Collaborators : Sichang Xu, Ruisong Huang
eVolo - 2019 Skyscraper Competition
Feb. 2019
The United States and Mexico are divided on the map by a 2,000-mile borderline covered by rugged terrain and the Gio Grande, which act as natural barriers. There has been existing nearly 700 miles of wall and fencing since 2006 built by the government. The border was first formed in 1846. Influenced by the political environment, immigration policies and the presidency, the attitude of the United States towards the border has undergone many changes. In general, the United States was open to Mexico in the first half of the last century leading to a flood of agricultural labor. In the second half of the last century, influenced by the cross-border drug trafficking and the 911 attacks, the United States gradually tightened its attitude towards the border and set national guards to patrol the border. Since 2018, President Trump planned to build a new wall that could cost $25 billion, and that leads to a lone time of confliction between Mexico and the United States on paying the money for building a border. Besides, approximately 11.6 million Mexican immigrants resided in the United States in 2016, who came to the country in illegal identity.
We believe there should be a positive solution to deal with the dilemma right now. An impermeable, powerful, economical and communicated connection could be applied to act as an ambassador of the two countries, the sign of the current political environment. The architectural response to current culture machine is indifferent, abstract and calm. The skyscraper here respects two sides and objects to interfere the sovereignty of countries. This Skyscraper is a meeting point, a town, a crime scene, a gallery, a museum, a Peace Park, a military point and finally, is a city- “Amxican City”. This city will be built by both countries, who are in responsible for the certain circular part and also half of the border. The new skyscraper should be considered the situation of both countries` interests and better interaction for people on both sides.
In the architectural strategy, we use the spiral structure to allow coexistence between the two countries` circular area. By intersecting of the two spiral ramps, like the anti-direction DNA, people in one country are able to have interaction with residents from the other country, but they can`t go across the border fence easily. When coming to the ground, the ramps could be connected to a certain fence, which allows an impermeable and ordered circulation for residents. As a peculiar building type, tall building with political sensibility, the vertical city could also serve as sighting-seeing points. For visitors, cable cars hanging around the edges of the spiral floors allow visitors to both have more convenient access and better viewing. Residents and visitors scribble on their countries` wall, they draw flags and slogans, they want to represent their border`s attitude through their own ways, by trying to climb cross the tall fence at the back of the military, or just living in the tower and watching the sun rises and sets over the other side day by day. This city is not the wall, but a clear curtain, a conciliatory fabric, in between two quarrelsome neighbors.