Biotect David Benjamin and his firm, The Living, have completed the MoMA ‘Hy-Fi’ tower using mushroom brick technology based on a technique developed by Ecovative.
Consisting entirely of farm waste and a culture of fungus that is grown to fit a brick-shaped mold, the tower is reportedly the world’s first large scale structure made using the organic bricks.
The biodegradable material, which is generally used to make packaging, has been used to grow 10,000 bricks and stacked to create three merging cylinders.
The formation is designed to draw breezes through the structure, cooling and shading the Hy-Fi’s interior, while a top layer of steel molds have been covered in a special light-refracting film invented by 3M.
The tower was designed as part of MoMA’s Young Architects Program and will provide shade, seating and water for visitors attending a Summer music festival held at the courtyard site.
Courtesy Arch Daily