Dissolving Corbin Building Avahiya Bikaranîna Tevlihev by Zihua Mo

Dissolving Corbin Building Avahiya Bikaranîna Tevlihev by Zihua Mo is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Xelata A' Design Award a Zîvîn in Dîzayna Mîmarî, Avahî û Strukturê Competition Category.

ZîvMîmarî· 2026

Dissolving Corbin Building Avahiya Bikaranîna Tevlihev

by Zihua Mo

Xelata A' Design Award a Zîvîn Winner in Mîmarî 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 Avahiya Bikaranîna Tevlihev

Dissolving Corbin Building sêwirana avahiyeke bikaranîna tevlihev e ku li ser bingeha ji nû ve bikaranîna adaptîf a Avahiya dîrokî ya Corbin li Lower Manhattan, New York hatiye avakirin. Kompleksa vertîkal bi qasî 55 metreyan li ser 15 qatan bilind dibe û xanî, metbexên hevpar, qada xwarinê ya giştî, bazareke xwarinê û çandiniya vertîkal li hev dicivîne. Çarçoveyeke nû ya pola yekîneyên modûlar ên pêş-çêkirî bi rûpêça kerpîç û terrakota ya hunermendane hildigire. Baxçeyên serban û bareke serbanî ya li ser Fulton Centera cîran rêyeke giştî ya ku ji metroyê dest pê dike dirêj dikin. Pijandin û xwarina hevpar wekî cihên civakî tên nirxandin.

The Recognition

About the Xelata A' Design Award a Zîvîn

Dissolving Corbin Building Avahiya Bikaranîna Tevlihev xelatgirê Xelata A' Design Award a Zîvîn e, nasîneke bi awayekî awarte bi prestîj ku ji sêwiranên di asta herî bilind de, xweşik û bibandor re tê dayîn. Xelatgirên Zîvînê karên pir birûsk û pir afirîner in, yên ku pisporiya hêja, jêhatîbûn û zîrekiya sêwiranerên xwe nîşan didin. Tê hêvîkirin ku Dissolving Corbin Building Avahiya Bikaranîna Tevlihev karekî mînak, pir pîşekar û bi kûrahî nûjen be. Ev sêwirana bi Zîvînê serketî vedîtineke berbiçav û hatiye sitayişkirin e ku ji bo fireh kirina sînorên huner, zanist, sêwiran û teknolojiyê tevkarî dike. Dissolving Corbin Building Avahiya Bikaranîna Tevlihev afirandinek e ku gelek kes çavê xwe lê dikin, daxwazan şiyar dike, hestên erênî tîne û heyirînê çêdike.

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.