MoMA PS1 Reveals Winning Design of the 2014 Young Architects Program

MoMA PS1 just selected the architect to transform the museum’s outdoor courtyard this summer. And the winner of the 15th annual Young Architects Program in New York: David Benjamin with the firm The Living. The pavilion, dubbed “Hy-Fi,” is made up of a circular tower of organic bricks made from corn stalks and living root structures. According to the Times, the material is “growing from and returning to the earth with almost no waste, energy needs or carbon emissions.” Here’s the architect going into detail about the design:

The organic bricks are produced through an innovative combination of corn stalks (that otherwise have no value) and specially-developed living root structures, a process that was invented by Ecovative, an innovative company that The Living is collaborating with. The reflective bricks are produced through the custom-forming of a new daylighting mirror film invented by 3M. The reflective bricks are used as growing trays for the organic bricks, and then they are incorporated into the final construction before being shipped back to 3M for use in further research. The organic bricks are arranged at the bottom of the structure and the reflective bricks are arranged at the top to bounce light down on the towers and the ground. The structure inverts the logic of load-bearing brick construction and creates a gravity-defying effect—instead of being thick and dense at the bottom, it is thin and porous at the bottom. The structure is calibrated to create a cool micro-climate in the summer by drawing in cool air at the bottom and pushing out hot air at the top.

The piece will also provide shade, seating, and a water feature. It’ll open in conjunction with the PS1 Warm Up Series in late June. Check out more renderings after the jump!

Architect Named to Transform Courtyard at MoMA PS1 [NY Times]

Renderings via The Living