There’s a new tower in town, and for once it’s not made of steel and glass… After a month of construction, David Benjamin and his firm, The Living, have completed the world’s first large-scale structure made of mushroom bricks. Better known as ‘Hy-Fi‘, the tower is the winning design of this year’s MoMA Young Architects Program, and like the works that preceded it, it’s an idea that asks us to rethink what we know about materials, fabrication and architecture in an urban context.
David Benjamin
Architecture, Art, Green Design, Long Island City
Every year MoMA PS1 holds a competition that gives emerging architects the opportunity to build a full-scale pavilion for their courtyard space in Long Island City, Queens. Past winners of the Young Architects Program (YAP) have gone on to do some great things, becoming hotly sought after for their skills and world-renowned for their incredible works (Do HWKN, SHoP and Work Architecture Company, ring a bell?). As no surprise, this year’s winner is no shrinking violet, and he together with his team are bringing something unprecedented to the PS1 courtyard space. Architect David Benjamin and his studio, The Living, have devised a plan to construct a spectacular “Hy-Fi” tower made from a self-assembling, mushroom-based material that can be completely composted once the summer is over.
This past weekend we got a sneak peek of the towers rising at the LIC site. Check out our photos of the mushroom wonder ahead.
Daily Link Fix
- 9 Co-working Spaces in Brooklyn: It seems the world is going freelance but that doesn’t mean you have to forfeit human interaction. Brooklyn Magazine shows us nine great community workspaces to rub elbows with fellow freelancers.
- Amazon’s New Fire: The Perfect Phone for Moms?: Amazon has just released the new phone and FastCo. thinks they’ve found its target audience: multitasking moms.
- Drink Up! Governors Island Gets Drinkable Water: Water, water everywhere and not a bit to drink is exactly what people were saying about this island for the past 9 years. But today the NY Daily News announces the two fountains to help you quench your thirst.
- Hy-Fi Mushroom Tower Comes to Life: architect David Benjamin’s self-assembling, mushroom based towers are beginning to take form at MoMA PS1, and Inhabitat has the update.
- More Luxury Rentals Debut in Park Slope: 4th Avenue has seen some growth lately. The Brownstoner shows us the latest crop of luxury rentals to pop up in the area.
- Entrepreneur Barbie to Change Girls’ Career Ambitions?: Barbie’s got a new image, and women entrepreneurs are hoping it will be a good influence on young girls. FastCo. takes a look into the Mattel dolls one small high-heeled step for woman that could lead to one giant high-heeled leap for womankind.
- New Developments in Brooklyn: A Chinese takeout restaurant at 83 Humboldt Street is being replaced by a new five-story, ten-unit building. Meanwhile a new 104-unit, mixed-use building is headed to Bed-Stuy. Buzz Buzz Home has all the details.
Images: Mushroom Tower rendering (left), Brooklyn workspace (right)
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