“Reinventing the brick”
The idea sounds almost too good to be true: Bricks are created from fungus-enriched cornstalk waste, and they can be used to build a tower. And it’s not just a utopian dream, as a project in New York proves. In 2014 a project called Hy-Fi by the New York architectural office “The Living” led by David Benjamin was chosen as the winner of the “Young Architects Program.” David Benjamin is a social scientist and architect. He and his colleagues at “The Living” build unusual projects such as their pop-up athletics stadium for sporting goods manufacturer Nike. He constantly seeks innovation – as can be seen in the tripartite round tower ensemble Hy-Fi, standing over twelve meters tall. But only when you look closely: The towers are not built of clay brick, as it first seems. Each masonry unit is a naturally-grown composite element consisting of chopped corn stalks and mushroom mycelium.
Last updated: June 29, 2015 New York, NY, USA
The idea sounds almost too good to be true: Bricks are created from fungus-enriched cornstalk waste, and they can be used to build a tower. And it’s not just a utopian dream, as a project in New York proves.
In 2014 a project called Hy-Fi by the New York architectural office “The Living” led by David Benjamin was chosen as the winner of the “Young Architects Program.” David Benjamin is a social scientist and architect. He and his colleagues at “The Living” build unusual projects such as their pop-up athletics stadium for sporting goods manufacturer Nike. He constantly seeks innovation – as can be seen in the tripartite round tower ensemble Hy-Fi, standing over twelve meters tall. But only when you look closely: The towers are not built of clay brick, as it first seems. Each masonry unit is a naturally-grown composite element consisting of chopped corn stalks and mushroom mycelium.
“We believe that the material is revolutionary,” enthuses David Benjamin.
Read feature interview in 4th Holcim Awards 2014/2015 (flip-book)