Editors’ Choice
2023 Skyscraper Competition
CannonDesign
Chris Soria, Sharon Mathew, Steffany Brady, Stefania Ingaramo, Aimee Platt, Chun-Tien Kuo, Brandon Geiger
United States
A Brave New World
The year 4023 presents a new reality for our planet and our human race. The irreversible effects of a warming planet have taken its toll on our ecosystem. Land has given way to water, which now accounts for more than 90 percent of the Earth’s total surface area. The remaining land is no longer capable of sustaining a global population. Humans adapted by reinventing today’s cityscapes in the form of floating micro communities. The physical transformation of our world also led to new societal realizations. Through this evolution, we learned that our wellbeing is inextricably connected to the actions of our global neighbors. And while each micro community is successful in meeting the basic needs of its residents, we understood that healthcare could not live within individual communities and equitably meet the needs of a connected, global community. Further, the social role and responsibility of healthcare in 4023 is asked to stretch well beyond what we know it as today.
A Haven for Health and Wellbeing
The Corallite is a vertical wellness village designed to empower health and wellbeing for a world at sea. Inspired by the resilience of the ocean’s coral structures, The Corallite is a hospital asked to serve a deeper purpose. It is both a sanctuary for world-class medicine and a lifeline capable of extending care and resources into communities exactly when its needed.
Rather than build anew, The Corallite forms its foundation from the past. A repurposed oil platform provides the skyscraper’s structural base while also housing the critical infrastructure necessary to support the tower’s self-sustaining operating systems.
In a world where access to green, open space is scarce, nature exemplifies the experience onboard The Corallite. The building’s base embraces visitors in a park-like atrium flooded with daylight and greenery. Much like the human spine, the atrium serves as the vertical backbone for The Corallite, unifying the skyscraper’s complex and diverse functions with an organic, serene quality.
The Corallite employs a kit-of-parts strategy that enables program flexibility and mobility. Each component of the building can be detached and deployed anywhere in the world as needed. For example, a critical care module can be removed from the building and transported to an emergency site without disrupting operations in the tower.
Like its role in nature, The Corallite provides shelter and abundance that sustains a flourishing ecosystem. The tower’s exterior skin is composed of lightweight, high-performance ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) and nanotechnology material with high corrosion and energy resistant properties. The skyscraper is powered exclusively by a closed-loop, waste-to-energy system fueled by captured ocean pollution and onsite waste. Sea water is harvested from the surrounding ocean and filtered through a desalination process that occurs as water climbs the building’s atrium.
To preserve its lifesaving mission and combat the heightened intensity and frequency of storms in 4023, The Corallite features a retractable outer “shell” designed to withstanding hurricane-force winds and harvest rainwater for onsite water supply needs.
A Flourishing Future
The year 4023 is a wakeup call and call to action for our global community. Our proposed concept recognizes that equitable access to health and wellness offerings is a fundamental need for a flourishing society. The Corallite creates an economic and social focal point that is rooted in health. The tower is designed to not only cure and care for illness but to empower wellbeing at every turn. The Corallite stands as a physical testament to the resilience of our human race and the innovation that continues to propel our society forward despite the uncertainty of our future.
