Grow It
Hy-Fi tower
“Swapping new materials for old ones is interesting, but there are so many new designs to explore when you design by computer or biology,” says Brooklyn architect David Benjamin, whose firm, The Living, designed this gravity-defying 41-foot tower. Benjamin wanted to prove he could build a massive, recyclable structure with zero waste and almost no energy. The material: Bricks made of mycelium, a rootlike component of mushrooms, fused with chopped corn stalks in a process developed by Ecovative, a startup in Green Island, New York, that makes eco-packaging and furniture. The bricks could theoretically be made anywhere and at scale for as little as 20 cents. The tower was lit from above using a new specular film from 3M that’s more reflective than any glass mirror. Hy-Fi stood outside MoMA PS1 in Queens, New York, this summer. Much of it is now composting. Benjamin’s firm was acquired recently by Autodesk.
(This story appears in the 17 October, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)