban context analysis, and digital modeling. Simulations examined flows of residents and visitors. Results showed that shared kitchens, vertical farms, and food markets can reframe eating as cultural infrastructure with impacts on business vitality, social cohesion, and urban design practice.
Inspiration: The project is inspired by the challenge of renewing a historic building once valued only for its façade, giving it a second life through functional transformation and a dialogue between classical ornament and contemporary simplicity. At the urban scale, it seeks to dissolve boundaries, weaving architecture into the flows of transit and everyday life. Against a backdrop of global unrest and retreating cosmopolitanism, the design turns to food as a universal language, using shared rituals of cooking
Project Duration: The project was initially conceived between September and December 2022 in Philadelphia, United States, as an early conceptual study. It was further developed and deeply refined from January to September 2025, focusing on the adaptive reuse of the historic Corbin Building in Lower Manhattan, New York, and its integration with the adjacent Fulton Center. The design has been prepared for international design award submissions and exhibitions, presenting both architectural innovation and cultural discourse at a global stage.
Operation Flow: For the public, the building is entered through a food market and court linked to the subway, offering a place for gathering, dining, or simply passing through. A rooftop bar atop Fulton Center extends the experience to the city skyline, attracting visitors and workers nearby. For residents, daily life unfolds in porous clusters with shared kitchens, terraces, and corridors lined with vertical farms that provide food and greenery. Both flows converge in rooftop gardens, where living and visiting overlap as shared community rituals.