Dissolving Corbin Building Multifunctioneel Gebouw door Zihua Mo

Het ontwerp Dissolving Corbin Building Multifunctioneel Gebouw door Zihua Mo is een hoog aangeschreven winnaar van de zeer prestigieuze 2026 A' Design Award in Zilver in de competitiecategorie Architectuur, Gebouwen en Constructieontwerp.

ZilverArchitectuur· 2026

Dissolving Corbin Building Multifunctioneel Gebouw

door Zihua Mo

Winnaar van de A' Design Award in Zilver in de categorie Architectuur

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Het Ontwerp

Over Dissolving Corbin Building Multifunctioneel Gebouw

Dissolving Corbin Building is een ontwerp voor een multifunctioneel gebouw, gebaseerd op het adaptieve hergebruik van het historische Corbin Building in Lower Manhattan, New York. Het verticale complex rijst circa 55 meter op over 15 verdiepingen en combineert woningen, gemeenschappelijke keukens, een publieke foodcourt, een voedselmarkt en verticale landbouw. Een nieuw stalen frame draagt geprefabriceerde modulaire units met een gearticuleerde bekleding van baksteen en terracotta. Daktuinen en een dakbar boven het aangrenzende Fulton Center verlengen een publieke route die begint bij de metro. Gezamenlijk koken en eten worden behandeld als gemeenschapsruimtes.

De Erkenning

Over de A' Design Award in Zilver

Dissolving Corbin Building Multifunctioneel Gebouw is winnaar van de A' Design Award in Zilver, een buitengewoon prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan topontwerpen die prachtig en indrukwekkend zijn. Winnaars in Zilver zijn enorm briljante en uiterst creatieve werken die de uitmuntende expertise, het talent en de scherpzinnigheid van hun ontwerpers illustreren. Dissolving Corbin Building Multifunctioneel Gebouw wordt verwacht een prachtig paradepaardje te zijn dat opmerkelijk professioneel en diepgaand innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in Zilver heeft gewonnen, is een hoogst opmerkelijke, bewonderde uitvinding die baat en de grenzen van kunst, wetenschap, ontwerp en technologie verlegt. Dissolving Corbin Building Multifunctioneel Gebouw is een zeer benijde creatie die verlangens oproept, positieve gevoelens brengt en verbazing en verwondering doet ontvlammen.

Achter het Ontwerp

Perskit

Credits, teamleden en technische details verstrekt door de ontwerper.

Unieke Eigenschappen: 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.
Afmetingen & Verpakking: 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
Productietechnologie: 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.
Ontwerpuitdaging: 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.
Onderzoek: 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.
Inspiratie: 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
Projectduur: 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.
Werkproces: 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.