MoMA PS1 Selects The Living for YAP

Since 2000, MoMA PS1 has been inviting a handful of young architects annually to compete for the chance to build a pavilion in the courtyard of its Long Island City, New York, home. For 2014 the museum has selected local firm The Living, headed by David Benjamin, as the winner in its Young Architect Program (YAP). The Living is more than a name, as it expresses Benjamin's desire to connect architecture, synthetic biology and technology. In the case of his YAP scheme titled Hy-Fi, he is proposing a zero-energy, zero-waste structure of bricks made from a special mixture with corn waste as its primary ingredient. The load-bearing, tubular structure will rise early this summer and be composted after it's removed later in the year.

Benjamin has partnered with ARUP for engineering, Bruce Mau Design for branding, Evocative for the organic bricks, and 3M for the brick molds that are covered in a reflective film and exposed atop the installation.