Babel is a short story in the format of a graphic novel. It was originally published in 306090 as “Vertical Urbanism”, and later became a chapter within Citizens of No Place.

This is a story about a 12km tall mega tower with the capacity for nearly 90 million people, roughly the size of Germany or Vietnam. Whereas the Phalanstere talks about a city inside of a building, this is a political and economic state inside of a building. 12 km is roughly the height of tropopause, where the oxygen level becomes too thin. The protagonist is asked to live at the top of the building for one year. If he survives, people will keep building higher.

This story became the site of a design studio at GSAPP Columbia University in 2018.