Vertically Integrated Socialism explores the potential of architecture to envision social and economic processes in a given environment—namely, vulnerable populations in a fast moving free-market economy.

The concept takes the form of a multi-storey apartment building that houses the entire socio-economic pyramid. The stratified architecture of the building combines socialism at its base, which offers free housing to vulnerable populations, with an increasingly competitive free-market economy on the levels above it. At each strata, the number of apartments is divided by four and their size multiplied by four or more, culmitating with a single five-storeys penthouse on the top. At the center of the building is a vertical void that offers all residents a perspective onto the other levels, all the way to the ground below and to the sky above. The project includes a 45 min audiovisual presentation that explains the economic system of the building while following the story of a resident.