'the glo-cal experience' post-pandemic modular skyscraper system aims to revive tourism

for their first-prize entry to the atX design of the year 2021 award, students thanat prathnadi, nathan ngo, and liva sadovska introduce ‘the glo-cal experience’, a modular skyscraper system that brings the travel experience of tourist destination countries to a dedicated site in a host city, domesticating international travel by going glocal. while technology has revolutionized the way we travel in the 21st century, the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has exposed our inability to sustain economies domestically. 

‘the glo-cal experience’ in tokyo, japan
all images courtesy of thanat prathnadi

the students presented ‘the glo-cal experience’ as a systematic and scalable solution to the receding travel industry, bringing local experiences and economies to the forefront of a global travel revolution. the project’s main idea is to showcase participating guest countries for a limited period, in which they rotate their modules to various host cities based on travel data, such as popularity, attraction diversity, and seasons.

glo-cal india overlooking hyperloop plaza in tokyo, japan

this rotational model enables visitors to experience an array of international travel destinations while ensuring visitors return in anticipation of the next destination. to guarantee that an authentic experience is preserved, local businesses of participating guest countries tour along with the modules, being able to rent a space and run their business, providing their service or products to the visitors of the host cities. the host cities are selected based on their location in proximity to surrounding cities, infrastructure, and population, and demographic.

glo-cal india, tokyo, japan

visitors would travel domestically to their closest glo-cal tower, reducing their contribution to aviation emissions, where they can stay for up to a week and contribute to the travel industry of another country from the convenience of their own. the glo-cal system applies a modular approach across three scales, that of the plug-in module that contains the experience, the structure that encapsulates them, and lastly the stackability of the three structure sizes.

the students chose to represent the plug-in modules as a menu consisting of six circulation modules, sixteen occupancy modules, and six energy and resource modules. the circulation modules are a five-by-five meter two-story corridor or staircase unit, while the occupancy modules range in dimensions and program. whether for a budget hostel or a luxury hotel chain, street food vendors or fine dining restaurant, immersive VR installation or botanical sky terrace, their diversity and relation to one another contribute to the aesthetic of a modular and aggregated composition.

proposed guest countries and host cities

the energy and resource modules provide renewable means of powering the tower based on the host city’s natural resources. in addition to modularity, the materiality and construction of the tower adhere to a cradle-to-cradle principle, through the choice of highly accessible materials and common construction methods around the world. for example, the plug-in modules are constructed from 3D printed graphene, which are then attached to each other using a peg-and-hole joinery system.

the energy and resource modules provide renewable means of powering the tower based on the host city’s natural resources. in addition to modularity, the materiality and construction of the tower adhere to a cradle-to-cradle principle, through the choice of highly accessible materials and common construction methods around the world. for example, the plug-in modules are constructed from 3D printed graphene, which are then attached to each other using a peg-and-hole joinery system.

prefabrication of the structure can take place in the host city as a robotic wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) system travels with the modules. it is a software-enabled large-scale 3D metal printing system that reduces material usage and waste by designing and printing shapes that optimize for occupancy capacity and tower height. once components of the glo-cal tower are produced, they are circulated and reused across the global network of host cities, representing the diversity across the participating guest countries.

design strategy

module types

project info:

name: ‘the glo-cal experience’

students: thanat prathnadi, nathan ngo, liva sadovska for atX design of the year 2021 award

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: yasmina karam | designboom