Dissolving Corbin Building Ilé Oníṣẹ́-Púpọ̀ by Zihua Mo is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award in Àpẹẹrẹ Ìkọ́lé, Ilé àti Ètò Competition Category.
FàdákàÌkọ́lé· 2026
Dissolving Corbin Building Ilé Oníṣẹ́-Púpọ̀
by Zihua Mo
Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award Winner in Ìkọ́lé Category
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The Design
About Dissolving Corbin Building Ilé Oníṣẹ́-Púpọ̀
Dissolving Corbin Building jẹ́ àgbékalẹ̀ ilé oníṣẹ́-púpọ̀ tí ó dá lórí àtúnlò aṣàmúbáradà ti ilé ìtàn Corbin Building ní Lower Manhattan, New York. Ilé gíga yìí ga tó nǹkan bí mítà 55 pẹ̀lú ilẹ̀ mẹ́ẹ̀ẹ́dógún, ó sì ṣàkópọ̀ ibùgbé, àwọn ibi ìdáná àjọlò, gbọ̀ngàn oúnjẹ fún gbogbogbò, ọjà oúnjẹ àti iṣẹ́ àgbẹ̀ olókè-ńlá. Férémù irin tuntun ni ó gbé àwọn ẹ̀ka mọ́díùlà tí a ti kọ́ tẹ́lẹ̀ pẹ̀lú aṣọ ìbòrí bíríkì àti terracotta tí a ṣe lọ́nà tí ó yàtọ̀. Àwọn ọgbà orí òrùlé àti ilé-ọtí orí òrùlé lókè Fulton Center tí ó wà nítòsí ń fa ọ̀nà gbogbogbò kan gùn sí i tí ó bẹ̀rẹ̀ láti ibùdókọ̀ abẹ́lẹ̀. Ìdáná àti jíjẹun àjọlò ni a kà sí àwọn àyè àwùjọ.
The Recognition
About the Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award
Dissolving Corbin Building Ilé Oníṣẹ́-Púpọ̀ jẹ́ olùborí Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award, ìdánimọ̀ onípọ̀nlé lọ́nà àrà ọ̀tọ̀ tí a fún àwọn àwòṣe ìpele gíga jùlọ tó dára tó sì ń kan ọkàn. Àwọn olùborí Fàdákà jẹ́ àwọn iṣẹ́ tó ń tàn yòò gidigidi tó sì ní ìṣẹ̀dá púpọ̀ tí wọ́n ń ṣàfihàn ìmọ̀ ìjìnlẹ̀, ẹ̀bùn àti ìmọ̀ràn àwọn olùṣàwòṣe wọn. A retí pé Dissolving Corbin Building Ilé Oníṣẹ́-Púpọ̀ yóò jẹ́ iṣẹ́ àgbàyanu, àpẹẹrẹ rere, ti ọ̀jáfáfá lọ́nà tó ṣe pàtàkì tó sì ní ìmúṣẹ̀dá tuntun jinlẹ̀. Àwòṣe tó borí Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award yìí jẹ́ ohun ìmúṣẹ̀dá tó hàn gbangba gidigidi tí a mọrírì tó ń ṣe anfàní tó sì ń tì ààlà iṣẹ́ ọnà, sáyẹ́ǹsì, àwòṣe àti ìmọ̀-ẹ̀rọ síwájú. Dissolving Corbin Building Ilé Oníṣẹ́-Púpọ̀ jẹ́ ẹ̀dá tí ọ̀pọ̀lọpọ̀ ń ṣe ìlara, tó ń jí ìfẹ́ inú, tó ń mú ìmọ̀lára rere wá tó sì ń jí ìyàlẹ́nu àti ìyanu.
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.
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