Thorpe's imaginary design is a huge polished steel volume with rounded edges that is supported on a slender pillar.
Called Citizens of Earth, the installation is proposed for a barren piece of land on the boundary separating the United States and Mexico. The architect, who is based in New York, said it is intended to examine borders and imagine a world without them.
Thorpe envisions the structure for about 20 miles (32 kilometres) outside of Texas town Marfa, which is an art mecca home to works by late American artist Donald Judd and others.
The shape of the design is intended to reference flying saucers and extraterrestrial life. In renderings, a light glows from its underbelly at dusk, which provides a nod to popular images of spaceships landing on earth.
Thorpe said that he also chose the orb shape to symbolise humanity and something beyond borders.
Source: Bridget Cogley
