Architectural Membrane for New York when Sea Level Rises

To confront with the sea level rising of New York, Tingwei Xu and Xie Zhang from the University of Pennsylvania designed an idea for protecting certain areas against water by wearing a “membrane’. Deriving from the intelligent components, we created a surface system that can reveal a continually changing expression. The transforming surface can combine the multiple functions such as waterproof, lighting and agricultural planting. Rather than a traditional hierarchy design thinking, each component on the surface has equal essentiality. It is a irreducible integrity.

As the surface serves as a waterproof for the buildings, in turn, the building provides structure support to the surface. To blur the boundary, the surface seamlessly dissolves the old and rigid layer system of the buildings. Thus, the space between the old building and the new surface is totally fluid. Then, all sufaces form a new lattice system on the site. Finally, the system simultaneously evolves into an unprecedented ecological area in New York.